I think we can learn a lot about ourselves from the way we perform in sport.
A few years ago, I was given a Cricket game, after a prolonged absence from the sport. I had done well in the nets. The Club Captain, batting in an adjacent net, noticed how I moved my feet, attacked the ball, always hitting in front - no 'nurdling' for me.
I was invited to turn out for the club's Third Eleven. The team captain asked if I could bowl, and I said I could bowl medium fast. He threw me the ball and I delivered two overs in the style I had used in my prime, even though I had been bowling leg breaks in the nets.
Inevitably, my timing was off, and I couldn't find the right length. I was tempted to revert to leg breaks, but I felt obliged to stick with my offer of medium fast. Would the captain object to the switch?
Why didn't I just have a go and see what results it produced?
When it was our turn to bat, I was sent in at number 11. Last man in. From what I had seen of the previous batsmen, I knew I was better than half of them, but now it was up to me to prove it.
The first ball I faced was delivered at about 75 m.p.h., on the leg side, perfect for a 'leg glance' or for a half step forward and an 'on drive' over the head of the fielder at mid on. I did neither.
With feet firmly planted, I drove the ball along the ground, straight to mid on, and set off on a suicidal run. It was an easy run out, so I just carried on past the umpire and back to the pavilion.
Why had I thrown away my wicket? I justified it by saying that I had wanted to return the strike to the other batsman, the man whose eye was in, but the reality was something different. I think I was reluctant to stay in the firing line and be tested.
When I didn't change my bowling, it was because I was trapped by expectations. How often do we stay in our usual roles, keep doing what we've always done, simply because we feel it's what we are expected to do? Why not just take a chance on something different, use a talent we may not have shown before, break free and see what develops?
The batting suicide was about avoiding the risk of exposure. If I had stayed longer at the crease, each ball I faced would have been a challenge and, although I had the skill, my self-confidence was not at the same level.
I see the same thing happening in business, especially with enterprises that find themselves stalled because of the leader's reluctance to commit. Shakespeare got it right when he wrote:
Our doubts are traitors
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.
PKP
Sunday 25 July 2010
Tuesday 20 July 2010
Who speaks for your business?
If your first response was to think of the CEO, Chairman or some other top person, please pause and think again.
I recently went for an eye test, returning to Specsavers in Bromley, where I got my previous specs. I was greeted warmly by Sanchoy, the dispensing opticians whose professionalism last year prompted my return. I told him so and, with a happy laugh, he called out my remarks to the store manager, who said something like, "That's what we like to hear" and returned to staring out of the door.
Who was speaking for Specsavers?
I contacted a car repair shop to ask about some remedial re-spray work and was told, "We only do MGs, and sometimes some other sports cars. If we want to. We have so much work."
Would you give them any business?
I rang a well-known organisation that sells things online. When eventually I managed to speak to a person, she told me, in her Sarf Lunnon voice, "If you wanna order anyfink you have to do it online."
Who was speaking for the company?
When certain organisations started painting "How am I driving?" on their vans, they were trying to integrate every public contact with their expensively created image. They were also, subtly, telling their drivers to behave as representatives of a public-friendly organisation. The message bypassed the Sainsbury driver who was competing with other traffic this afternoon in Sydenham.
Every single person who is in contact with your public is the one who speaks for your business, and is the one who determines how your business is perceived in the market place. In some ways, more than the Chairman, the MD or CEO, the PR company, or the sales team. Because it is the attitude shown in day-to-day transactions that will matter more than polished presentations or Press Releases.
Every surly shop assistant, every curt telephone manner, every unhelpful tax inspector or restaurant waiter, reveals a serious training need. In these days of harsh economics, who can afford to ignore it?
Phillip
I recently went for an eye test, returning to Specsavers in Bromley, where I got my previous specs. I was greeted warmly by Sanchoy, the dispensing opticians whose professionalism last year prompted my return. I told him so and, with a happy laugh, he called out my remarks to the store manager, who said something like, "That's what we like to hear" and returned to staring out of the door.
Who was speaking for Specsavers?
I contacted a car repair shop to ask about some remedial re-spray work and was told, "We only do MGs, and sometimes some other sports cars. If we want to. We have so much work."
Would you give them any business?
I rang a well-known organisation that sells things online. When eventually I managed to speak to a person, she told me, in her Sarf Lunnon voice, "If you wanna order anyfink you have to do it online."
Who was speaking for the company?
When certain organisations started painting "How am I driving?" on their vans, they were trying to integrate every public contact with their expensively created image. They were also, subtly, telling their drivers to behave as representatives of a public-friendly organisation. The message bypassed the Sainsbury driver who was competing with other traffic this afternoon in Sydenham.
Every single person who is in contact with your public is the one who speaks for your business, and is the one who determines how your business is perceived in the market place. In some ways, more than the Chairman, the MD or CEO, the PR company, or the sales team. Because it is the attitude shown in day-to-day transactions that will matter more than polished presentations or Press Releases.
Every surly shop assistant, every curt telephone manner, every unhelpful tax inspector or restaurant waiter, reveals a serious training need. In these days of harsh economics, who can afford to ignore it?
Phillip
Monday 5 July 2010
6-point plan for the brand that's You
In these competitive times, it is increasingly important for us all to distinguish ourselves from our competitors. It applies equally to those in corporate life as to those in business for themselves.
Here's a 6-point plan for getting ahead of the pack.
1. Know what you do - for others. Yes, it is important to know what you do, but don't focus inward. I say a bit more about this under Point 6, but your starting position is to consider what your market wants, and how you can be of commercial benefit to others.
2. Identify a pain that you can remove. Is there a weakness that your customers encounter, to which you have the solution. Focus your 'offering' on magnifying the pain and then showing how you can remove it. You then become the long-awaited Solution.
3. Do something right. Apart from removing a pain, there could be something positive that you could do, something that adds to the collective good, something that no one else has thought of doing.
4. Mix with the right people. We all need reinforcement, and we get that from like-minded people, whose own thinking reassures us that we are on the right track. If you network, be selective and don't commit to regular meetings that lead nowhere. If you don't feel uplifted after spending time with certain people, and if they don't understand the things you say, it may be time to move on. Remember, too, that we are judged by the company we keep.
5. Drop the toxic folk. Some people are just plain bad for you. Maybe they are chronically negative, maybe they don't respond well to your enthusiasms, maybe they drag you down in other ways. Leave them to the professional therapists and move along. Don't let them infect your mind or use up your energy.
6. Project your one defining benefit. What's the ONE thing that defines you and distinguishes you from the following pack? Spend time finding out. Get feedback from those you trust. Challenge your first thoughts about it. Then make it the core of your business offerings and everything you say about yourself.
For example, I work with words. I write and deliver speeches and presentations, and I write books about verbal communication. I help others with their speeches and presentations. The central factor is a way with words that gets results. No verbal wallpaper.
So my focus is: Words that Work.
What's yours?
Here's a 6-point plan for getting ahead of the pack.
1. Know what you do - for others. Yes, it is important to know what you do, but don't focus inward. I say a bit more about this under Point 6, but your starting position is to consider what your market wants, and how you can be of commercial benefit to others.
2. Identify a pain that you can remove. Is there a weakness that your customers encounter, to which you have the solution. Focus your 'offering' on magnifying the pain and then showing how you can remove it. You then become the long-awaited Solution.
3. Do something right. Apart from removing a pain, there could be something positive that you could do, something that adds to the collective good, something that no one else has thought of doing.
4. Mix with the right people. We all need reinforcement, and we get that from like-minded people, whose own thinking reassures us that we are on the right track. If you network, be selective and don't commit to regular meetings that lead nowhere. If you don't feel uplifted after spending time with certain people, and if they don't understand the things you say, it may be time to move on. Remember, too, that we are judged by the company we keep.
5. Drop the toxic folk. Some people are just plain bad for you. Maybe they are chronically negative, maybe they don't respond well to your enthusiasms, maybe they drag you down in other ways. Leave them to the professional therapists and move along. Don't let them infect your mind or use up your energy.
6. Project your one defining benefit. What's the ONE thing that defines you and distinguishes you from the following pack? Spend time finding out. Get feedback from those you trust. Challenge your first thoughts about it. Then make it the core of your business offerings and everything you say about yourself.
For example, I work with words. I write and deliver speeches and presentations, and I write books about verbal communication. I help others with their speeches and presentations. The central factor is a way with words that gets results. No verbal wallpaper.
So my focus is: Words that Work.
What's yours?
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