Where Chemistry and Leadership Intersect

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

Chemistry

Chemistry focuses on the relationship between atoms and other phenomenon. Cause and effect. How does an atom change when external factors are introduced. Had I only known then – 30 years ago when I took Chemistry in school – what I know today, I would have paid more attention.

Team building is all about chemistry. After all, the human body is made up of atoms and when two bodies are interacting it represents millions of atoms interacting with one another.  Interaction reactions are just as varied between atoms as they are humans.  Sometimes you just don’t know what will happen.

From our early childhood, to adult life, chemistry is at work in the choices we make and the outcomes they render. Remember those days on the school ground picking teams? Who did you pick, or at what point in the team-picking process were you picked? When you got your first management position how did you feel about your team? Were you able to make changes or new selections? If so, how did you go about doing that?  If not, how did you assimilate to your team?

I’d submit that chemistry is one of the single most important factors in establishing a successful team. The team’s ability to interact with one another given internal and external influences is a necessary requirement for a high performing teams. And like explosions that can occur when atoms are rammed together with great force, so too can human interaction experience similar explosions if not careful.

Here are 3 points to be aware of when navigating team chemistry:

  1. Have a clear vision.  Make sure that you’ve created the “destination postcard” for the team.  This represents where you are headed, why, how you’ll get there, and by when.
  2. Have clear rules of engagement.  Demanding honesty and input must be balanced with diplomacy and humility…even if it must be forced.  The team must understand what is expected, as well as, how they are expected to accomplish the “what”.
  3. Have clear values.  Stating your values and then demonstrating those values on a daily basis…walking the talk…is critical for your team to see.  You can’t state that you despise cussing and yet at every meeting use language to the contrary.  Your actions and values must be aligned at all times.

Be careful to not confuse good chemistry with the belief that you can only hire those that “think” like you.  That’s not the case.  Instead focus on attracting people to your team that “feel” as you do, hold similar values, work ethic, and attitudes.  Specific skills sets MUST be varied across a team but common values must be woven into the team’s fabric to succeed.  And that’s chemistry.

 

The Millennial’s New American Dream

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

millennials

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of hearing a key-note speech by Tony Kuczinski, President and CEO of Munich Reinsurance America, at the 2014 MidYear Target Markets conference in Baltimore. His topic addressed how trends in the market will affect everything from how someone buys insurance to how that specific risk is evaluated.

Tony spoke of the major changes in the past 10 years. From social media, to the impact Millennials have on our economy, things around us are most definitely changing. And it’s not whether we believe those changes are good or bad, but it’s what we do to adapt to those changes that will determine our future success and relevancy in the marketplace.

During the week there were many points made about Millennials that impact all sellers of goods and services, whether B2B or B2C. Here are few to consider:
1. Millennials make up 36% of the workforce but represent only 7% of those employed by Fortune 500 companies.
2. Millennials are highly networked individuals focused on working for a company that is a cultural fit while providing meaningful work.  Perhaps a reason why this group tends to lean toward working for smaller companies rather than corporate behemoths.
3. 1.75 billion smart phone users worldwide. 60% will use their phone monthly to surf, research, and shop.  Millennials have created an insatiable appetite for better, faster, more accessible technology and mobile apps.
4. Given the rapid rise and adoption of technology, the Millennial generation requires instant feedback and ongoing communication at work, much like they receive in their personal lives with Facebook, Twitter, and texting.

The final and perhaps most intriguing change is the shift that’s taking place in where Millennials are establishing their homes…their roots. This demographic is a group that is used to, and requires, sharing. Sharing of everything. Pictures, experiences, ideas, emotions. All are shared via the electronic airways in some fashion or another. This need for “sharing” followed by the need for feedback and validation of what’s been shared has influenced the nature of where Millennials are most comfortable living.

The shift is not only apparent but is also a game changer. The traditional American Dream of a house in the suburbs is changing. Millennials are migrating back into, rather than away from, urban areas. City living is at the core of this demographic. The need for connectivity is growing, not just electronic connectivity but personal connectivity and interaction…the need to be a part of something greater.

This shift is something that cannot be ignored. The attitudes and needs of the next generation will be met regardless of your personal beliefs and opinions. It will be those who listen, observe, and respond who will flourish. The rest who dismiss or ignore will become irrelevant.

What will you do?

A Thank You for Mom and her Leadership Lessons

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

MothersDay

Happy Mother’s Day.  The one day of the year where we can all stop and recognize our mom’s for all they do and have done for us along the way.  They teach us many of life’s most important lessons.  They do it in a way that creates lasting impressions along with that second voice in our head that asks, “what would mom think?”  And while father’s instill their own brand of leadership lessons (stay tuned for June), here are few that I have learned specifically from my mom that have helped me be a better person and leader:

  1. Empathy.  Until recently empathy in the workplace, especially in a leadership role was viewed as a weakness.  Soft.  Being empathetic meant you weren’t able to make the tough choices.  However, over the past decade a great deal of research has been done that’s revealed the most effective leaders are empathetic.  The ability to feel and understand others emotions.  It’s the piece that allows you to connect on a deeper level with those you work with.  This is something I learned from mom.
  2. Forgiveness.  We all make mistakes.  Some are bigger than others.  Recognizing an honest mistake versus malicious intent is critical.  Honest mistakes happen every day, and will likely occur in all our lives until the end of time.  Understanding the mistake, its intent, its impact, and the lesson learned is where the act of forgiveness comes in.  Mistakes happen in every workplace, on everyday of the year.  Some mistakes are small with no material impact to the business while others can be quite costly.  Focusing on the mistake itself and not the person is something I learned from my mom.
  3. Faith.  The ability to strongly believe in something with conviction is faith.  Be it in ourselves, others, or God, faith represents one of a handful of traits that separates human beings from all other animals on the planet.  When all the strategizing and planning is complete, a leader must have faith in him or herself, and the team they lead, that they will be able to execute their plan to achieve the desired outcome.  The ability to believe in, or hope for, something better is something I learned from my mom.

There are many other lessons I’ve learned from my mom yet these three stand out.  She’s taught me a lot in my first 46 years and I’m sure there’s much more to learn in the next 46!

Have a great Mother’s Day.  (Love you mom!)

Profoundness Found in the Simplest of Places

On By Joe DeRosaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Profoundness Found in the Simplest of Places.

Profoundness Found in the Simplest of Places

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

NewCastleSeattle

 

I spent this last week in the great city of Seattle…Bellevue to be specific.  Seattle has always been one of my favorite cities to travel to from my first visit in 2001.  From downtown to the Harbor Steps, Seattle is a down-to-earth city with great people, wonderful food, and some of the best sites in the world.

I was dining one evening this week in downtown Bellevue with our President, and Chief Operating Officer of our company.  No doubt a busy week with many meetings, big initiatives, and key decisions to be made.  Pretty much a normal week.  It had rained on-and-off most of the week with brief reprieves resulting in glimpses of sunlight and blue sky.  Our President selected an Italian restaurant for dinner.  We left the office and walked to a wonderful place called Andiamo.  We were seated immediately with each of us picking up our menus to peruse the entrees.  As we chit-chatted a bit while taking in the selection of delightful dishes, she looked up, and that’s when it happened…profoundness in the simplest of statements.

The rain had passed, the sky had opened, and the combination of the sun with the bluest of backgrounds in the sky was breathtaking.  She sat back, placed the menu on her lap and said, “I just love these breaks of beautiful.”  What an amazing statement.  How simple.  How profound.  How beautiful.

Over the past few months I’ve experienced the death of a good friend and colleague, and a close member of the family.  I’ve gotten calls about family members struck by illness and hospitalized.  My phone has rung with a couple close friends who have lost their jobs looking for guidance and assistance.  Clearly part of life, these situations and others like them tend to change our view of our circumstances.  We focus on them and we begin to move ever closer to skepticism, pessimism, and any other adjective that describes our saddened state of mind.

Our President, most likely without knowing, had just made a comment that struck me like a blow to the chest.  It got me thinking about focusing on all of life’s “breaks of beautiful”.  While she clearly made this comment in the context of the visual beauty she saw in Seattle’s sky, breaks of beauty are all around us.  Since this moment I have found breaks of beauty in the sound of my wife’s voice, the unexpected call from my daughter to say hello, a late night chat with my dad, an email one of my sales reps sent me excited about a great accomplishment, the start of a new friendship, and a corny but funny joke my son texted to me while I was sitting in a meeting.

The point is to stop and take notice of all the breaks of beautiful in your life.  They’re there.  You really don’t have to look hard.  You just have to look a little.

 

Real Leaders Ask These Questions

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, LeadershipLeave a comment

Why

Real leaders are empathetic, curious, confident and skilled listeners.  They are constantly trying to learn and gain new insights and perspectives to improve both themselves and those they lead.  Real leaders ask thought-provoking questions that necessitate real responses.  They’re not interested in lip service from yes-men or yes-women.  What questions do real leaders ask?

  1. What could you use to help you do a better job?  This is a much better question than the typical “do you need anything?”  Asking the latter is really like saying “What more could you possibly want?”  Focusing the question on the result – a better job – produces a more valuable response.
  2. Talk with me about how we can improve our product/service.  If you simply ask, “What can we do to improve?” you leave yourself open to those who don’t want to risk speaking up.  You’re giving them the option of responding with a closed-ended reply – nothing.  By beginning with the words “talk with me” you’re letting that person know you’re interested and you’re expecting a conversation rather than a one word response.
  3. What am I missing?  The more common question asked is “Is there anything else?”  Again, this is a closed-ended question that risks getting a “no” response.  Asking “what am I missing” opens the door to various responses in addition to communicating that you’re not a know-it-all.
  4. Is it probable?  What are the chances?  These two questions can be interchanged.  Imagine you’re making a decision that will alter your product or service in a way that you believe will yield positive results.  Don’t ask your team what they think of the change.  Instead ask them what the probability is that customer service improves if that change is made and why?
  5. What got you jazzed today?  This should replace “how’s it going?”, or “how are you doing?”.  Most employees wouldn’t dream of telling their boss how it’s going, nor would they be comfortable enough to open up about how they’re really doing.  Asking for a specific event, gesture, or experience will provide insight into the work environment.  If there is nothing jazz-worthy a real leader takes note and digs deeper to understand the difference between an uneventful day and a disengaged culture.

Try these out and see what you learn.

5 Ways to Improve Your Teleprospecting Results

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

 

telesales

Sure it’s 2014 but the phone is still a big part of making sales.  In light of the internet, social media, and digital content, many products and services still require human interaction with the sales process.  If you have a product or service that requires lead generation through the use of teleprospecting here are 5 ways to improve your teleprospecting results:

  1. Write out your script.  I didn’t say read from a script, I said write it out.  Knowing what you need to say is important.  Making sure you have the salient points identified prior to a prospect answering the call is critical to your success.  Select your words carefully.  Forget the “$7 dollar Scrabble words”.  Focus on delivering a simple, clear message without the typical sales jargon.
  2. Practice the script.  Record your voice as you walk through your script.  Do it over, and over, and over again until it begins to sound natural as opposed to a forced message.  Get a mirror and watch yourself as you speak your pitch.  Try it sitting down and then standing up.  Often times you’ll be surprised as how much more relaxed you sound when your standing up.  Your diaphragm is elongated and your breathing and oxygen flow is much more streamlined than when sitting.
  3. Use tone and inflection strategically.  End your very first sentence on a high.  Be conscious not to end sentences on down tones.  When your voice drifts it comes across as boredom, lacking energy, or worse just plain unhappy.  Remember, when you’re on the phone your voice is your suit.  Since you’re not in front of someone you can’t wow them with your $2,000 Armani suit.  Instead you must have a $2,000 Armani voice.
  4. Have a list of client testimonials handy.  Referencing key clients or partners within the territory you are calling adds credibility to you, your product and your company.  You can be as general or specific as you’d like but be sure you have names to back you up.  “I work with more than X number of businesses (brokers, accountants, bankers, etc) in Philadelphia.”  If the prospect decides to challenge or question who you work with be ready with names.
  5. Set goals for calling.  A rule of thumb is 100 dials a day for teleprospecting, or 15 dials per hour.  This requires having a list ready that has this number of prospects on it.  Close your email, shut off your cell phone and start dialing.  Eliminate all possible distractions…just call.

Focus on these steps and watch how your productivity increases by 25% a month.  It really works.

 

A Social Media Experience Gone Bad

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

disappointment

My job requires a great deal of domestic travel.  I’m typically on the road 75% of the time covering the entire country.  Living in Philadelphia there’s one airline that dominates this market.  I’ve traveled this airline since 1995 and have flown their top-tier status for years.  With more than a million miles under my belt I’d consider myself a pretty savvy traveler.  I’d also consider myself to be a loyal customer to any company that provides me with the right value equation – what I get for what I spend.  So what does all this have to do with social media?  Here’s the story.

Recently I was scheduled to fly out of Philly to Denver.  Shortly after midnight, the day of travel, I received an email alerting me that my flight had been canceled.  I called the airline and after I got the customer service agent out of bed he proceeded to tell me that the flight had been indeed been canceled but that he would help me out by getting me on the next available flight to Denver.  Imagine my surprise when he informed me that the next available flight was scheduled for the exact same time as the original departure.  Hmm.  In his ever groggy voice the representative informed me that he could not assign me a seat as this flight was “under airport control”.  Sounds reassuring.

Got to the airport only to be told that the only seat available on this new flight…which remember was scheduled for the exact same time as my original flight…was a center seat.  Needing to get to Denver I had no choice.  So, last row, center seat, sold out flight.  I proceeded to tweet this airways regarding my situation.  Moments later I received a response to my tweet that said “We’re sorry for the cancellation. Check in with a gate agent for a seat assignment.”  Wow, now that was helpful.  So I proceed to reply suggesting they offer me something as a consolation…a free drink, WiFi, something.  Response? “We’re unable to offer free WiFi or drinks we’re sorry for your disappointment.”

Needless to say this airways attempt at using social media to delight and wow a customer fell WAY short.  Their responses were cold, impersonal, and above all else…useless.

Fast forward a week later.  Same exact situation happens only this time in route to Dallas.  So I tweet again.  This time the response I receive is “We’re sorry we aren’t able to help you here however our agents are happy to assist.”  This airways just doesn’t get it.  What they’ve done is made a bad situation even worse.  No one has owned the problem, no one owned fixing it.  It’s an incredible game of shift the blame and move the shells around.  Simply awful.

So what could this airways have done differently to make this a better experience for the traveler using social media:

  1. Have a policy already in place that provides guidance to whoever is monitoring social channels as to what goodwill offers can be made to satisfy the customer
  2. Make the reply personal.  “I’m so sorry Mr. DeRosa.  That’s terrible.  Here’s what we can do to help…”
  3. Follow up.  Two weeks have now passed and I’ve heard nothing from anyone at airways.  They have my contact number, my frequent flier number, my home and cell phones, and nothing.  Clearly they believe they don’t need to be the Nordstrom’s of the skies.  In fact I’ve gotten better service at a Dollar Store than at airways.

So keep in mind that if your company is using social media to engage its customers it requires a true commitment.  It’s not something to dabble in.  Canned replies, form letters, and traditional customer communication does not work with social media.  Spend the time to understand this before getting involved.  If your company doesn’t have the time, resources, or patience to learn and understand social media then do all you can to ensure they never launch it lest it will lead to an airways like experience.

What It Means To Lean In

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Trapeze

Life happens.  We have ups and downs, good times and bad, successes and failures.  It’s easy to be positive and happy when all’s going well but the reality is that nothing goes perfect forever.  Eventually even the best of us, the hardest working among us, and the most optimistic will be tested.  That’s life.  How we deal with those tests determine our success, state of mind, and fulfillment.  Notice I said fulfillment and not happiness.  Fulfillment in life comes from experiencing all life has to offer including the good and bad.  We learn and grow far more from our failures and the bad stuff than the good.  It’s during the times we are tested the hardest that our character comes to light and we grow as human beings. So how do you handle the bad times?  How do you deal with some of the tests life throws your way?  You lean in.

Years ago I was working through a rather difficult period in my career.  I was running Sales for a company that was in turnaround mode.  The company had experienced some success but was on the ropes with just about everything seeming to go wrong.  Sales and service were both failing and cash was tight.  Our employee morale was withering away to nothing.  With each stumble there were layoffs and cutbacks which led to a growing distrust across the employee population.  I had never seen anything like it before, and what had worked for me in the past wasn’t working now.  Frustration was running high and doubt was setting in.  That’s when I talked to Jeff.

I shared my thoughts and concerns with Jeff, a Board member and mentor.  I walked him through my plans, my thought process, and my confidence level relative to making the turnaround.  As a hugely successful entrepreneur, businessman, and corporate CEO, Jeff listened, sat back and said, “You’ve got all the right pieces. You’ve thought everything through.  Now you’ve got to lean in.”  This was the first time I had heard this phrase.  It certainly sounded good coming from Jeff but I needed to understand exactly what he meant by it, so I asked.

Leaning in, is about positive momentum.  If you’re on your heels self-doubt and second guessing quickly set in and you’ll surely fail.  You could have developed the best plans possible but failure will still visit you because you lacked conviction. Fear of failure causes us to lean back.  Failure makes us second guess ourselves and those around us.  It makes us focus on the wrong things.  When we lean back we’re looking for a way out, an excuse, someone to blame. We often get caught up in worrying about how others will perceive us should our plans not work out.  Fear that our personal reputation will be tarnished. And by leaning back we don’t fully commit.  We have one foot in and one out.  We’re the trapeze performer with a safety net under us.

In listening to me Jeff sensed I was leaning back.  He knew I had put a great deal of thought into the plan I developed.  He knew I identified the most probable risks and put plans in place to mitigate them.  But I was still leaning back.  He stressed the importance of leaning in.  He said, “Imagine you have no safety net under you.  What would you do?” And then he said the one thing that all great leaders don’t just say but demonstrate…he said, “Joe, I support everything you’re doing.”  Those words, backed-up by my faith and trust in him as a leader, gave me the added strength I needed to lean in.  To commit and not look back.

So when tough times arrive, or when everything seem to be going wrong, lean in.  Way in.  Imagine not having the safety net and that’s when you’ll realize that failure is not an option and you’ll make a bad situation into a good one. And most importantly find your “Jeff”.  A mentor is an absolute necessity to help you navigate the stormy waves of life.

10 Things a Leader is NOT

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Badleader

Remember that bad boss you had a couple of years ago?  Every interaction caused stress, disappointment, and sometimes regret.  Here are some characteristics NOT found in great leaders.

  1. Selfish.  Great leaders make it all about their teams.  There’s no “I” in team and the leader knows that and embraces it.
  2. Mean-spirited.  Strong leaders lead with dignity.  They understand that even when corrective action is required every employee deserves to be treated with dignity.
  3. Know-it-all.  The best leaders are continuous learners.  They do not claim to have all the answers nor do they believe they themselves are the only ones capable of generating great ideas.
  4. Placating.  Successful leaders understand the need for honest and direct communication.  They do not shy away from conflict or pander in order to win popular opinion.
  5. Narcissistic. Effective leaders have an inner confidence that allows them to operate without ego.  Not so say they don’t have an ego but they are able to keep it in check.  They don’t have a need for others to know who they are, what they have, or how important they believe themselves to be.
  6. Micro-manager.  Accomplished leaders know that they must have the details but cannot micro manage.  They give trust to their teams and provide opportunities to people to take risks and practice their decision-making skills.
  7. Disingenuous.  Thoughtful leaders know the importance of service to others.  They have a strong moral compass knowing that others can see clearly who they are and likewise can feel their authenticity.
  8. Thankless.  Purpose-driven leaders understand the importance of gratitude.  Being gracious for a job well done separates a good leader from a bad leader.  There’s nothing wrong with expressing your gratitude or thanks to an employee who did a good job even though a good job is what’s expected.  It’s often the smallest acts of kindness that embolden a team to its leader.
  9. Ignorant.  Learning leaders recognize all things change including their products, their markets and their customers.  They can’t afford to be caught with the short end of the intellectual stick and are constantly working to educate themselves and their teams.
  10. Indecisive.  Enduring leaders know that making decisions are required for leadership longevity.  Those that shy away from making decisions, difficult or easy, don’t last long as leaders.  Indecisive leaders are some of the most difficult leaders to work for.

And one bonus characteristic that ALL leaders DO possess…ownership.  All great leaders embrace ownership.  Ownership of their teams, their decisions – good or bad – their plans, strategies, ideas, and opinions.  These great leaders never look to place blame, often times to a fault.  They are able to shoulder great weight and responsibilities with a sense of ease and grace.

Are you a good leader?