Today I went to my daughter Laura’s convocation from the University of Windsor. She graduated with an honours BA in English and Drama (with distinction) and won the Board Of Governor’s medal in Dramatic Art. Needless to say, her dad (that would be me) is proud.
It got me thinking. People tend to respect those who persevere. We respect people with university degrees because we know they sacrificed and stuck with it. The same is true in business. I get a lot of respect because I have been doing this for 25+ years.
People who can put off immediate rewards and work towards longer term ones tend to be more successful. Procrastination is often caused by people taking the short term reward (sitting on the couch and watching TV) over the short term sacrifice (going for a run or learning) to achieve the long term reward (fitness or knowledge)
I know that the only conflict I ever tend to have with my people is the long term vs short term discussion. I am a very long term thinker.
One of my favourite quotes is “we tend to over estimate what we can accomplish in a day but underestimate what we can accomplish in a year or a decade.”
A friend of mine recently emailed me the following:
“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.”
Appropriate thought.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
Mentors
I had dinner last night with a friend and mentor of mine – Dr. Joe Martin from U of T. He is a professor at the Rotman School of business – previously the managing partner of Deloitte’s consulting practice. I used to sit on the board of directors of Angoss Software (www.angoss.com) with him.
He is very seasoned and experienced. Always has a story to tell and has interesting insights. He has a keen understanding and interest in history. We can learn from history and sometimes I wish I spent more time studying it.
I am a big believer in mentors – primarily informal ones. Ones who are nice enough to be friends but honest enough to tell me how it is. I have a fairly large rolodex of mentors that I can call on for different purposes. Mentors help me find clarity or as I call it, they help me unlock the advice I have within myself.
Ideally when I meet with a mentor, I like to know what questions I want to ask. Sometimes just figuring out the questions gives me the answers I want. Last night I lacked clarity to even know the questions to ask which is why is good that Joe and I are such good friends that it does not matter as much.
I like to use the Think – Mentor – Think method. I think about my challenges, then meet with my chosen mentor then think about the solutions and action I will take.
Driving home I realized how much I enjoyed his conversation and advice. Although the dinner was long and not in my usual quick style, it made me think that some things are not meant to be rushed.
He is very seasoned and experienced. Always has a story to tell and has interesting insights. He has a keen understanding and interest in history. We can learn from history and sometimes I wish I spent more time studying it.
I am a big believer in mentors – primarily informal ones. Ones who are nice enough to be friends but honest enough to tell me how it is. I have a fairly large rolodex of mentors that I can call on for different purposes. Mentors help me find clarity or as I call it, they help me unlock the advice I have within myself.
Ideally when I meet with a mentor, I like to know what questions I want to ask. Sometimes just figuring out the questions gives me the answers I want. Last night I lacked clarity to even know the questions to ask which is why is good that Joe and I are such good friends that it does not matter as much.
I like to use the Think – Mentor – Think method. I think about my challenges, then meet with my chosen mentor then think about the solutions and action I will take.
Driving home I realized how much I enjoyed his conversation and advice. Although the dinner was long and not in my usual quick style, it made me think that some things are not meant to be rushed.
Sunday, June 5, 2005
goals
Today was a great finish to an awesome sales conference. We really have some fine people working at SYNNEX and I am grateful to be able to lead them.
Our closing speaker was 3 time Olympic gold medal winner (and she also won a bronze) – Marnie McBean. She won for rowing. She is a great speaker. Very motivational. Simple but compelling message:
1 – She is just a normal person. This was part of her charm. She was very down to earth. Her message is that normal people can do great things.
2 – Set you goals and plan the path then mostly look at the path because the goal itself might be daunting. I am a big believer in breaking goals down. Big goals can seem overwhelming but small pieces are very manageable. One trick I do is the break the goal down into sub goals. Then come up with the tasks to achieve each. I like some of the tasks to be instant tasks – things I can do in 2 minutes or less. I can then knock off one small part of a big goal whenever I have just a short block of time. This is also a trick I use to put of procrastinating since I know I can do anything for a few minutes, I tell myself to just do an instant task.
Back to Marnie.
Her story of the race was riveting. Her delivery was comfortable and funny.
I come off the sales conference recharged and energized with lots of ideas that I am excited to implement. We are successful now but I see a lot of areas we can be more successful. I filled a small notepad with ideas and comments from people. Now I have to turn them into action. I will set a whole new set of subgoals (my overall goals have not changed from the weekend but the subgoals have). Very exciting but also daunting (partly because I was out of the office all weekend and feel behind). I like challenges.
Our closing speaker was 3 time Olympic gold medal winner (and she also won a bronze) – Marnie McBean. She won for rowing. She is a great speaker. Very motivational. Simple but compelling message:
1 – She is just a normal person. This was part of her charm. She was very down to earth. Her message is that normal people can do great things.
2 – Set you goals and plan the path then mostly look at the path because the goal itself might be daunting. I am a big believer in breaking goals down. Big goals can seem overwhelming but small pieces are very manageable. One trick I do is the break the goal down into sub goals. Then come up with the tasks to achieve each. I like some of the tasks to be instant tasks – things I can do in 2 minutes or less. I can then knock off one small part of a big goal whenever I have just a short block of time. This is also a trick I use to put of procrastinating since I know I can do anything for a few minutes, I tell myself to just do an instant task.
Back to Marnie.
Her story of the race was riveting. Her delivery was comfortable and funny.
I come off the sales conference recharged and energized with lots of ideas that I am excited to implement. We are successful now but I see a lot of areas we can be more successful. I filled a small notepad with ideas and comments from people. Now I have to turn them into action. I will set a whole new set of subgoals (my overall goals have not changed from the weekend but the subgoals have). Very exciting but also daunting (partly because I was out of the office all weekend and feel behind). I like challenges.
Saturday, June 4, 2005
The power of How.
Today I am at my sales retreat at Kingbridge Centre in King city. Beautiful facility.
The day started with a scheduled run at 6:45 in light rain. I was disappointed with the turn out but I did say it was optional so really cannot blame anyone. Maybe I need to use the How question to get more people out. Ask “how could I get 30 people out to the morning run”.
I am a bit of a business philosopher. Last night at the intro address I tried to share one of my philosophies – the Power of How. I have solved many challenges by asking How. How could I do X?
We had an awesome hypnotist last night – Boris the Incredible. I have not laughed that hard in months. It got me thinking about the parts of our brain and how little we use our intelligence.
When I ask my How questions, often the answer does not come to me immediately. Often it comes when I am not thinking of it. What I have done by asking the question is to plant the seed and my unconscious mind goes about solving it. My mind also becomes more aware and open to solutions.
I am careful not to get stuck in the over analysis of the Why. Why is important – so I can learn from things but I try not to dwell on it. If I ask Why we cannot sell X – I will find an answer and start believing it. If I ask How can we sell X – I will also get an answer but in this case it will be a useful one.
I find I am more successful if I ask the right questions.
Off to sessions…
The day started with a scheduled run at 6:45 in light rain. I was disappointed with the turn out but I did say it was optional so really cannot blame anyone. Maybe I need to use the How question to get more people out. Ask “how could I get 30 people out to the morning run”.
I am a bit of a business philosopher. Last night at the intro address I tried to share one of my philosophies – the Power of How. I have solved many challenges by asking How. How could I do X?
We had an awesome hypnotist last night – Boris the Incredible. I have not laughed that hard in months. It got me thinking about the parts of our brain and how little we use our intelligence.
When I ask my How questions, often the answer does not come to me immediately. Often it comes when I am not thinking of it. What I have done by asking the question is to plant the seed and my unconscious mind goes about solving it. My mind also becomes more aware and open to solutions.
I am careful not to get stuck in the over analysis of the Why. Why is important – so I can learn from things but I try not to dwell on it. If I ask Why we cannot sell X – I will find an answer and start believing it. If I ask How can we sell X – I will also get an answer but in this case it will be a useful one.
I find I am more successful if I ask the right questions.
Off to sessions…
Friday, June 3, 2005
Unique Ability
Unique Ability
That is the title of the book I am working on right now. Great book by Catherine Nomura and Julia Waller. I say working on because I have already read the book but is one of those books that you have to do the exercises to get the value.
The theory is “the more you know yourself, the more you can spend time in your unique ability area and the happier, more productive and the more value you can add”. I like the theory and believe in it.
The exercise is to ask the people that know me well to give me their input on what they think my unique talents, abilities and characteristics are and to use these to synthesize a unique ability statement about myself.
I have to say the responses I have had are humbling. I really need to live up to a lot to live up to what people think of me.
This book hits me at the right time. Since I sold to SYNNEX and changed roles from running the smaller company to the larger one, I often find myself in areas that are not my strengths.
My challenge is to figure out how best to add value while at the same time fitting within the SYNNEX culture or where appropriate to help mould the culture into a better one. The biggest challenge I face is moulding corporate culture but that could be a topic of a full blog itself.
Unique ability is a theory developed and perfected by Dan Sullivan of www.strategiccoach.com. Dan has developed a great consulting company based a lot on this principle. I like a lot about what Dan teaches but have a conflict with one of his ideas – to take lots of time off. One of my unique abilities is boundless energy and high work ethic and taking time off conflicts with the work ethic part. Also my success and industry demands high availability.
I would welcome anyone emailing me any input on my unique abilities as I build this profile for myself
That is the title of the book I am working on right now. Great book by Catherine Nomura and Julia Waller. I say working on because I have already read the book but is one of those books that you have to do the exercises to get the value.
The theory is “the more you know yourself, the more you can spend time in your unique ability area and the happier, more productive and the more value you can add”. I like the theory and believe in it.
The exercise is to ask the people that know me well to give me their input on what they think my unique talents, abilities and characteristics are and to use these to synthesize a unique ability statement about myself.
I have to say the responses I have had are humbling. I really need to live up to a lot to live up to what people think of me.
This book hits me at the right time. Since I sold to SYNNEX and changed roles from running the smaller company to the larger one, I often find myself in areas that are not my strengths.
My challenge is to figure out how best to add value while at the same time fitting within the SYNNEX culture or where appropriate to help mould the culture into a better one. The biggest challenge I face is moulding corporate culture but that could be a topic of a full blog itself.
Unique ability is a theory developed and perfected by Dan Sullivan of www.strategiccoach.com. Dan has developed a great consulting company based a lot on this principle. I like a lot about what Dan teaches but have a conflict with one of his ideas – to take lots of time off. One of my unique abilities is boundless energy and high work ethic and taking time off conflicts with the work ethic part. Also my success and industry demands high availability.
I would welcome anyone emailing me any input on my unique abilities as I build this profile for myself
Thursday, June 2, 2005
I am a bit of a health guy and would like to be more of one so when Zeno Ricci, President of Targus Canada and Latin America (not sure how those 2 come together) challenged me to wear a pedometer from June 1 to Aug 31 to see if I could do more steps than he could, I accepted the challenge. The loser has agreed to donate $1 per step difference to Breast Cancer Research. This could amount to a fair amount since the steps could easily vary by 2000-3000 steps per day times 90 days or $180,000-$270,000.
To up the ante, the other leaders of the other distributors are also taking the challenge.
It is not the donation that motivates me as much as my competitive nature. Something in me does not allow me to let anyone beat me.
This is a great creative challenge. I love Targus (except the margins). www.targus.com. They make notebook carrying cases and accessories. Not a very sexy or high tech business. You would think someone would come in and blow them out of the market but no one has. Targus manages to keep the lead with top quality products at aggressive prices. They treat their customers well.
Now all I have to do is come up with a desk I can push around while I type so I can get my steps up.
To up the ante, the other leaders of the other distributors are also taking the challenge.
It is not the donation that motivates me as much as my competitive nature. Something in me does not allow me to let anyone beat me.
This is a great creative challenge. I love Targus (except the margins). www.targus.com. They make notebook carrying cases and accessories. Not a very sexy or high tech business. You would think someone would come in and blow them out of the market but no one has. Targus manages to keep the lead with top quality products at aggressive prices. They treat their customers well.
Now all I have to do is come up with a desk I can push around while I type so I can get my steps up.
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Top 10 list
I am preparing for my sales retreat this weekend. 150+ reps, product managers etc fly in from Friday night to Sunday to get energized for the coming year. This is my first one with SYNNEX. I have done 25 with EMJ but this one is different. Many of the reps I do not know well yet.
In preparing my slides, I am trying to distill my most important wisdom. One slide I have is on the power of How. We need to always ask How can we sell XXX by YYY? How can we ship X% more with the same resources etc. Answering this question can often lead to good anwers. The act of asking is half the battle.
I am also sharing with the team my top 10 list. My top 10 priorities. By sharing these, I not only hope to get support for them, I hope to inspire them to have their own top 10 list. My rules on the top 10 list:
1 - I must spend at least an hour each week on each of these.
2 - I spend an hour each week looking at the list and breaking down tasks that flow from the list.
3 - I keep it highly visible as I work each day. This helps to keep me focussed on what is important.
Will be a good weekend. I am sure I will come away with tons of notes and enough action to keep me busy for weeks.
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