Choosing the right Chief Revenue Officer

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Leadership, SalesLeave a comment

Recently, I attended a webinar sponsored by Private Equity CXO.  The topic of the webinar was PE Strategy for Revenue Growth; CROs and Value Creation.  Presenting in the webinar were several Private Equity professionals sharing their insights on the impact that having the right Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) can have on an organization’s success.

Let me first say that the webinar overall reinforced my personal experiences and beliefs throughout my career as both a GTM consultant and a CRO with experience working with companies ranging in size from $50M to >$6B in annual revenue.  However, the webinar got me thinking about the challenges involved in finding the right CRO, the process that most private equity firms use to recruit CROs, and the end result…disappointingly low success rates as supported by comments in the webinar as well as in other datapoints I’ll present shortly.

While I could write pages summarizing the content of this webinar relating to how CROs should, or could create value, I will instead focus on one critical topic discussed by the group…finding the right CRO.

Herb Brooks, the famous coach of the United States 1980’s Men’s Gold Medal Olympic Hockey team, has one of the best all-time quotes and probably my personal favorite.  As he was assembling his team, he was asked why he didn’t choose this player or that player because “they were the best”.  Herb confidently, and with unwavering conviction replied, “I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right players.”  This philosophy will serve as my anchor for why the right CRO may look quite different from the best CRO. 

I believe Coach Brooks could not have been more spot-on.  While I’m sure this comment will strike a chord with some, I stand by the belief that skill is much easier to teach than attitude, let alone chemistry, as it relates to team dynamics.  A Harvard Business Review study showed that 44% of a company’s market value is attributable to its CEO’s reputation. This study further defines reputation as a combination of 3 key emotional intelligence characteristics including humility, visibility, and persuasiveness.  One may conclude that some portion of a CEO’s reputation is a direct extension of the CEO’s executive and senior executive leadership team if you believe that a company’s culture is the sum of its parts.

Throughout the webinar the conversation often returned to the importance of the CRO’s team building capabilities, and leadership skills required to build a sustainable high performing culture. 

From an operator point of view, I would say that while a new (and even existing) CRO certainly has the responsibility to lead and effect change in an organization, a new CRO especially needs to understand the existing culture that he/she is walking into, the runway in front of this them (timing expectations), and as mentioned in the webinar, a list of the “jobs to be done” – the critical items that must be completed within the next 12 months.  Measure twice, cut once, applies to walking into a new role for both sides of the relationship – CRO and private equity partners.  The greater clarity provided at the onset, the greater the likelihood of success and perhaps fewer missed expectations. 

I strongly believe that the “right” CRO has both a track record of successes and failures.  I’m always leery when I speak to any executive-level candidate who positions themselves as having made perfect decisions.  Perhaps I’ve been blessed to work for leaders like Scott Cook of Intuit, who famously pushed our management team to make more mistakes – fail fast – as a barometer for the speed of innovation.  If you’re not pushing boundaries, you’re not growing, you’re not evolving, you’re simply presiding over something that’s fairly vanilla, and hence replaceable.  Basic, or as I like to call them, cut-and-pasted tactics might work when the waters are smooth, but absolutely go out the window when faced with gale force winds that may include a tight job market, raging inflation, or a pandemic that shifted the norm on how we get things done in business. 

A status quo leader, not battle-tested by building and failing, decreases your probability of success and produces a lesser amount of value creation.  It’s just as important to know what not to do, then knowing what the right thing to do is, as both include countless variables, known and unknown.

Case studies or homework assignments are great, but here’s where I slightly divert from the consensus shared on the webinar.  In my own personal experience, focusing on the difficult questions to ask during an interview, combined with an Up-Down-Sideways reference check is another way to gauge the probability of success.  Some folks have a talent to write, research, and/or problem solve in a controlled environment, but rarely do we operate in controlled environments, and case studies and homework assignments are just that…controlled environments.   

In fact, I’d suggest that many sales leaders would have failed the case study in 2008-2009 during the GFC, or during the COVID pandemic.  The test of a strong leader lies in his/her ability to consume information quickly and being comfortable with operating in ambiguity.  According to Zippia, the average age of a Chief Revenue Officer is 49 years old.  When combined with a datapoint from Salesforce indicating the average tenure of a CRO is right at 2 years, you begin to understand why the concept of battle-testing is so important over a variety of different environmental factors relative to creating and sustaining high performing teams.   One could argue that even as case studies and homework assignments have become the norm for recruiting CROs, the success rates are discouragingly low at less than 2 years.  Why is that?  Here I’d suggest that what’s often missed is the softer, and perhaps more difficult skills to assess that include EQ (some of the items from the HBR study), charisma, and empathy, all of which are critical leadership qualities to establishing and maintaining high performing teams. 

As Stephen Covey famously said, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  A leader showing up as the smartest person in the room likely will result in a team that tries to distance itself rather than embrace.  Hence why EQ is so important when selecting a new CRO.  And, with the average tenure of a CRO being 2 years, one possible conclusion that might be drawn is that too many know-it-alls show up day one on the job versus showing up with a learners mindset. 

Of course, the right mix between EQ and IQ is critical.  And while I referenced the criticality of some of the softer skills above, I also want to be clear that an effective CRO must have the passion and capability to deliver tangible tools to the teams they lead.  I have written countless playbooks, personas, and ICPs for the teams I’ve led throughout my career as a CRO.  I study data, identify trends, create hypos to prove/disprove.  I spend a great deal of time in the field with sales professionals running these plays and adjusting them accordingly, perhaps another carry-over from my experience at Intuit with Noel Tichy’s famous “teach, learn, teach” model underpinned our day-to-day operating rhythm in the business.

Often, I see CROs rely much too heavily on outside consultants (I was one of those), to do this type of work.  Why?  Because they either are not close enough to the business to know, or in the worst cases feel that the level of in-the-weeds work is beneath them.  This, however, is exactly the work that moves the needle by building sales effectiveness, team spirit, and a high performing culture where teams recognize that their Sales leader is sleeves-rolled-up, capable, competent, and credible. 

It was mentioned several times during the webinar private equity’s desire for predictability.  Delivering a “flash-in-a-pan” result is easier than producing consistent results over time.  Again, this is why it’s critical to be clear about what is required within the first 12-month period and what resources are available to accomplish those requirements.  The resource discussion is yet another topic that is deserving of its own thought leadership piece.  For now, here’s a simple way to illustrate the importance of having the right resources…

As someone raised in a musical family, and having played drums for many years, I consider Neil Peart to be arguably the best drummer of all time.  So, was it the 54-piece drum kit that made Neil sound so incredible?  Or was Neil’s raw talent such that he’d sound good no matter how many drums he had at his disposal?  While I’d seen Peart amaze enthusiasts on a regular 4-piece Jazz set, the sounds and complex rhythms he played on 54 pieces simply amped things up a notch.  He had the resources to transcend being great to being the greatest.  Now, drop in Phil Collins behind Peart’s 54 pieces.  Would Collins, another great, sound equally impressive?  Or does it suggest that resourcing wouldn’t matter, and that Collins would just “know” how to play, what to play, and when to play it?  As a reference point, Phil’s typical set is (was) a 10-piece kit.  Regardless, it’s clear that talent, plus resourcing, equals output.  The key to success is understanding what that specific talent requires, relative to resourcing, to produce the expected or desired results.

Back to the CRO thing, a CRO must also have the ability to look at data and make inferences…quick assessments of a situation.  Deductions usually come when deeper analysis is done, and oftentimes, the ability to do a deep dive is limited by a company’s systems, platforms, access to the data itself (perhaps it’s never been captured historically), or not having the analysts (talent) available to do such work.  This leaves the CRO in the position of either taking no action as they become paralyzed by fear of making the wrong decision, or the opposite extreme, making knee-jerk decisions as they quickly fire from the hip.  This area of CRO skill must also be contemplated when thinking about culture, timeframes, and expectations.

Finally, the relationship the CRO has with his/her owners/investors cannot be underestimated relative to performance.  Are the company’s owner enthusiastic supporters?  Are they impatient investors who have gone through a series of failed CROs leading them to bring high levels of doubt or skepticism into any new relationship?  Does the CRO have solid chemistry with both the CEO and CFO?  It has always struck me as odd that I’ve personally never interviewed with a CFO while being recruited for the top Sales chair, yet my personal relationship with a CFO, as a CRO, is perhaps equally important if not more important than the relationship between a CEO and CRO.  There’s a ton there to unpack as a topic – the relationship between CRO and CFO – that opens the door for future thought leadership content.

In summary, finding the right CRO begins with an accurate assessment of the future of the asset.  Where are we in the hold period?  What has the last 3-5 years of organic growth looked like for the company?  What’s the tenure of the team?  Is it a complete build, or rebuild?  Is there a VP of Rev Ops in place, and further, how strong is that person relative to all aspects of analysis and GTM tech platforms?  Do any of the CROs previously-built-teams still exist?  Can the CRO demonstrate an example where he/she groomed and promoted their replacement, and where and how is that replacement fairing today?  With the average age of a CRO being 49, what was he/she doing during the dotcom bust, the GFC, the pandemic, and most recently our current period of high inflation and stifling borrowing rates?  Can the CRO candidate comfortably articulate key learnings from each of these periods and demonstrate how those learnings enabled them to better navigate through the subsequent challenges or crises?  What tangible examples can the CRO point to as evidence of something they built new, as a response to their own evolution of thought due to their experiences?    

In choosing the right Chief Revenue Officer, it’s essential to recognize that leadership is not just about past successes, but about the ability to adapt, evolve, and thrive in an ever-changing business landscape. The true measure of a CRO lies in their capacity to turn challenges into opportunities, ensuring that their experiences become the cornerstone for future growth and innovation.

Birds of a feather

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Today’s article in the WSJ, “Buffett and Munger on Success…” got me thinking…

Success is about surrounding yourself with other high-achievers with whom you share common values. Many people surround themselves with like-minded people. This approach becomes self-limiting as it’s easy to fall into group-think when the focus is to associate with other like-minded folks. Sure, it may feel comfortable, or safer to align with others that think like you do, but that approach is a growth limiter.

Instead, focus on surrounding yourself with people who share similar values, and morals, and you’ll end up with a network of positive, diverse thinkers who can stretch and grow your perspectives.

Another important filter when thinking about your network that resonated with me came from the WSJ interview with Charlie Munger. Success comes from steering clear of toxic people. “The great lesson of life is get them the hell out of your life—and do it fast,” Mr. Munger said. 

Find those that lift you up, challenge you, teach you, coach you, and are courageous enough to be real with you. Those are the folks that will help you grow and become a better human being.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffett-on-finding-success-at-work-and-what-matters-in-hiring-43da47c3?mod=business_lead_pos1

Leading Through Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

From What’s In It for Me (WIFM), to Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS), there are countless acronyms we’ve all heard, and used, throughout our careers. Given today’s challenging climate, a leader’s mettle is tested in times of (FUD) fear, uncertainty and doubt. Leading from the front when the wind is at your back is far easier than walking into gale force winds in your face. Said differently, any average leader can lead with tailwinds, but high performing leaders are those that can advance the cause in the face of the strongest headwinds…in the face of fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Many of us are having to do just that today – lean into the headwinds. Macro conditions are reeking havoc on buyers and accelerating the FUD factor. As buyer behavior changes, FUD spills over into our teams…how can it not? As I spend time self-reflecting on the leadership behaviors and attributes that I have experienced during other times of fear, uncertainty and doubt, including Y2K, the dot-com bust, 9/11, and the Great Recession to name a few, it became evident to me that:

  • Leaders must balance confidence and reality with empathy. Too much confidence makes you appear disconnected. Too much reality can create more fear. Empathy makes you human…relatable.
  • Leaders need to be curious. In times of FUD, leaders need to ask questions. Go deep. Get under the covers. Learn first hand what’s going on. Your curiosity is responsible for identifying new paths forward for your team thereby calming the troops.
  • Leaders need to have courage. Not every decision will be right. In fact, many will be flat out wrong…once you have hindsight. You make the best decisions you can, in the moment, with the best available data…and own it.
  • Leaders need to have conviction. The decision is your decision. Right or wrong, you own it. There’s no escape. The art of decision making is knowing when to lean in, and knowing when to admit that a course correction is necessary.
  • Leaders are responsible for identifying and communicating the silver lining. Economic cycles come and go. History tells us that there are bull markets, and there are bear markets. Markets move. Every rain storm is preceded by sunny skies, as well as being followed by sunny skies. It’s the leaders job to reassure their teams that while it may be raining at the moment, the sun will in fact shine again…that’s a fact.
  • Finally, leaders need to be visible, in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder with their teams. Great leaders don’t hide behind Zoom, or a curtain, (we used to refer to the ivory tower), but instead face the same heat/fire their people face with customers, vendors, suppliers, investors, etc. After all, as Stephen Covey said, “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care”. Great leaders demonstrate this by being present.

Recently I had a conversation with a colleague. Story telling, analogies, and metaphors have always been my go-to communication style. I got to thinking about our role as leaders as it relates to a ship’s captain…

The waters are rough…it’s beyond your control…

The ship is creaking and rocking…you can’t control that…

As captain you’re not sure whether the boat will stay together or start breaking apart…you can’t control that either…

You embrace the storm knowing you’ve sailed through storms before and made it through…this experience gives you conviction…

You’ve carried your crew through rough waters before and they’re counting on you to get them to solid ground…

You chart your course and sail into the wind…this is your decision…

While your internal doubts may be high, you push those doubts into a corner of your brain and lock them there while you focus on sailing through the storm and delivering your crew to solid ground…

You never give up fighting for your crew. That’s the captain’s job.

20 Objectives For All Chief Revenue Officers

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment
  1. Be a continuous learner – what got you into the CRO role won’t keep you there.
  2. Create a culture of innovation – willingness to try new things without the fear of failure.
  3. Demonstrate teamwork and camaraderie – people will watch and observe your behavior before they act.
  4. Focus on the people – this means getting to know your colleagues beyond their quotas.
  5. Be authentic – this equals consistency and predictability. Wild mood swings are often due to people transitioning from their “real” self to their created façade.
  6. Be vulnerable – show you’re human, it’s okay.
  7. Confront reality – denial wrecks your credibility. Quotas are huge, don’t act like they’re no big deal.
  8. Provide a path to success – it may be a difficult path but a path none the less. Remember, the leader’s job is to provide the vision…the possibilities.
  9. Be honest – shoot straight, share what you can, not only what you must.
  10. Always have an active ear – listen…actively. People want to know how much you care before caring about how much you know.
  11. Never surprise your boss – understand what’s important to the CEO and how/when to best communicate.
  12. Be deliberate in your actions – an environment of uncertainty is a byproduct of hedging bets. Your team will know if you’re not all in.
  13. Be kind – nothing in this job should justify taking someone’s dignity.
  14. Be gracious – say thank you. Give credit and recognize people consistently.
  15. Look for the good – every day find a good deed, or success from a colleague, and then share it.
  16. Know your numbers – where are you this month to quota, next month, and quarter standings.
  17. Know your business – what external factors may arise to get in the way of achieving your goals and those of your colleagues?
  18. Always be planning – “In preparing for battle I have always found plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
  19. Stay fit – CROs tend to be the heartbeat of a company. Work hard to have and maintain a healthy heartbeat.
  20. Always, always, remember (and thank) those who helped you arrive – family, friends, former bosses, mentors. No one gets to where they’re going totally alone

Recognizing today’s realities

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Today’s life events, and their impacts, are taking up more, and more, mind space of our colleagues – perhaps more so than in the past 20 years.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index rose 7.9% from February 2021 through February 2022, with inflation hitting its highest number since 1982.  With typical gas prices well over $4.00 a gallon, and in some parts of the country now breaching $6.00 a gallon, people across the board are feeling the stress.  Adding onto the financial impacts the average American is experiencing, is the weight of global uncertainty as it relates to the stability of peace.

Workers in every company, in every job, have a lot on their minds.  To ignore or dismiss the impact these emotions and experiences are having on your colleagues lives is shortsighted.  This is where leadership empathy becomes critical.

Empathy is an often-misunderstood skill.  It amazes me how many people still confuse empathy with sympathy.  The dictionary defines sympathy as feeling sorry for someone’s loss, trouble, or grief, while empathy is understanding another person’s experiences or emotions.

Empathy allows us to place ourselves in someone else’s shoes in order to connect and understand, with the goal of bridging gaps.  This skill requires strong active listening skills, broad perspectives, and structured thinking.  Empathy is not about excusing, as much as it is about recognizing circumstance(s).  It’s less about lecturing and more about solutioning.  True empathy leads to better connections, better relationships, and stronger bonds of trust. 

I often think of the famous quote, “people don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.”.  The ability to demonstrate empathy, especially during troubling times, is a trust enabler.  Of course, that assumes that the empathy being demonstrated is real…genuine. 

Empathy allows leaders to engage with their teams to recognize the current external inputs each of us is facing today and how it may be impacting our colleague’s behaviors, outcomes, or productivity.  Creating and maintaining a high performing team requires many skills, with empathy being at the top of the list.  Recognize the intensity of incoming signals your teammates are absorbing today and look for ways to bridge the gaps.   The most important signal you can send to your team is that you too are human.

Growth Through Adversity

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Our lives are filled with crucible moments.  Situations that shape and mold who we become as people, workers, managers, and leaders.  These moments, whether we face them in our personal lives, or professional life, shape the core of who we become.  They inform, and direct our future beliefs, habits, and behaviors.  They can strengthen or weaken, improve, or deteriorate.  

Most of these moments are unplanned.  They sneak up on us and force our hand.  They force us to buckle, retreat, or forge ahead.  These moments-in-time, although difficult to persevere, help strengthen our constitution…or weaken us.  The choice really is our own.  How we react to adversity is in fact a choice.  Famous, U.S. Men’s Hockey Coach, Herb Brooks, said, “Great moments are born from great opportunities”.  First let me say I have great admiration for Herb Brooks and his legacy. That said, if I may be so bold, I’d make a minor change to his quote and add that great moments are born from either a great opportunity, or adversity.  After all, it’s friction that creates the most beautiful, and valuable diamonds in the world.  The same can be said about our greatest leaders – past, present, and future.  While not always pretty, the world’s great leaders have experienced their share of friction, adversity, and disappointment.  From Washington to Reagan, from Henry Ford to Steve Jobs, from Sam Walton to Elon Musk, each of these leaders experienced their share of hardships and challenges…crucible moments that shaped their views, perspectives, ideas, and leadership styles. 

Spend some time taking inventory of your crucible moments.  I was first exposed to the concept of life journey lines when working for Lorrie Norrington who at the time was the EVP with Intuit in the early 2000’s.  In fact, Journey Mapping is still very much a part of Intuit’s culture.  Looking back, Lorrie is still one of the most influential leaders in my career.  She taught me the importance of quantifying my capabilities and having the confidence to embrace them and act.  Creating a life journey line is an effective way to identify one’s crucible moments, and more importantly understand how those moments shaped us and the new skills and capabilities we acquired because of those moments.  Taking the time to think about these critical moments in life helps to provide clarity on your capabilities.  Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward.”  That’s not to say, or suggest, we should live in the past, but rather to understand our ability to endure, preserve, learn, adjust, and succeed.

What are your crucible moments?  How did they shape you?  What changes did you endure?  Positive or negative?  

Every person we encounter on a day-to-day basis has gone through, or is currently going through, a crucible moment.  Our ability to empathize is critical.  How we assess these moments, and learn to adjust and adapt, based on this new knowledge and experience, is what enables our future success…and the success of the teams we lead.

Measuring the Value of a Partner; Leveraging Disruptive Thinking to Enhance Your Results

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

I maintain a rather crazy schedule. For years I logged up to 400,000 miles as I flew across the globe as a management consultant. Today, as Chief Revenue Officer of SAFEbuilt, my business is contained to the United States, yet I find myself equally as busy, logging 150,000 miles a year even during the pandemic, as we provide essential building and professional services to local and state governments. Between meeting clients and prospects, and leading a national team that sells and manages these services across more than 1,200 client communities, life can get a bit hectic.

Leaders must understand their business at a granular level, primarily because it enables them to increase their situational awareness while gaining much-needed empathy to lead a team down smooth or bumpy roads.

To gain this deep understanding, I work to identify the business’ core competencies. Simultaneously, I am conducting a skills inventory of myself, as well as my team. The result of that assessment leads to the development of my strategic imperatives, or focus areas, as well as identifying what or where to outsource to gain speed, efficiencies, and effectiveness. My days at Paychex and Intuit, while nearly 20 years ago, still serve as a gut check when I think about how to best accelerate revenue growth.

Every business outsources some parts, or pieces, of its operation. Whether it’s payroll, office cleaning, accounting, or back-office processing, the concept of outsourcing has been around, well, forever. Highly effective leaders recognize that if they focus on their core competencies, they can accelerate revenue growth faster than if they get bogged down with having to manage all the minute details. Further, once you have an accurate assessment of your skills, and those of your team’s, you’ll be able to more quickly make determinations as to where NOT to spend your time and attention and find an outsourced solution.

The past decade has ushered in the concept of partnership versus outsourcing. It’s no longer in fashion to simply be a vendor of services…an outsourcer. Today, we must all be partners, or at least that’s what all the rage is about. Of course, you get so much more value when working with a partner. Don’t you? Hmmm.

How do you distinguish between a vendor and a partner? How can you tell exactly what you have? Is your office cleaner a partner? How about your accountant? When you have your payroll processed, is the payroll specialist providing partner services? When you buy a new sofa, is that salesperson a partner?

Chances are that many, if not most, of your business dealings are actually nothing more than vendor-based relationships. And guess what? That’s okay. Every function and every vendor doesn’t need partner status. Sometimes a simple transaction is all that’s required for efficiency. 

Avoid wasted calories by trying to make more of something than what it is. The key is to know which functions within your business would benefit if you had a real partner working with you.

My measure of a partner goes well beyond the work delivered for the dollars I’ve paid. If I get what I’ve paid for, it’s likely a vendor relationship. If I get more than what I’ve paid for, you just might be teetering on partner status. Further, if the vendor I’ve hired pushes my thinking and helps me to innovate, they achieve the coveted status of partner.

An example of a great partner relationship is with our digital marketing agency – Square2. I began my journey with Square 2 back in 2012 and have worked on and off with them across different companies and industries. The co-founders of Square 2, Mike Lieberman and Eric Keiles, are masters of innovative thinking. Sure, I hired Square 2 to outsource my digital marketing needs, but the value we’ve received from working together goes beyond the increase in MQL activity and SQL conversion.

With my crazy coast-to-coast travel schedule, I was struggling to find the time to add yet another meeting to my calendar for progress updates. Many times just minutes before meetings I end up having to reschedule due to a client or associate need, and here is where the partner status comes in.

Rather than trying to stick to a traditional meeting cadence for progress updates, Mike Lieberman, taking into consideration his buyer’s needs (mine), suggested that the Square 2 team provide me with progress updates via a short video that I could watch during flights or Uber rides to absorb and contemplate questions or reactions. This slight adjustment in working together has made a big difference, as it has improved my ability to keep informed while being able to make changes or provide input in near-real time. 

This is a perfect example of meeting your buyer where and how they want to be met, rather than continuing with a “this is how we do things” approach. 

Here’s where the value of a true partnership really begins to accelerate results.

Serving more than 1,200 communities nationwide, with each community having between two and seven personas we interact with on a regular basis, I have adopted and implemented this tactic within my own team. While it certainly isn’t a silver bullet, it does offer clients another avenue for updates. No different than payroll providers offering businesses the ability to phone in, fax in, email, and now launch an app on a smart device to produce payroll, video updates are just another option on the menu to allow clients to choose how they interact with their provider, or better yet, partner.

What’s the last thing you learned from a vendor that went beyond the scope of work you hired them to perform? How often are your vendors collaborating with you to find new or different approaches that help you personally save time, increase your personal efficiency, or resolve a pain point?

Partners go beyond the scope. They focus on the individual they are providing the services to on behalf of the company they are contracted with. Think about that. How concerned is your vendor about your time, your effectiveness, and your ability to improve the running of the business, versus just providing the service they said they would?

Vendors have the ability to improve your business. Great partners don’t just have the ability – they act and add value beyond the four corners of your contract by going deep into your business, making you and your business better.

Leaders are not born, they’re developed

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

I recently had dinner with one of my top sales people in San Diego this week and the conversation got around to whether people are born as natural sales people, or leaders.

I’ve never been a believer that people are born into a specific life path. What I believe is that each of us is born with a set of talents, capabilities, and competencies. We are all born with a specific attitude as well. A mindset, a glass half full, versus half empty thinking. A skeptic, an optimist, or pragmatist.

Here’s where the conversation gets fun. Believe it or not there was an interesting life lesson that has stuck with me for years from a rather unexpected movie – RAMBO III. In the movie the character of Colonel Troutman gives a pep talk to John Rambo. He tells the story of a sculpture who finds a perfect stone. He drags it back to his workshop and creates an incredible statue. When his friends compliment him on his creation, he says, he didn’t create anything. The statue was always there…he just chipped away the small pieces.

We are all born with natural talents. Some are blessed with athletic abilities, others with analytical strengths, others with caregiver strengths. The difference between those that achieve their full potential versus those who don’t, is finding a mentor(s) who helps validate and provide direction for your unique set of skills.

What if there was no Earl to Tiger Woods? What if no Joe to Michael Jackson? What if no Kurt to Michael Douglas? There are thousands more of these examples of folks who are not in the limelight but succeeded because they benefited from someone who recognized their talents and provided direction and encouragement. I’ve been incredibly blessed to have had a number of bosses throughout my career who have guided, counseled, and encouraged me to embrace my skills, take chances, and stretch. Without them, I am certain I would not have accomplished what I have thus far. And while I’m now considered “middle age”, my need for their input, guidance, and counsel still remains strong. Being a continuous learner never stops…until the heart does.

So what if you don’t feel like you have a person like this in your life? What do you do to find someone to fill this gap? The answer is easy. Look around. That person is probably closer to you than you think. It could be a spouse, partner, boss, friend, someone at the gym, someone sitting next to you on a plane. In fact, my love for American history was born on a flight I was on in 2004 when I met a gentlemen who asked me what types of books were my favorite to read. Foolishly I said none. He said, how can you spend so much time on a plane and not read. He told me I was missing all kinds of opportunities to expand my thinking. When we landed he gave me a book that became the catalyst for creating my voracious appetite for reading. That book was called His Excellency on George Washington. I can’t count the number of books I’ve given away over the years to people who I just met in similar situations. You never know who, or how you can impact the life of a stranger for the better. It’s incredibly heartwarming and fulfilling.

Life lessons are everywhere. Sometimes you just need to put down your phone, take out your ear buds, and just be…be present. Take an inventory of all the things you’re good at. Jot down what you like to do. Assess the crowd you hang with and identify a few people to approach to help you clear away those stones. Remember, the statue is always there…it’s just how badly you want to chip away at the stones to show your uniqueness and value to the world.

The Leaders List of Critical Books to Read

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

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Curiosity is a key competency for those looking to grow and lead. Curiosity about a business, its industry, people, customers, competitors, investors, are all necessary to excel in today’s high speed world of hyper-competition. There are many ways to satisfy your curiosity including doing, reading, researching, and interviewing.

Unfortunately for many, reading takes the very last seat in the back, with the most common excuse I hear for not reading – “who has the time?” To which my response is, “Apparently only the highest of high performers.”  What exactly are you willing to invest in improving yourself and your skills?  How much time?  How much money?  How much of your freedom?  Why freedom?  Because, when others are using their freedom to golf, ski, hit the bar, head to the gym, or sleep on that cross-country flight, you’re using your freedom to expand your knowledge base and perspective.

Whether you’ve been a leader for a year, or twenty, we all experience ups, downs, wins, losses, triumphs, and failures.  One thing I’d say is that your top reads will almost always be driven by your immediate, or anticipated circumstances. My suggestion is to have a stable of those books identified and ready to go.  In addition, practicing the habit of self-reflection will also super-charge your results when combined with building your arsenal of perspectives through reading.

If you’re wondering how much to read, I simply say, get started.  Everyone’s pace is different.  Some like turning pages, others like reading on a tablet, and still others prefer listening via audiobooks.  No matter your preference, just start.  Set a goal.  Pick a book and set a goal to complete it within 2 weeks.  Two weeks is a good timeframe to get through a book that’s between 250 – 300 pages once placed into your routine.  Make no mistake, a routine it must be.

A few thoughts before revealing the list of critical reads for all leaders…first, all leaders need financial acumen. However, most of us, unless you were classically trained, have learned while doing.  This doesn’t make for a very strong financial foundation. Public companies view the world quite differently from privately held companies, or even more specifically those owned by private equity.

Second, to be a great leader you must learn and understand what it means to follow. This means that all great leaders take the time to learn as much as they can. If you don’t have a very healthy dose of curiosity, then find one quickly.  Your leadership life span will be limited by the depth of knowledge you acquire and accumulate as it relates to your business and the industry.

Lastly, conduct regular assessments on your personal performance. Find a number of folks who will be brutally honest with you about your style, your results, your core competencies. Play to your strengths and stop dwelling on your weaknesses.

Here is a list of the top reads for all leaders:

 

8 Best Practices for Working Remote During the Pandemic Crisis

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

The world has sure changed in the last several days.  Things are developing by the minute and the fog of war element continues to creep into every discussion in our homes and workplaces.  As we move into a time of remote work, many find themselves operating, or trying to operate, in an unfamiliar environment.  For many, their homes have been their personal space, their sanctuary, away from the hustle and bustle of their professional life.  Now the two have come crashing together.

Here are 8 steps to take to improve your results for working from home:

  1. Start your day with your same routine.  If before your remote work began you woke, ran, ate breakfast, and caught up on your social feeds, then continue to do those same things in the same order.  Don’t allow yourself to put off your run until later in the day because you’ll be home.  Discipline is key.  You must maintain your routine first and foremost.
  2. If you live with friends or family, be sure they know exactly what’s required of you working from home.  While it may be impractical to ask multiple people for absolute silence while you work, you can at a minimum communicate the need for reduced noise.  Impress upon the members of the household the significance of being allowed to work from home and remain employed.  This is a good thing!
  3. Care for your pets…if you have them.  Ask for help from others in the house if you have a dog.  Remember, your animals will probably be wondering what’s going.  This will be a break from their norm.  Dogs may bark more often than usual until they adjust to your constant presence.
  4. Establish a formal work space.  If you have an office, you’re golden.  However, many do not have a formal office to work in.  Find a specific spot that you designate as your work area.  If you don’t have a desk you may find yourself using the kitchen table, or an old fashioned TV tray table to set up.  No matter how you set things up, make sure you focus on the “where” you set up.  Try to find a location that is as separate from your typical living area as possible.
  5. Make sure your electronic devices remained charged.  Set up charging stations.  If you have portable hotspots, tablets, multiple phones, or mobile power devices, remember to keep them charged.
  6. Pay attention to giving yourself time to get up and leave your remote work space.  If you were in an office, you’d likely get up occasionally to use the restroom, get water, coffee, or walk outside to get some air.  Be diligent in doing these things working from home.
  7. Communicate with your co-workers.  Many companies have implemented standard operating procedures for working remote.  Follow them.  If your company has not done this, be sure to remain in contact with your co-workers, even if it’s a quick simple email, chat, Skype, or Teams talk.
  8. Leverage video conferencing if available.  Seeing those you work with will help you stay connected and maintain the need for human connection.  Don’t underestimate the power of video chats.

Finally, if you find yourself with any downtime, have a book, or other form of developmental content handy.  This may include a list of blogs that are pertinent to your industry, or a variety of websites.  Keep you brain engaged rather than turning on the TV.  Productive work from home begins and ends with discipline.