A poor communicator will start with this question: What should I say so that they buy into my (idea / opportunity / vision / product)?

A good communicator will start with this question: Before I think about what should I say, I will ask: what are the reasons my audience will buy into my (idea / opportunity / vision / product)?

A masterful communicator will start with this question: Before I think about the reasons my audience will buy into my idea, I will ask: what is my audience currently feeling, thinking or experiencing, and how can I acknowledge their feelings, thoughts, experiences in a way that proves I understand them?

After all, we can’t worry about “why people buy” until we figure out “why they will listen” in the first place.

Remember, people don’t “buy” because they understand what you are selling; they “buy” because they feel understood. So, start by proving that you understand.

What to do now: Share your best tips on masterful communication with us!  Post your thoughts below in the comment section.

Like a proven magic trick, it inspires the crowd with great predictability, yet the audience rarely understands how it worked.

We are talking about Recognition – high quality, strategic Recognition.

Recognition used with a sales team, customer base, or group of followers, is so easily misunderstood from the outside looking in.

Here’s why.  Let’s start with purpose.

Meet Jim.  Jim has an untrained eye.  A new leader of a sales team, observing the hoopla of the monthly meeting.  To Jim, Recognition (even masterful Recognition) can seem excessive, ego serving, and unnecessary.

Here’s the lesson that Jim badly needs, if he expects to thrive in his new role.

The higher purpose of Recognition is simple in explanation – yet highly strategic in execution:  To cause more of whatever is being recognized.

Meet Jim, ten years later.  Prior to every interaction with his team, he uses the following checklist in preparation for his meetings:

3 Pillars of Strategic Recognition

1. Results: [Knowing that Results are the name of the game!]
   What are the key Results that I want to recognize?  Which short-term Results are so important that I should recognize them with the highest possible frequency?  Which long-term Results should I remind my team that they are on pace for?  How many of these examples can I identify prior to our next team meeting?
2. Behaviors: [Knowing that all Results are a product of specific Behaviors.] Which Behaviors, when repeated, will lead to the Results that we want?  How many of these examples can I identify prior to our next team meeting?
3. Mindsets (Attitude): [Knowing that all Behaviors are a product of specific Mindsets – attitudinal patterns.]
   Where can I find examples of members of our team who achieved a result, because of a behavior, which was ultimately rooted in an exemplary attitude?  How many of these examples can I identify prior to our next team meeting?

As an Epilogue, Jim later discovered that some of the most important Recognition would often not fall into this formula.

Jim has discovered that the most important Recognition can be the ability to see in others, the abilities – attitudinal and behavioral – that they have not yet seen in themselves.

He eventually realized that by consistently speaking these into existence – desired results, behaviors, mindsets – through telling stories of what the future would look like, he could take an underperforming, unproven team – and draw out the very best in them.

Remember the original purpose?  To cause more of whatever we recognize.

A visionary leader knows that Recognition of what will happen is just as important as Recognition of what did happen.

In both cases, you will eventually cause more of whatever is being recognized.

What to do now: Share your best story or example of Recognition in action!
(Share your example in the comment section below.)

Attention should be given to this question – how do you define success?

Christopher Morley once wrote, “To live ones life in ones own way, that is to have succeeded.”

How do you define success?

Mark Twain said, “You succeed when your vocation becomes your vacation.”

How do you define Success?

Here are 5 qualities of Success that I’ve picked up from mentors and coaches of mine:

Succes is…

1. Not just a destination – it’s about the quality of the journey.

2.  Attracted towards us, by the person we become.

3. About progress, not perfection.  (Since perfection is impossible, perfection is actually the lowest standard in the world.  It’s a crutch.)

4. When we allow the line between work and play to evaporate.  When your work becomes your play, you never work another day in your life.

5. When we recognize that if we want to be able to change anything, we must take ownership for everything.

So, how do you define success?  Go ahead and leave your lessons for everybody to read below in the comment section.  I can’t wait to read your reply.

“What are you doing here?” asks the first man.

“Laying bricks,” replies the worker.

The man walks a littler further, and comes across another worker, laying bricks.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“Building a wall,” replies the worker.

The man walks a littler further, and comes across another worker, laying bricks.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“Building a cathedral,” replies the worker.

As you lead your team:  Do your people know they are building a cathedral? (Long Term) Or are they just laying bricks? (Short Term)

As you sell:  When you describe the value you offer, are you talking about the cathedral?  (Value / Emotional Benefits / A Future Story) Or are you just focused on the bricks? (Features)

As you dream:  Can you see your own cathedral? (Future)  Or are you just stuck on the bricks? (Today)

Does it increase sales? Leadership ability? Let’s see.

Imagine a house…

… One room is who you are when you go to work.
… The next room is who you are with your family.
… The next room is who you are with strangers.
… The next room is who you are with friends.

If this house represented your life, here’s what authenticity really means…

Authenticity is when you can knock down all the walls, and be the same person in every room.

Here’s the catch.

If you want the ability to experience Seinfeld’s lighthearted spirit, or Branson’s confidence in the face of monumental risk, or Trump’s resolve to own the world – there’s a catch.

You have two choices to make.

Option 1: Wait until you are “on stage” to try and be who you want to be.

Option 2: Recognize that who you are in public will usually reflect who you are in private.

So, here’s the “how to”. In order for any quality, emotion, or characteristic to become part of the fabric of your nature, personally or professionally, it must be a full time commitment.

If you know that your ability to lead your team, or attract others, will thrive with more compassion, patience, or flexibility, than try this; practice exercising compassion when there’s nobody around, patience when it’s not needed, or flexibility just for the sake of it.

If you know that your ability to sell will grow in proportion to the depth of your connection with customers, your lightheartedness, or your listening skills – your likability – than try this; connect with neighbor Jim, who could care less about your work, be lighthearted around Aunt Edna, who you’ll never sell to, and listen to your wife.

These words from the ancient Greek epic poem, the Odyssey, reference our long held belief about talent – the belief that super human performers enter the world with a predetermined gift.

We love to categorize the greats as inspired, gifted, divinely guided – talented.  After all, isn’t it a little easier to accept our own challenges to perform, when we can attribute the success of others to something so far from our control – like talent?

As Geoff Colvin’s work suggests, we should consider that talent might be overrated.

What about Mozart?  Composing at age 5, performing at 8, producing hundreds of works, many regarded as treasures that have proven to transcend time.  If that’s not talent, than what is?

How about Tiger?  Smashing records, changing the landscape of an entire sport, revolutionizing century old perceptions of what’s possible, before turning 23.

Consider this.

Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart, was a famous composer in his own right.  He was also deeply interested in how music was taught to children.

His widely recognized book on violin instruction, published the same year Wolfgang was born, remained influential for decades.

Having begun intensive training at age 3, Mozart’s first work that was regarded as a masterpiece, his Piano Concerto No. 9, was composed at the age of 21.  Yes, an early age, but still, following 18 years of intensive training.

How about Tiger?  He too had the strong influence of a father with almost identical qualifications.  Woods’s father, Earl, was a teacher.   Combine his love for teaching children, and his obsession for golf, now the legend of Tiger makes more sense.

There’s more.  Considering Earl handed tiger over to professional instruction at 4 years old, and his first success on the international level was at the age of 19, as a member of the U.S. team in the Walker Cup, you now have 15 years of intensive training, before achieving measurable international success.

Warren Buffet?  He began learning about investing at 11, but didn’t achieve the status of world-class performer until over 20 years later.

Jerry Rice?  He only became great after years of his legendary six-day-a-week, six-hour, off-season workouts.

Henry Ford?  He didn’t build his first assembly line until age 55.

Dom Perignon was 60 when he corked his first bottle of champagne.

The point?  Talent, as we are so quick to prescribe, might just be the result of something else that has gone unseen.  What is that something else?

Practice.  Hours and hours of practice.

Dedication.  Unwavering, unshakable dedication.

Patience.  A willingness to accept that greatness is never an overnight deal.

The reality:  in your field, very few will be willing to practice, show dedication, and patience.  I guess they just don’t have … talent.

The upside:  if willing, being the best at what you do will only be a matter of time.

Should you put a trophy on your bookshelf, or a picture of your family? Cluttered desk – or a pristine workspace?

Your Physical Environment sets a context, controls your energy, and ultimately shifts your results.

Paul Allen was smart to stay buddies with a young programmer named Bill Gates. Plato learned from Socrates, while Aristotle studied Plato. Who do you spend time with?

If your achievements are a reflection of your peer group, what does your peer group say about your potential to achieve?

Your People Environment quietly guides you, invisibly, yet as predictably as gravity.

Howard Schultz was inspired by the experience of an Italian Café, long before Starbucks existed. Walt Disney watched his little girls on a playground, and saw a glimpse of something much bigger, a dream worth following.

Your greatest dreams will always share one commonality – the inspiration from one idea. If the output of your work is a reflection of your idea input, what are you putting in today?

President Roosevelt was known for reading a book a day, before breakfast. What are you putting in today?

Your Idea Environment is your final protection against mediocrity – your greatest assurance for a richer experience in your life and your work.

Yet, over 80% of sales professionals end up giving their mental energy to negotiating on – price.

“Mine’s cheaper than theirs!” Is that really the case to win on?
No way. Trying to sell, based on price, is a lose-lose situation.

Flip the equation. Instead of lowering price, raise the value.
The greatest sales professionals use their energy to build value.

Risk-free guarantee, deluxe service, personal attention, complimentary follow up support, a free purple doo-hickey, done-for-you anything, one-of-a-kind something.

Even if it means getting creative to add value. After all, if it’s creative, it’s different.
The more different it is, the fewer real competitors you actually have.

Here’s a good idea. Tie your product, service, or offering into a cause.

A recent AdAge.com article points out:

79% of consumers said that if price and quality were similar, they would switch to a brand associated with a good cause.

Here’s one of my causes – but wait, don’t you care more about my prices?

Look at people.

In any organization, you’ll see two ends of the spectrum, when it comes to attitude.

Over here, you have Possibility Thinkers. Possibility Thinkers have vision, hope, and faith. They believe in growth, solutions and dreams.

Possibility Thinkers create, invent, and inspire. After all, they see what is possible.

How do we become a Possibility Thinker? It helps to know what a Possibility Thinker is not.

Over there, you have Q & S people. They quit, but they stay. What does that mean?

Some quit, and then leave. Fortunately.

But unfortunately, others quit trying, quit dreaming, quit growing… and they stay. They show up to work, but not to win. Q & S people focus on what’s wrong, what’s missing, what’s defeating.

Who are you? Who do you want around you?

Matthew Kelly, author of The Dream Manager, recently presented this idea to the 500+ attendees at the annual Cutco Rep Development Conference.

He challenged us all to look inward – to ask two questions.

1. Do I believe in a better future?

And

2. Do I believe I can influence it?

With an emphatic yes to both questions…

… You are a Possibility Thinker.

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Les McKeown advises C-level teams at Fortune 500 companies on high-performance personal and organizational development. His next book, “Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track – and Keeping It There” is released by Greenleaf Press on June 7

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