Slow Down, Sell Faster

I am really enjoying the snow. It is gorgeous out this morning. The snow is still clean, the air is brisk. The stars are bright but fading. Beautiful.

I have really enjoyed this past week. Email, meetings, travel and call volume have all been much lower than usual. I notice my pace has dropped.

It is in these periods of low rush that my creativity tends to be the highest. Much of my life is spent in a rush.

I think of productivity a bit as a funnel. If there are lots of things coming in the top, that creates pressure and helps things move out the bottom more quickly. This is where my Time Management systems kick in to make sure I am getting the right things done.

So during this slower time, I do notice my productivity is lower. So one technique I have used is to pile more in the top of the funnel by creating new projects and new deadlines. I know I work better with a bit of deadline pressure.

But the offset is the lower creativity. So I am thinking I need to devise ways to slow down a bit. Unfortunately, that usually means being more ruthless about the calls and meetings that I take. It goes against my "don't be rude" meter but I think for me it makes sense.

This slow period ties in well to a book by Kevin Davis - Slow Down, Sell Faster - Understand your Customer's buying process and maximize your sales.

Slow Down emphasizes what we all know - knowledge is key. Seek first to listen. understanding a customers' needs helps sell way more than prematurely pitching.

It is a good book. Well written. I would consider it a must read for anyone selling big ticket products particularly in a B2B environment.

From a review on Hotelinteractive's site:

1. Avoid talking too soon about your solution. That tactic only gives your competitors an edge because the customer is likely in the middle of the buying process. Essentially, you reach the end of your sales process just as the customer arrives at the point when they start comparison shopping. To sell more and to sell faster, slow down your sales conversations. Get your customers to talk more about their needs, problems and opportunities. That knowledge will help you create a greater urgency for them to take action.

2. Don’t just dance with the one who brought ya! Most major purchasing decisions these days are made by a team of people. You can hit a lot of speed bumps if all your knowledge comes from only one contact. Get to a second and third decision-maker as quickly as you can in the process. Identify all the decision-makers on the complex buying team. Ask your contact, “What other key people should I talk with to gather more information about these problems and needs?"

3. Always seek to identify a second customer need. Why? The first need is the most understood by your customer, while the second need is typically not. Also, the first need may have been identified by your competitor, so by identifying a second need you have a chance to re-define the customer’s solution requirements in your favor.

4. Go down the corporate ladder before going up. Have you been taught to get to executive-level decisions makers as quickly as you can? That’s not bad advice… unless you go there with nothing interesting or important to say about the customer’s business. Going down the organizational chart to talk to users about their challenges and needs can give you insights that will help you deliver a more compelling message to executives.

5. If you are brought into the customer’s buying cycle late in the game, try to diagnose a need that your competitors have missed. That will help you go from laggard to leader in the customer's eyes.

6. Don’t “pitch” differentiators that have no connection to customer needs. Pick your top five differentiators, and first raise the problems those differentiators solve when you talk to a prospect. See where you get a strong reaction. For a differentiator to become a competitive advantage it must be connected to a customer problem.

7. Know at least three reasons why your customer should buy from you. These reasons must be connected to explicit customer needs. Otherwise, you have no right to ask for the customer's business.

8. Keep in close contact with the customer, especially when they are in a comparison mode. If you are asked to deliver a proposal or presentation, the odds are high that the customer is asking other suppliers as well. Talk to your sponsor ahead of time to see if anything has changed. Immediately after a presentation, schedule another appointment with your sponsor.

9. Help your customer define realistic expectations. Ask them: "Six months from today how will you know this decision was a success?"

10. Measure the success of a sales call based on what actions the customer takes afterwards, not by what you did during the meeting. When planning a sales call, then, ask yourself “what specific action do I want my prospect to take after this meeting, and by when?”

11. Convert intangible customer criteria into tangible criteria. You cannot make a case that some feature or capability of your solution is tied to a customer need if you don’t know how that need is defined.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to differentiate yourself based on what you sell because products and services are becoming increasingly alike,” Davis said. “Today’s most successful salespeople and organizations know they need to stand out based on how they sell. Salespeople who slow down each sales conversation end up spending more time with each prospect. Now, when relationships are so important to sales success, having a higher quantity and quality of time with each customer is going to result in higher sales.”

The 1% Solution

New York is still not quite out of the snow. Lots of bad press about it.

I am surprised by the number of abandoned and plowed in cars. it seems that part of the snow strategy is to hope for warm weather (and it is a bit warmer so should melt).

Surprise - I read a book. The 1% Solution - How to make your next 30 Days the Best Ever by Tom Connellan.

The book is written storybook style which I hate. But I still thought the book was excellent and made some great points.

The thesis of the book is to just try to do things 1% better. Seems easy and logical.

There was a good section on motivation and inspiration. Life follows the same laws as physics. It is all about momentum. So to succeed, you need to start things moving. The best way to get inspired is to accomplish something. And the best way to accomplish something is to take action. So build systems in to support starting to take action. Starting leads to momentum that often leads to accomplishment. It is a self reinforcing loop.

The book dumped on New Years Resolutions citing statistics like 88% of the resolutions are never kept and one in four people cannot even keep a resolution for a week. I, of course, love any time for setting goals so still intend to set them.

The valid point 1% makes is failing at resolutions can start a downward spiral and a loss of self esteem. And willpower is limited. This is a point Chip and Dan Heath make in their book Switch.

This is where 1% comes in. Partly this is in setting realistic goals. 1% is realistic. And the book suggests only working on one area for 30 days. This still means in a year, you will have improved on 12 areas which is impressive.

What make a self help book good in my opinion (and I must need lots of help to read so many of them) is if it inspires change. And I notice since reading it, I have run 5.05 miles instead of 5. And I am going to try to run 5K in 21:47. And sleep 19 1/2 minutes longer. Perhaps smile 1% more.

Some quotes from the book:

"too many people don't have 30 years experience, they have 1 year repeated 30 times" (so make this year different)

"What sets apart the top 1% is they cycle throughout the day between periods of concentrated effort and planned recovery"

"There is no point in doing well what you should not be doing at all"

"You start by doing something - however small - and once you accomplish that, your motivation goes up. And then you get more done. And then your motivation goes up..."

Wiki Brands

According the the NY Time is a good season to forgive. I agree.

Beautiful snow in NY today. Over a foot. Storm is mostly done now. Just blowing and digging out.

The RuMe bags I gave for Christmas went over well. Good blog entry on them.

I read an awesome and inspiring book - Wiki Brands - Reinventing Your Company in a Customer-driven Marketplace by Sean Moffitt and Mike Dover.

Mostly it was inspiring because I like marketing and social media and this book is at the intersection of those fields. It inspires me to remain active in Social Media. Sometime the Time Management Guy in me questions if it is a good use of time.

I love branding. Al Ries is one of my brand heros. He talks a lot about positioning. Wikibrands talks about the impact of social media on this positioning.

Wiki Brands reinforces that the web has given great power to the consumer. Consumers now can own the media through tweets and blogs. Companies need a keen awareness that what they do will be reported on. "Social media acts an accelerant for good news about the brand as well as for bad."

And online dialogue is now a two way street. The web speeds things up so responsiveness is key.

Companies do not own their brand, consumers in the internet age do. All companies can do is "help" guide and transparently contribute to help the brand move the right direction.

Marketing cannot fix a bad product. Working first on product and service excellence should be the primary goal of any company.

Wikibrands has a practical list of things companies can do to support an online community including:

"Ability to join a VIP circle
Access to an exclusive channel or influence
Access to exclusive resources
Chance for gaining wider fame
Reputation building
Recognition by the company
Recognition by pers
Sense of we-ness versus the rest of the population "

It is a good book. Worth reading.

10 Book Reviews in 10 Days

There is a nasty storm going on outside. Normally I would say a great one but it caused the cancellation of my kids flights to NY so this one is nasty. I was so looking forward to seeing them.

I am way behind in my book reviews (not my reading - just my reviews). Stormy weather is a great time to stay in an "book report". I am thinking to catch up, I will try 10 reviews in 10 days.

I was given a little book "Exercises for Gentlemen - 50 Exercises to do with Your Suit On" by Alfred Olsen M.D. and M. Ellsworth Olsen M.A. It was first published in 1908.

As expected, it has lots of exercises. Most not very strenuous (they are supposed to be done in a suit). Mostly they are common sense. Just move - it is healthier. And the book did remind me that you can do exercises almost anywhere and any time. And it reminded me of proper posture and breath.

What I particularly enjoyed were the statements made with certainty like:

"Avoid cheap novels and exciting stories" (what does that say about the next 9 days?)

"Unclean fingernails...are suggestive of bad breeding"

"Habits of strict personal cleanliness are the greatest importance in the maintenance of health" (and then goes on to say take a warm bath once a week)

and a section on the Evils of Overclothing:

"too much clothing is likely to interfere decidedly with an alert, vigorous, condition of the body"

It even advocates vegetarianism:

"Much meat excites lust, intemperance and savagery in a man"

Cute little book. Things have changed..

Do and Grow Rich

First a holiday coupon for my readers. Go to http://www.saffronrouge.com/ and use ESTILL as the coupon code to get 10% off.

I love Napoleon Hill’s classic book “Think and Grow Rich.”

I sometimes see people who like the idea of thinking just makes it happen. In practice, I think doing helps. There is always a balance between thinking(planning) and doing. Wishing alone does not work (at least for me).

Thanks to Charlie Perer of Intermix Capital for passing on a piece Ken Keller wrote with an interesting view of Think and Grow Rich:

This best-seller was written based on primary research conducted by the author to determine how and why some individuals gain significant wealth while others flounder.

The original copyright of the book is 1937. The research was conducted during a time not dissimilar to present day, a time of economic uncertainty.

One of the major principles highlighted is that successful individuals perform planning regularly in an organized fashion.

Under this heading, Hill suggests that owners conduct what he calls an “annual self-analysis.”

The objective of the exercise is to discover if a person is going ahead, standing still or going backward in life.

Quiet reflection is sometimes painful, but it often yields great insight and results. Here are 15 questions from “Think and Grow Rich” that an owner would benefit from devoting some time this month to consider.

1. If I had been the purchaser of my own company’s goods and services this year, would I have been satisfied with what I received?

2. Have the purchasers of my company’s goods and services been satisfied with the purchases, and if not, why not?

3. In what ways has my company rendered more service and better service than what the customer has paid for?

4. Has my company delivered service to customers in the best possible quality of which it was capable, or could we improve any part of the service?

5. Has my company delivered the service to customers in the greatest possible quantity that we were capable?

6. Have I personally attained the goal I established as my own objective for the year? (This question is based on Hill’s research that suggests a person who desires success should have a definitive yearly objective to be attained as part of a major life objective).

7. Have I been persistent in following my plans through to completion?

8. Have I reached decisions promptly and definitely on all occasions?

9. Have my opinions and decisions been based upon guesswork or accuracy of analysis and thought?

10. Have I permitted the habit of procrastination to decrease my efficiency, and if so, in what ways?

11. How much time have I devoted to unprofitable efforts which I might have used to better advantage?

12. How may I re-budget my time and change my habits so I will be more efficient during the coming year?

13. Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious and cooperative at all times?

14. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to respect me?

15. Have I been open-minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects?

Hill suggests that this analysis be performed in December of each year, so that any changes can be stated in the form of New Year’s resolutions.

The easiest way to tackle these questions is to address five at a time over a period of three days. Even the busiest owner can carve out some time to think through these questions.

To insure accuracy, Hill recommends that the answers be reviewed with someone who won’t allow the owner any wiggle room when answering.

The principles of success haven’t changed much in the decades since “Think and Grow Rich” was published. Answering 15 questions every December could very well make a significant difference in more than just the business and the owner; it could impact employees, vendors and clients as well.

Drowning in Oil

Finally we have a touch of winter.

I read a gripping book about the BP oil spill in the gulf called Drowning in Oil - BP and the Reckless Pursuit of Profit by Loren Steffy. As the title suggests, the author feels that the disaster in the gulf was largely caused by BP's pursuit of profit. The book is clearly written with an anti-BP slant (although well documented so likely truthful in much of it)

Lots of facts like:

"in 2005, government inspectors found only one safety violation at Exxon's refineries - at BP, they found more than 700 (largely due to repeated safety violations)"

"BP was consistently fined for breaching health and safety regulations, resulting in millions of dollars"

"BP's refusal to modernize pipe systems which lead to corrosion and leaks along with delaying maintenance of known defective alarms."

etc.

Although this is a non-fiction account of what happens, it reads like an exciting spy thriller. The minutes leading up to the explosion through to hours afterwards are exciting (and horrific).

The book talks about the previous BP accident at Prudhoe Bay that cut off so much oil supply that the price of oil surged by over $2 per gallon. "Soon, the entire country was paying the price for BP's neglect". As if cheap oil is our right.

I was surprised the author did not comment about North America's insistence on using huge amounts of oil as being a right. It seems to me we would be much better off with a bit of conservation. The cost of externalities like environment, terrorism, safety and health are huge in the oil business.

Drowning in Oil reviews the CEO track records at BP. Great careers left in ruins. Reputation is fragile.

The book talks about "superficial" safety. EG - no talking on cell phones even with hands free in the parking lot while allowing probabilities of fatal accidents on the drilling rigs left untouched.

Another book "Safe by Accident - Take the Luck out of Safety - Leadership Practices that buil a Sustainable Safety Culture" elaborates on some of the foibles of BP safety practice. EG - the dangers of reprisal for reporting unsafe conditions and the culture of cover ups.

Safe by Accident is more of a hands on manual with practical ideas on how to really make safety work. Debunking the myth that safety posters, incentive programs and punishment work.

The book emphasizes the appropriate use of technology, how to use positive reinforcement, and talks about why incentives should not be based on incident rates but shoud be based on behavior.

Good book for any company looking to improve their company safety.

11 Secrets of Tactful and Diplomatic Selling

A friend of mine talked to me about internal family business politics. A different friend talked to me about frustration in working for a big company and not being able to "get her way" which was causing high frustration.

I loved being in business with all my brothers and even hired my father. We worked together for years. On balance I loved those years. And somehow we avoided some of the problems I have heard of in other family businesses.

I also had the big company experience for almost 5 years after SYNNEX bought EMJ. My job often included the need to "sell" head office on an idea or get resources to implement things. to some extent, I even had that when EMJ was public for 10 years as I had a board of directors.

The key in both cases is to make the sale but leave the relationship stronger than before. Much of this has to do with ego and respect.

I studied how to sell and developed these 11 secrets of making tactful and diplomatic sales.

1 - None of these secrets work in every situation or with every person. Secrets (or perhaps I should call them techniques) are situational and person dependent.

2 - Speak highly of everyone. I find speaking highly of people tends to make things come true. (perhaps that is why my brother, Glen, is a genius?)

3 - Let the idea incubate. I often found that I was completely convinced that an idea was a good one so I just wanted to implement it. But then I thought about why I was convinced. I had often been thinking of it for weeks. I had often done research. I had given the idea a chance to grow on me. In many cases, I found when I let the idea grow on other people, they "bought" into it. So present, leave them with information, then back off to let it grow (but of course follow through).

4 - Sell multiprong. Selling requires to support of all. So I would start socializing my ideas with everyone who might have influence. I would even figure out who might influence and make sure I touched them. That way if the person I needed to sell went elsewhere for advice, the idea would be supported.

5 - Think downside. Often the reason I could not get instant support was due to a fear. So in every opportunity, I would design downside protections. Ways to limit risk. And I would point those out. This goes with my Fail Often, Fail Fast, Fail Cheap. Cheap means looking at downside.

6 - How you talk to people is every bit as important as what you say to them. Much of selling is about respect. I use some of the age old selling phrases like - Feel, Felt, Found. I know how you feel, I felt the same way when I thought of the idea but what I found was this would really help us because...

Another one I use is "that is not like you". "It is not like you to never take a risk...". When repeated often enough, people start to believe it themselves.

My earlier experience taught me not to use lines like "I am surprised they would give anyone so stupid an MBA" or "Let me get you some fish oil so your brain can work better".

7 - Trade. Often I would trade support of another project for mine. In organizations, we all have things we are passionate about but others we are not as sure about. If their passion is not mine and what they need support of is not bad, then I would trade support.

8 - Ask the How question. I find people are much more creative and open when asked "how could we fit another 20 containers in the warehouse" than "Why can't we fit them in?". The act of answering how causes people to think creatively.

9 - Fear is a great motivator. Often people would object to my ideas because they always meant lots of work and change. If found people would buy in to change better if they realized the status quo was just not possible. So we were going to have to change anyways we may as well change this way.

10 - Build the relationship. I tend to be an all work guy (particularly when I was younger). So it took deliberate action for me to spend time building relationships when I had no specific agenda at that moment. What I have found is deep relationships make decisions easier.

11 - Ask them to argue the other side. If someone prepare the case for why something should be done, it reinforces something in them that causes them to support the idea. I like to say "Ok - your turn to sell the idea and I will play devils advocate".

So now the secrets are not secrets.

Social Nation

I ran the 4th annual Turkey trot in Huntington yesterday. Great weather. 40 degrees at the start. It was a hilly 4 mile course. My time was 29:58 which was good since my goal was 30 minutes.

Then I celebrated US Thanksgiving with friends. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. I lead a charmed life.

And today, I will dig in and get caught up on things.
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I read a great book by Barry Libert - "Social Nation - How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Attract Customers, Motivate Employees and Grow Your Business". Sometimes a book is great because it reinforces and clarifies things you already know at some level. Social Nation is one such book for me.

I am quite active in social media and I have been active since fairly early in the cycle. I Tweet daily and send those same updates on Facebook and Linkedin. And of course I blog.

It starts with a quote(and everyone knows I love quotations):

"We make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give" Winston Churchill.

Part of being an active participant in social media is giving back. The challenge I have is I am such a time management fanatic that I filter what I say based on "less is better" and "respect others time".

Social media exploded even during down swings in the economy. The book cites examples of companies like Avon that were able to dramatically impact their sales through social media during the downturn.

Part 1 sells that social media is big and here to stay.

Part 2 has 7 principles for building your Social Nation. Things like Principle 4 - Monitor and measure your communities' contributions and Principle 6 - Rely on your community for growth and innovation.

Part 3 is how to get started.

Part 3 has a chapter on "How to get started and 10 pitfalls to avoid". Things like number 2: "underinvesting in social initiatives and abandoning them too soon".

Social Nation talks about the similarities between online and offline. Simple etiquette applies to both. Be genuine. Be nice. Obvious but...

I liked that the book separated real readers and just followers. Or as Libert says "differentiating friends and followers from fans and fanatics". I know I could build 100,000 twitter followers in a couple of months. But few of them would actually read what I tweet. Confusing eyeballs with readers (or fans and fanatics) is a common social media error.

It is a good general book on social media that covers most of the bases. I often give speeches on social media and will cite this book as a good source. It goes well with Hilary Toppers "Everything you wanted to know about Social Media but were Afraid to Ask". Now I think I should write one on "How to do Social Media in 20 minutes per day" since I see a need for people to figure out how to be efficient in the use of it.

Angel Capital vs. Venture Capital

Angels and VCs are often very synergistic.

The line between venture capital and angel capital can be blurry.   I know some VCs who have invested $500,000 in an deal and I know some Angels who have invested $3,000,000. I know some small VC funds have only $10-20M and I know some angels have placed more than that.

For purposes of discussion here though, I go with Angels being smaller an VCs being larger.

There are also huge variations in the degree of sophistication and backgrounds so there are no hard and fast rules but...

Angels can often:

1 - Spend more time monitoring the investment. I like to even dole out money monthly based on milestones and performance rather than giving a huge lump sum amount up front. VCs love this detailed attention and the feeding $ in over time can often save them money. If required, the terms on the money going in sometimes need to change based on performance.

2 - Spend time coaching, training and mentoring the entrepreneurs. Many Angels are successful business people with deep experience on growing and scaling businesses. This coaching can add significantly to the value.

3 - Be more in the detail of the business. Their background in operations of a business often makes them more suitable to do the detail work.

4 - Care more about the business. For many Angels, the investment is more significant so they will watch things closer than a VC might. The same goes with personal touch. For many Angels, their investments are personal and they take things personally. I find Angels do not give up as quickly and that can add value to the VC.

VC can often:

1 - Provide more money and more follow on rounds of financing. This added cash is often needed to get the company to profitability.

2 - Provide introductions. Many VCs have deep rolodexes and respect that gets calls with key parties returned.

3 - Provide more mature views on business, exits, growth etc. VCs often think big which can inspire companies to be great.

4 - Provide due diligence. I know some angel groups like Golden Seeds do awesome due diligence but on the whole, VCs are better than Angels at it.

5 - Help in negotiation. Negotiation is much of what VCs do is negotiation so they tend to be good at it.

There are overlaps and there are synergies. Angels and VCs can be synergistic and good matches.

I know this differs from some peoples' view of early exits.

Mostly Links and Random Thoughts

Today, I thought I would change it up a bit an just do a few links to content that might interest. I had feedback that my blog was turning into just a book review blog.


I am feeling optimistic today. I did an interview where I spoke of my business optimism called How to Own the Future.

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I read with interest an article on Tech Crunch about Linkedin's success. They are adding a member a minute. What I like about Linkedin is everyone maintains their own contact information so unlike my contact database that has old email addresses, they tend to be current. Linkedin members is different that web site hits since some members log on daily and others would be dormant. Linkedin is a good example of the network effect.

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I am looking forward to Brothers weekend this weekend. Always good to see them. Glen won the Rural Community Power Award:

Rural Community Power Award: Glen Estill. “As a pioneer of Ontario’s wind industry, Glen Estill represents the ideal of what a developer should be. Glen has successfully developed a number of projects in his community of Lions Head and has always actively worked with his neighbours to ensure that they are not just a step in the process but partners in the project. Glen continues to champion renewable energy by helping spur wind and solar initiatives in his community, helping others help themselves, while being an articulate voice of reason online through his blog and within the larger renewable energy sector.”

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I wrote a marketing article on "The Power of Free" for CMA Blog.

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Funny video on ideas and brain crack.

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My health hint for the day is to smile. This is not natural for me so need to work on it. Smiling helps you live longer.

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My 20 minutes of blog time is up. My most popular article of all time remains "How to write an Article in 20 Minutes"

Early Exits

Angel investors and VCs all like to sell one of their portfolio companies. This is called the exit.

Basil Peters, a famous angel investor wrote a book Early Exits - Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors (and maybe not VCs). Yes - the title includes the maybe not VCs part.

His thesis is that most businesses sell in the $10-30M range so it is best for angel investors to push for a sale at that point which can provide a great return for the angels and for the entrepreneurs rather than holding on, raising VC funds and trying for the big IPO or $100M+ sale.

The theory is VCs muddy the water because they tend to want to big win and push the entrepreneurs to hold on for the big exit often to the point of having the business fail. I have heard VCs say they would rather lose all their money trying than exit for a modest profit.

I like the theory. I like small wins. They suit my conservative risk profile. Better to take a small profit than always wait for the big one.

But I do not like the theory if it is the only way. As with many things, there is no right answer. Where would RIM be if they had sold before they went public? I doubt they would be $15B in sales and $2.5B in profit.

And I love the $100M exits. Not only for the returns but for the intensity. And it tends to be the big exits that leave meaningful marks on an industry and change the way things are.

For me - I like both. There is a right exit for everything.

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I read Smart Moves Management - Cultivating World-Class People and Profits by John Thedford.

Thedford is the founder of a chain of pawn shops - Value Financial Services. This gave me the wrong knee jerk reaction to start. I am borderline to thinking pawn shops prey on the poor. He did give some interesting pawn shop stats - 80% of what people pawn, they reclaim. Only 0.1% of what is pawned is stolen.

And he has succeeded in a very tough industry in growing a $100M+ company.

Thedford is straightforward about why he wrote the book. To attract staff and to gain business. I liked his refreshing attitude on this.

The big thesis is "pay people well and put them in the right positions". He also thinks he can hire the right people. I have always said despite our best efforts, we will hire average people. It is managements' job to make them above average. This is done through slotting people properly into the right job, Giving them the tools to do the job well. Designing the job to "work" and constantly refining it to make it better. Some coaching and mentoring. Lots of training. Treating people with respect. And finally inspiring them.

He offers 41 "Smart Moves" on what a business should do to thrive. EG Smart Move 26 - Discover the Benefits of Long-Term Training Programs.

I liked chapter 11 on "real profits". He correctly points out that many companies do financial engineering moves and make short term decisions in the short term interest of profits while sacrificing the long term business. (Smart Move 41 - Make Profits Possible)

It has a good bibliography of business books. Likely worth reading all of them.

Its a Jungle In There

Sometimes I like to work slowly. I think this is one reason I love early mornings. If I have 3 hours before the world starts, I can putter away at things and still be on top of things. I love the feeling of being caught up and on top of things.

Of course I am not advocating working slowly. One of my strengths is the ability to work quickly and efficiently for long periods of time.

But as I always say Leadership(Direction/Work on the right thing) before Management(efficiency). That is the thesis behind my Time Management book.

Time is a substitute to efficiency.

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I read It's a Jungle In There - Inspiring Lessons, Hard-Won Insights and Other Acts of Entrepreneurial Daring by Steven Schussler. I could tell from the title that I would love it. I always like reading books about entrepreneurship.

Schussler is the founder of the highly successful Rainforest Cafe (hence the jungle theme). Apparently his Minnesota home has a life size elephant replica and 40 live tropical birds. He sounds like quite a character.

He shares a list of 5 P's of breakthrough success:

Personality (Schussler has it. It shines through in the book)

Product "Be excellent or be gone". Sweat the small stuff.

Persistence "Never say die"

People - be genuine and care

Philanthropy - give some back. It provides purpose. He has a great chapter on passion which clearly is what drives business success. I think he may have well had passion as the 5th P.

The book starts with a section on risk taking. The interesting thing is I never really considered myself to be a risk taker. I have always felt more in control when I am doing my own entrepreneurial businesses. I, personally, think entrepreneurship is not really about taking big risks.

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" T. S. Elliot

Each chapter starts with a self examination question. I likely would have got more from the book by reading it more reflectively. Example of a question he asks:

"Once your creation is in the marketplace do you still look to improve it?"

and

"Do you consider the impact you have when selling your product or service?"

And then each chapter goes on to delve into the reflective question.

Good book. Interesting. Inspiring. Worth reading.

The First 30 Days as CEO

It seems presumptuous for me to post "advice" but a friend is likely taking on a new CEO role and I have been thinking about the best 90 day plan.

The first 30 days of a 90 day plan in a new leadership role seems obvious to me. They are "Listen and Learn". Regardless of background and experience, there will still be lots to learn.

Some of the things to focus on learning:

1 - Peoples names. I asked everyone to email me a photo of themselves. I also had people laser print their names in big letters for their cubicles. And nametags are essential for the first number of gatherings. I would schedule breakfasts, lunches and dinners with staff as well as whole group meetings.

2 - Metrics of the business. Figure out how the money is made. What measurements are in place and what measures are important.

3 -Meet the key customers. Developing relationships quickly is key. So the sooner you can start - the easier.

4 - Meet key suppliers. Again -developing relationships is a key part of the position. I asked for a list of suppliers and called them all to introduce myself and followed up with an email.

5 -I suggest high presence - so being there counts. I would start my day before most people arrived and end it after most people left. This one is a bit of a tough judgment call - to travel or not. I chose not to travel much in the first month but to call everyone who were in other locations.

And through all of this - LISTEN carefully. What are people saying? For me, copious note taking helped crystallize thinking. I tried to not make suggestions for the first 30 days.

At the same time, I am suggesting NOT doing anything. So freeze decisions to the extend possible. My experience is many of the decisions that are pressed for are simply not well thought through which is why previous management did not implement them. Many decisions that are pressed for do not take into account the whole picture.

My second 30 day plan was the 5 Whys.

The Laws of Charisma

I often say "I never get sick" which is largely true (although perhaps a bit of an overstatement of positive thinking). I read yesterday that exercise is a good preventative and cure for the common cold. And I do exercise a bit so perhaps it is true that I get less colds.

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I read a book by Kurt Mortensen called "The Laws of Charisma - How to Captivate, Inspire and Influence for Maximum Success".

I had previously read that there is no connection between charisma and success as a CEO. This book makes a convincing case that it does matter and goes on to outline how anyone can improve their charisma.

The book has 5 sections:

1 - Presence - What Do You Radiate.

Chapters in this section include among other things Passion, Optimism, Humor and Happiness and my favorite Energy and Balance (also called Vibrant Well Being)

2 - Core Qualities - The Inside Dictates the Outside.

Chapters in this section include such topics as Self-Discipline, Competence, Purpose, Integrity etc.

3 - Delivery and Communication - Speak with Conviction.

Chapters in this section talk about presentation skills, communication, listening etc. I have long been an advocate of Toastmasters for almost anyone at any level in an organization. Although this section of the book was on a lot more than just public speaking.

4 - Empowering Others: Contagious Cooperation

Chapters in this section talk about credibility, goodwill, empathy, respect etc. I know from experience that empowered teams accomplish great things. I also know that my "control freak" attitudes through the years have held me back. I am getting better at this though (the more I know myself, the better I do)

5 - Subconscious Triggers:It Just Feels Right - Or Not.

Chapters here talk about emotional state, how you say things and even physical appearance (uh oh - better up my game).

The conclusion was "The Fable of the Fighting Brothers" which I read with interest since I grew up with 3 brothers (one of whom emailed me after reading my Diet Broth recipe yesterday and said it sounded dreadful and that he would plan the meals at the next brothers weekend) and we did our fair share of fighting. And of course I could tell you the whole fable but there is a difference between a book review and a book summary - and this is a review.

And one of the closing quotes from the book:

"It is not what you are going to do, its what you are doing now that counts" Napoleon Hill

Jim's Longevity Diet Broth

I promised something other than a book review or race report so here is something else I do.

When I am at home, I make "Jim's Special Secret Organic Longevity Diet Broth" three or four times each day. (Perhaps I should open a marketing company since I am so good at coming up with memorable names for products)

The recipe is simple. First I turn on the kettle. Then I go outside and pick a good size handful of fresh herbs and greens(about 1/2 cup loose). At this time of year my options are limited but I still have a fair crop of parsley and chives so lately it has been mostly that.

I cut the herbs up finely with scissors and put them in my 16 oz wide mouth thermos. Pour boiling water on them.

One of my favourite broths is just basil. 1/2 C basil is flavourful and the best.

I also add spinach, lettuce, beet greens, turnip greens etc when they are in season. Cutting them with scissors as I do allows me to use the slightly tougher greens and stems that are available at this time of year. As I write, I am sipping on a broth made with beet greens.

Sometimes I add something to give it a bite like a spoonful of salsa, a slice of jalapeno pepper (which were a great crop this year) or some curry powder. I also sometimes grind some cumin for it. I never add salt but that may be just my taste.

Sometimes I add a teaspoon of small lentils and/or oatmeal or rice. This adds a bit more substance.

The broth is ready to drink/eat in an hour (but often I wait 3-4 hours and it is still hot). For maximum health impact, I suggest using that hour to run 12 K.

Although I call it broth, I eat the "greens" with a spoon. So eat the whole thing.

It is that simple.

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Economics change behavior. I have long been an advocate of dramatically increasing energy prices to change peoples' behavior.

There is a cute (but horrible) story on economics and prisoners in the 1700's that illustrates the power of economics.

The Next Level Book Review

A good friend asked me if I do anything but read and run. I guess that is a lot of what my blog has turned into - a book review and race report. Next week, I promise to tell you about Jim's Organic Healthy Herbal Longevity Broth. But for now, another book review:

I read Scott Elbin's "The Next Level - What Insiders Know About Executive Success". This is a second edition with some updates. I always figure any book on an X edition is likely a good book (My Time Management Book is on the 4th edition and I know for me, I will likely do a 5th edition and update it a lot. The last edition was about 5 years ago and things change)

The Next Level starts with a list of 4 reasons executives fail:

Ineffective Communication
Poor Work Relationships and Interpersonal Skills
Failure to Clarify Direction or Performance Expectations
Failure to Adapt and Break Old Habits.

It attacks these problems with a table which lists things to do and things to drop to move to the next level. Each chapter then elaborates individually on each item on the chart with how to ideas.

One datapoint that I found interesting is high potential leaders "regularly seeks out knowledge and experience to perform at higher levels". This is something I have always practiced. I like to envision what it would be like to sell $X and have Y employees - what would I need to know, how would I need to act. Then I set about to learn and study. I think this has been how I was fortunate enough to scale from running a business from the trunk of my car up to $2 Billion in sales. I study.

I loved that the book even had a section on my favourite topic "what should I repeatedly do".

The book suggests using the GROW method to solve problems:

Goal

Reality

Options

Whats Next

At the end of each chapter was a list of 10 tips. EG 10 tips for Picking Up Defining What to Do and Letting Go of Telling How to Do It.

There is a good appendix on creating your ESP - Executive Success Plan. And another one with a list of situations and where in the book to find details on the situation.

The Intangibles of Leadership

I read a book "The Intangibles of Leadership - The 10 Qualities of Superior Executive Performance" by Richard Davis.

I am a big believer that leadership is mostly about intangibles.

The first intangible is wisdom. Daunting although Davis gives hope that we all have wisdom and that it can be developed:

"Often we think of wisdom as something inborn, an attribute some possess and others do not." "...these conceptions of wisdom miss the mark. First, none of us is born wiser than anyone else...Second, wisdom is not passively obtained, it is the result of conscious reflection, evaluation and decision."

Davis goes on to explain tangible ways to gain wisdom - things like "seek out new ideas", "find a mentor", "designate time for reflection" etc.

"Knowledge is the process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification" Martin Fischer

Makes me think. Perhaps I pursue knowledge too much and do not allow myself enough time to find wisdom.

One of the intangibles is Fortitude. The closing line in that chapter:

"Your leadership destiny will be determined largely by the strength with whcih you confront challenges"

The book continues with other intangibles like integrity (the obvious one), presence, will, self-insight etc.

It is a good book that provokes thought.

Gives me a new list of 10 things I can work towards.
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I ran the Babylon Post Office Cafe 5K on Saturday. Good time (for me) 22:11 but still did not place. It was beautifully cool weather. I run better in the cool.

Conscientious Equity Book Report

I read a new book by Neal Asbury called Conscientious Equity - An American Entrepreneur's Solution to the World's Greatest Problems.

His thesis is that businesses can help solve the problems of the world through having what he calls a Conscientious Equity Accord that includes:

1 - Strong Labor rights (especially around child labor)

2 - Powerful anti corruption rules (He makes an excellent case that poverty and corruption are linked. )

3 - Stringent environmental protections (my personal view is we need to bring current externalities into the economic system.)

4 - Access to foreign markets the same as those accorded to what they are granted in our markets (I agree with the theory but fear that all countries will try to tip the balance in their favour. I am nervous about the increasing protectionism I see in the US - especially as it relates to Canada which I suspect is an unintended consequence)

5 - Ironclad intellectual property safeguards

6 - Global rules of law that make this all enforceable globally (this is the one I see as a challenge)

He believes in free trade (as do I) and thinks the people of the world can prosper if given a chance to compete fairly. He speaks about the tariff applied to US goods in China (from the artificially low currency) and how allows China to sell seven times as many goods in the US as the US sells to China.

The book is a must read for anyone thinking of entering foreign markets. Although it might make it almost too scary to consider.

Nando Parrado and James Cameron

I have heard Nando Parrado speak twice before. I have watched the movie Alive. The story of the rugby team that crashed on a plane in South America. Many of those in the crash had never seen snow. They were dressed in tshirts. No food. No water. They resorted to cannibalism but that is not the real story. That is a sideline.

Nando's mother and sister died in the crash.

45 people crashed in the Andes. 29 people survived the initial crash. 24 of those had no major injuries. Ultimately only 16 survived.

Nando ultimately walked out to be rescued. 10 1/2 days walk over rugged mountains. He lost 65 pounds during the trek.

Random unknown choices saved his life. Nando sat in row 9. Everyone after row 9 died.

It sure makes anything I have to deal with seem small.

I am always thankful for the charmed life I lead. Hearing Nando makes me even more thankful.

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Moving and sad story but reminds me of a humorous "child" memories

When my daughter Laura was about 3 or 4 she asked me "daddy - are we vegetarians or are we cannibals?"

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The final speaker of World Business Forum was James Cameron. He is an impressive visionary (especially in light of what I am doing with Three2N).

Of course it started with a video presentation. His speech was done interview style.

Cameron is a real leader in the modern movie industry (Titantic, Terminator, Avatar and lots of others). He writes, directs, produces etc. He does everything in the film industry.

Doing multiple films is a lot like being a serial entrepreneur. Each movie is a complete startup. Start with nothing and build from there. He likes to start with a few known people and mix in some new people to add to the creativity and energy.

Avatar was a longer than usual project. It took over 4 years to produce.

His comments:

"to get the most from people, you need to respect them on a daily basis". "Give people permission to make mistakes and they are less likely to make them." "Harness the power of the wave. You do not make the wave but you harness it still." "5 years from now, most films will be 3D. Bad 3D will hurt the adoption." "Don't watch TV for 6 hours per day"

He was a fitting person to end a great program. I tend not to be star struck, that said, he is an inspiration.

Blue Ocean Strategy

Listening to Renee Mauborgne - author of Blue Ocean Strategy. Blue Ocean Strategy is one of my favourite books. A must read for any leader. What Renee is saying:

"The role of management is to enhance productivity or creativity of organizations.". Clearly we should spend more time on the creativity but reality is we tend to focus more on just the productivity.

Increasingly creativity is going to take on a more important role. In the future, productivity alone will not be enough.

Blue Ocean is about going beyond competition. Too often I see companies chasing the competitor rather than looking for the new untapped markets. The key is to go for market creating rather than market competing moves.

She gives examples of companies entering new markets. They not only can have the lowest cost structure but no price competition. Wow - a business persons' dream.

4 ways to find a Blue Ocean:

1 - Eliminate what customers do not need
2 - Reduce what they do not value

3 - Raise value of what people get from your industry
4 - Create new markets completely

If you can redefine your industry challenge, you will find a Blue Ocean.

They tend to not get copied easily since the market share can become so dominant so quickly and at the same time, they tend to be non-traditional.

Blue Ocean particularly works well in a high cost country like Canada or the US. Over time all Blue Oceans become Red (meaning lots of competition)

In the current economy, Blue Ocean Strategy seems to be the solution. I think the key is to be able to take time to reflect in an environment that stimulates creativity (for me, a conference like this does that for me as does reading a good book) Easily said but ...

Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Al Gore

Joseph Stiglitz is a renown professor. Like most of the speakers at World Business Forum, he has authored a few books including Free Fall.

His session was a Q and A style. He is answering semi-political questions about the stimulus program.

He said "we need to retrofit ourselves for global warming"

"We are destroying our human capital".

"The new normal will be much higher levels of unemployment."

"It is not the interest rate that stimulates growth, it is availability of capital"

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Al Gore spoke. Of course a lot about the environment. He emphasized the danger of an energy policy that encourages dependence on middle east oil. His suggestion is security and carbon are closely connected.

As our population moves from 2 Billion to 9 Billion over the next 40 years, our planet will be increasingly taxed. He sees a need to dampen that by education and empowerment of women.

He also spoke of the need for jobs. His suggestion that we can put people to work by moving more strongly into energy alternatives.

Some Quotes:

"a humans we confuse the impossible with the improbable. If it has not happened in the past it will not happen in the future."

"I am a big believer in business and capitalism"

"burning of coal is the largest contributor to global warming. Oil and gas are second"

"2010 so far is the hottest year in history since temperatures have been recorded. The number of all time highs is unprecedented"

" US consumes more oil products than the next 20 consuming countries combined"

"water level rising at 1 cm per decade with the threat of meter plus rises to come"

"China is number one in solar and wind"

"we are entering a period of consequences" (regarding the environment)

Of course he is a good speaker. He is also a consummate politician.

Steven Levitt - Freakonomics

I am listening to Steve Levitt, author of Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics. He is a professor in economics. He is a micro economist (so looks at the impact in companies and individuals) and does not try to look at the macro economy.

He makes economics interesting. He is funny, self depreciating and a good story teller.

He told the story of a lowly IRS clerk, John Silage, who noticed many of the names of children on forms were strange - like Fluffy and Spike. John suggested to the IRS that they add SSN of children to the tax form. It took a few years to get that idea to get implemented. When it was implemented, 7,000,000 children vanished overnight. This was 1 in 10 children. It made the government billions of dollars.

It was an amazing story of economics. The inertia of big business (like the IRS) to whom it was a minor pain to implement. The low enforcement rate caused low moral compass among a huge percent of the population.

I have always known the data in business is valuable. Levitt re-emphasizes that. There is gold in the data. The more the better. Then of course ask the right questions and do the right analysis.

He talks a lot about marketing. He really appreciates testing and would be a big believer in split run marketing that I write about in "Overspray in Marketing".

Joseph Grenny

Listening to Joseph Grenny at World Business Forum yesterday. He cowrote The Power to Change Anything, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes are High, and Crucial Confrontations.

He is a great speaker. Marketing oriented.

"Our greatest capacity is the ability to influence others". "The root cause of underperformance in our organizations is not a lack of ideas, it's a lack of influence," says Grenny. "Through incorporating the Influencer model, leaders can develop a robust strategy to execute on the initiatives most important to their organization."

The key is to know how to "Influence Change". There are 6 Personal Motivations- the first 2 are:

1 - something is more fun or more painful. To influence ideally change fun or pain. Sometimes this is because people are not in touch with the long term impact - EG eat sugar (pleasure now, pain (fat) later.)

Want more influence - tell potent stories.

2 - Sometimes there is a lack of skill. People are just not sure what they need to do. Work on skill building.

Interesting.

Looking forward to another good day today.
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Completely unrelated but I thought this was a good time management book quote:

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will
pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."

— Earl Nightingale

Charlene Li

The current speaker is Charlene Li social media maven and author of Open Leadership anf Groundswell. Of course I find it interesting since I like social media - Facebook (I only do a bit), Twitter, Linkedin and even blogging.

In the age of social media, companies are no longer in control. The media now includes individuals. And individuals can multiply. Li says in this world, companies need to be fast online and open. It is about relationships. Conversation. Transparency.

"Social Media allows any employee to have a greater relationship with customers. It can be inspiring or terrifying."

"Be disciplined about social media". She suggests monitoring comments and then reach out directly to the source or respond publicly. Great theory but for a large company the number of mentions are so great, the magnitude of the job is huge. That is why a company like General Sentiment that measures whether what is said is good or bad can help filter.

She quoted John Hayes - CMO of Amex who said "We tend to overvalue the things we can measure and undervalue the things we cannot".

Jack Welch

I am listening to Jack Welsh at World Business Forum. He certainly has opinions.

I am not a big Jack Welch advocate. I see him as harsh on people. I view his black and white opinions as well...too black and white. This said, he has a lot we can learn from.

He actually does twitter and does his own tweets.

I like Jack's view that HR is a critical function. He really emphasizes hiring the best people. He is famous for his "fire the bottom 10%". It is known by some as Rank and Yank. His assumption is that you can know which are the best.

When asked the question about this. He does acknowledge that people are not in the "category" forever.

Jack says "those guys that say getting rid of the bottom 10% demoralizes people have been in the classroom too long"

I like that he is in favor of trade and likes entrepreneurs. Welch said "We have to grow the pie. We have to celebrate entrepreneurs. "

I like his views on innovation (we need more of it and it is a key driver).

Some Quotes by Jack Welch

"Be candid with everyone. "

"Change before you have to. "

"Control your own destiny or someone else will. "

"Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be. "

"Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act. "

"If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them. "

"The Internet is the Viagra of big business. "

Jim Collins

I am blogging live at World Business Forum.

The first speaker is Jim Collins - author of Good to Great and Built to Last.

"Good is the enemy of Great."

Good to Great studied

Built to Last studied why some companies last and why others fail. He identified 5 stages of decline. The scary part is it is not until stage 4 that companies realize they are in decline.

The stages:

1 - Hubris. Arrogance. I have often seen this characteristic in not only successful companies but in successful people. The obvious answer - practice humility.

2 - Undisciplined pursuit of more. I can see how companies fall into this trap.

3 - Denial of Risk and Peril. I always like Andrew Grove's(Intel) quote and the title of his book "Only the Paranoid Survive". To remain great, companies must see the risks.

4 - Grasping for Salvation.

5 - Failure.

Some Jim Collins quotes:

"I've never found an important decision made by a great organization that was made at a point of unanimity. Significant decisions carry risks and inevitably some will oppose it. In these settings, the great legislative leader must be artful in handling uncomfortable decisions, and this requires rigor."

"Level 5 leaders are differentiated from other levels of leaders in that they have a wonderful blend of personal humility combined with extraordinary professional will. Understand that they are very ambitious; but their ambition, first and foremost, is for the company's success. They realize that the most important step they must make to become a Level 5 leader is to subjugate their ego to the company's performance. When asked for interviews, these leaders will agree only if it's about the company and not about them."

"A great company will have many once-in-a-liftetime opportunities."

Planning in Advance

I have been following the collusion allegations about super angels with amusement. It started with an article in Tech Crunch Occasionally I invest as an angel. 95% of the time I co-invest with other angels or VCs. So I often meet with other angels.

Collusion simply cannot happen when there are too many players. There are thousands of Angels and VCs. I guess if there is a concern, the entrepreneur should shop their opportunity to a few different places. I would not want to invest in any entrepreneur that was not savvy enough to do that.

It is smart for Angels to talk to each other. We often need expertise, contacts or knowledge that they might have. Yes we influence each other. Hopefully we are able to use collective intelligence to be better investors.

I even joined an Angel network in NY (Goldenseeds) in order to tap into the great energy/knowledge etc. I love Goldenseeds. Lots of bright minds wanting to contribute and help. Amazing talent and energy. Nice too. What do we do? Sit around and talk about investee companies. And yes, this includes valuation. It also includes a lot more like how to help them win.

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I know it is redundant to say planning in advance since by nature, planning is done is advance. Still, it is what I call one system I use to keep on track.

I find I accomplish more and stay on track more if I spend 15 minutes at the start of the day planning what I need to do. Like many things in life, it seems obvious but it works.

I find I do not eat well when I am on the road so planning in advance really works well. Rather than just pick up a menu when I sit down to dinner, I have already decided what I will have.

I use this to plan my workout. I like to write exactly what I am going to do. Look for barriers. Figure out when I am going to do it. For example, today I am going to run 5 miles before dinner. And if I am feeling good, continue to 10K. I am not going to go for speed - just distance so it will take me 40 minutes or a bit longer.

Like any goal, I try to be very specific.

Guest Post on The Body and Leadership

The following is a guest blog post by Mark Walsh who heads leadership training providers Integration Training: based in Brighton, London and Birmingham UK. Specialising in "embodied" ways of working they help organisations get more done without going insane (stress and time management), coordinate action more effectively (team building and communication training) and help leaders build impact, influence and presence (management training). His background includes work with blue-chip companies, non-profit sector work in war zones, an academic degree in psychology and an aikido black-belt. In his spare time he dances, meditates and enjoys being exploited by two cats and one baby niece. His life ambition is to make it normal to be a human being at work.

Much leadership training reflects the common privileging in the Western World with the cognitive. My claim is that this is a grave mistake and that leadership is an embodied affair.

The Body and Leadership

The body is integral to who we are and how we lead. It is much more than just a way of carrying the head around, and is involved with every aspect of leadership. For a leaders to know and manage themselves, let alone others, they much be familiar with embodied knowing and presence. What do I mean by this? When I refer to the body I don’t just mean the body athletic or aesthetic - while appearance is important and physical health is of course any leader’s foundation, there is much more to it than that. Let’s look at a few aspects of leadership and see how the body is relevant.

Presence

Charisma, gravitas, presence - that special something that leader’s have is an embodied phenomena. If you have ever been in a room with Bill Clinton or the Dali Lama this much is clear. It can not be learnt from a book.

Communication, Emotional Intelligence and Trust

What most leaders are paid for is communication. Can they influence and inspire? Can they build trust? Do they have the necessary emotional as well as cognitive intelligence? These matters rely upon the body.

Stress Management

A leader must be calm under pressure, embodied techniques are vital for “centring” and “grounding” as stress is a bodily not purely psychological occurrence.

Disposition

Each of us has a disposition for certain actions and not others. Perhaps you have a friend who is optimistic and cheery whatever the weather, or another who would curs their luck even if they won the lottery? This long-term mood is normally apparent from a leader’s posture and movement and can be managed through these once body awareness has been established.

“Embodied” Management and Leadership Training

There are many more aspects of leadership that are related to the body, in fact I would say that as the body is part of being human, all aspects of leadership are intertwined with embodiment, however the our above will give a flavour. The next question then is what can leaders do to develop skills in this domain? Basic physical health and wellbeing are a good starting place and beyond this I would recommend some kind of body awareness discipline. Martial arts, yoga and dance are particularly useful. There is also non-athletic Embodied Management Training that is highly beneficial for any leader looking to “get themselves together”, manage how they are perceived and what they are capable of, and step-up to the challenges of the modern work-life. The world desperately needs leaders who are in touch with themselves physically and this opens up emotions, ethics and integrity. The future will not, and should not, be written by those who can not walk their talk.