Sanders Says

360 Degree Confidence

Confidence is the rocket fuel for success.  

When you stamp out uncertainty in your point of view, confidence rushes in and gives you resilience, power and boldness.  Show me a successful entrepreneur and I'll show you a consistently confident persona. Confidence gives you risk tolerance.  It fills you with charisma, attracting others to follow or join you. It puts you in a creative (think proactive) state as opposed to the weaker reactive analytical state.  

The secret, though, is to create an effective system for consistent confidence.  Sure, you get puffed up when things are going great and the wind is at your back. But when the wind dies down and the tide goes out to sea, confidence ebbs away like the tide. 

That's why you should cultivate three hundred and sixty degree confidence in your outlook.  You need to surround yourself with certainty to protect your bold point of view.  Think of confidence as a combination force-field and power source.  When the world comes at you, it protects you.  When the world is your oyster, it catapults you.  One thing's for sure: Redundancy is required. If you've seen any Star Trek episode or movie, you know that primary force fields can fold under pressure.  So you need backups.  If you've seen any war movie, you know that the power source (think generator or stockpiles) are always the first to be attacked.  So you need Plan B. 

To that I offer a framework for your personal confidence system: 360 Degree Confidence.  Surround yourself with realistic reasons to belief.  I first heard about this concept in the context of brand marketing.  Rex Briggs, a marketing consultant, was visiting with Yahoo back in 2002 about the value of internet advertising in creating purchase intent.  He argued that people decide to buy something (CD, phone, etc.) because they have multiple confirmations of its value.  When you hear about a band online, then via a friend and finally on the radio -- you convert!  He suggested that brands need to surround the consumer by reaching them at work, at home and in play.  

Now let's apply that to confidence.  There are three 120 degree layers of confidence that can surround your psyche full circle: Self Confidence, Team Confidence and Higher Power Confidence.  When one buckles under heavy pressure, the other(s) serve as a backstop.  When you know you have all three, you realize that you are not alone in the fight, which can give you calm and restore your sense of confidence. 

Self confidence is not enough.  You can't do it on your own in this interdependent world of today.  When you put the world on your back, you create an emotionally unsustainable life.  When you believe in your team, you realize you have a job to do and collectively you will do well.  When you believe in a power bigger than all of you, and that your mission is worthy, you realize that you can't lose.  

In future posts (Parts 2, etc.), I'll give you advice on cultivating all three types.  For now, though, I challenge you to open your eyes for proof points that you are not alone.  For now, I admonish you to stop relying on faith alone, and start giving yourself a fair shake when you look in the mirror.  

The Brevity Economy

Last year, I met one of my heroes, coach and motivational speaker/author Phil Jackson.  I introduced myself as a fellow speaker and we shared a glass of wine.  During the course of the conversation, he shared his favorite piece of public speaking advice: "Be brief, be seated." 

This quote, originally from Franklin D. Roosevelt, underscores the secret effective meetings of all types: Practice radical brevity. This concept bears true today, more than ever. Time is at a premium.  One of the biggest roadblocks to meetings these days it the lack of time to hold them!  Still, we schedule one hour keynotes, ninety minute breakouts and four hour dinners!  In the brevity economy, this does not add up. 

The solution is to shave down the allotted time for meetings and speeches.  The annual TED talks, launched by Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks in 1990, sported a novel format of an 18 minute keynote.  It was enforced with an active moderator and a public countdown timer.  The TED talks rank with some of the best of our time.  The format works because it forces the speaker to tell a single story and focus on takeaway advice instead of padded premises and never ending stories. 

In Brief - The takeaways: 

1.  When you plan your next meeting, whack all the presentations down to 30 minutes, including the breakouts -- especially the breakouts!  This will allow you to compress a three day meeting into a two day meeting (saving some serious cash along the way.) 

2.  Next time you are asked to speak, offer to do a compressed talk in 30 minutes sans power points (unless you have some compelling images to show.)  

3.  Take this to your bizlife, shortening internal meetings to 30 minutes (small group) or 45 minutes (large group).  Bring a stopwatch to the meeting and have the most senior person in the room serve as timekeeper and enforcer.  Develop a reputation as a minute miser and you'll get standing room only crowds.  

One of my favorite Mark Twain stories involves the first time he attended a lecture by contemporary philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Twain attended at the urging of his wife, Olivia Langdon.  Fifteen minutes into his sermon, Twain turned to Olivia and remarked, "he's great!" Thirty minutes deeper into Emerson's screed, Twain shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "He's alright, I guess." One hour later, as Emerson mercifully concluded his remarks, Twain took five dollars out of the collection plate!

Don't use email to go over someone's head

From my email etiquette training program, here's a simple but hard to follow rule: Don't use email to get your way via escalation.  

I'm sure all of us have either used this passive aggressive technique or been abused by it.  Using email to pull rank on someone is a prescription for disaster.  This is just one of 12 rules that everyone should follow -- especially your employees that represent your brand.  Contact me for details on the program. 

Rule 2: Don't Email Over Someone's Head 

The value of a clean work space

One of the most zen things you can do for your mind is to do a deep-clean of your entire work space. Mine is at home, where a 3 year renovation is reaching its end.  Over the last few months my desk became a holding place for cards, receipts, gadgets, coins, pens, pads and what not.  

I could work around everything, and kept putting things into piles to neaten it a bit.  One thing I've noticed, though: I really don't feel creative in this space.  When I sit here, I'm wading through contracts, emails, projects and I feel like I'm weed-whacking more than value creating. 

Often, I write my posts at a coffee shop, on a hand recorder on the deck or on a plane.  Today I decided to restore my creative space in my work space.  I took everything off the desk.  Threw out the garbage and filed the keepers.  I wiped down every surface, each piece of equipment down to the cords and the power strips.  

Then, when I put my workspace back together, I went for sleek over stacked.  Now I feel like I can seriously get both kinds of work done here: functional and creative.  Also: The act was both inspiring and meditative.  I decided to clean up my work space with the same level of detail I need to pour into any project I'm hired to do.  I took pride in finding the smallest details to attend to (such as blowing the dust out of all the electrical in/out sockets).  Because it was a mindless activity, my mind was alert but not engaged.  It buffered in the background, giving me creative thoughts later -- like this post.  

I got this idea from research I did for my keynote address for ASBO last Saturday.  I found compelling research (Greening America's Schools) that demonstrated a link to healthy/clean and organized study spaces and increased creativity and productivity.  When I saw my junk pile yesterday, I decided to leverage this insight and "eat my own dog food." 

You should do this too.  You can find the time.  If you can, do it yourself, it's a healing experience.  Focus on: 

1. Surfaces free of loose paper.  A good productivity rule is to only handle a piece of paper twice (once to read, again to file/return/dispose).  It's time to lose those piles. 

2. Get rid of all the dust.  The above research directly talks about clean and dust free workspaces. 

3. Don't forget your equipment, especially your laptop.  Dirty keys and screens are not inspiring.  Their existence stands as a reminder that you don't have a minute to even wipe off your stuff.  

4. Clean up all the cords.  Wipe them down and make more sense out of them to avoid both clutter and fire hazards.  

5. Let the sunshine in.  If you've kept your blinds closed, open them to let daylight lift your spirits.  Your eyes will adjust and the screen will still be readable (unless there's direct light). 

Ask me for professional and business advice

I'm getting ready to launch a podcast (Sanders Says).  

One of my segments will be "Ask The Lovecat."  If you know me, you know that I love to give professional and business advice.  That's what I do in my books and during my keynote presentations.  If you have a question you'd like to submit -- send it to me.  We can keep your name anonymous so your question can be very specific.  If I use your question, I'll send you a book! 

Questions could include: 

* Advice on how to get things done at work 

* Advice on how to move up in your company

* Advice on how to effectively manage or lead people 

* Advice on marketing 

* Advice on managing your perspective, attitude and outlook 

* Questions about points I've made in my books

Up from the rubble: What it takes to be the Phoenix

Recently, I gave a talk on the subject of finding opportunity from this recession. 

History is dotted with stories about companies that leapfrogged their competitors immediately after a major recession.  Kellogg did it to Post during the Great Depression.  Nokia did it to Motorola after the '91 crisis.  Google did it to Yahoo after the dotcom crash.  Ditto for Apple vs Sony in the audio consumer space during the same period. 

How did they do it?  Leadership style, focus and values.  In short, here's the six ingredients for capturing the opportunity that the current economic meltdown offers the bold and creative: 

1.  Leadership balances reality with hope - They are practical, but foster a positive mood state which creates a good backdrop for innovation. 

2. User experience is the unifying purpose that the entire company rallies around. 

3. Leadership cultivates a deep sense of self-team and industry confidence. 

4. Leadership cultivates a culture of execution.  Non promise keepers are excised out of the organization in favor of people that finish what they start.

5. Phoenix companies are interdependent with their partners and customers.  It is a win/win/win arrangement where one's success grows the pie for all parties. 

6. Phoenix companies are efficient in communications and operations.  There is little duplication and even less misunderstanding.  

Trust comes from letting go

Last week, I talked to a group about the concept of trust-building. 

There are several books on trust, ranging from psychology to social media to leadership.  In many cases, the secret sauce for building trust is authenticity combined with accountability.  However, I've learned that you can be yourself and perfect on the finish, but if you fail to trust others they will reciprocate by distrusting you.  

Trust is a two way street, triggered by the Law Of Reciprocity.  People can tell if you trust them, especially if they are your customer.  You let them choose.  You let them decide when to interact with you.  When you begin to "act on their better interest" by taking away choice or privacy, they begin to feel like objects instead of people.  And they are right. 

Too many companies talk about building trust when all they care about is extracting revenue or desired outcome.  To these companies, trust is one of the hurdles between product and revenue.  While it's true that trust can help overcome objections and fears, it can do so much more.  Trust, if properly approached, can build a two way relationship where a customer can give you more than money.  They can give you feedback or be word-of-mouse evangelists.  

Companies that are sincere about trust building need to practice the fine art of letting go.  Letting the customer have self-service.  Letting the customer have privacy.  Letting the customer contact the big cheese if they have a problem.  A few years ago, I told the story about University of Texas football coach Mack Brown, who established a trust bond with his team by letting go of his conventional tastes and preferences.

READ: Beauty And the Beat (Mack Brown Story) 

READ: Mack Brown & the iPod of Trust.  

Feed The Positive Feedback Loop

If you live in the positive feedback loop, you are happy, confident and effective.  

I've been thinking about this loop a great deal lately, and this video reflects my emerging ideas on how to feed the positive feedback loop.  The #1 fuel for the loop?  Encouragement.  (PS - I'm having fun with this, I shot, edited and scored it myself!)

Feed The Positive Feedback Loop by Tim Sanders

2 Simple Ideas For Beating The Flu(s)

Here's some advice on how to travel safely this cold and flu season. 

Every year I travel between 100 and 150 days. The key to my year is remaining healthy. The way I see it, every major bout with a flu/cold will cost you about 5% of your annual productivity. Over the last few years, I've built up habits that reduce the number of colds I get per year. Currently, I average only one! I won't dump all the ideas on you at once, I just want a few to sink in. 

Please don't think I'm a germ freak or Type A to even think about these things -- but in my business sick time is down time is lost time. Here's my first installment of tips for effective business travel: 

1. Wash your hands like Howard Hughes. Seriously. One the most common ways you will catch a cold is through touch. When you travel, you would be shocked to know how many commons you touch along the way. The pole in the train. The pen at the ticket counter. The laptop tray in security. Too many times we only wash our hands when we go to the bathroom. When I eat out, the bathroom is my first stop, to wash my hands. The rule of thumb is that you wash your hands for the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday. 

2. Sub out sugar throughout your diet. One physician devoted a lifetime of research for a book to study the relationship between sugar and our resistance to bacterial infections. The more sugar you eat, the less bacteria your body kills. This explains (along with extremem weather) why the holiday season yields more colds and infections.  A few years ago, mostly in response to the South Beach Diet, I replaced sugar in my diet with Splenda. From coffee to candy, I purged sugar out of my diet. Things that turn to sugar, especially potatoes without any oils, I stopped eating too. Not only did I shed a few pounds, I also resisted bugs that knocked other people over. This holiday season think diet = immune system fuel. Russel Stover makes a killer sugar free chocolate. Brocolli and ranch make a great substitution for fries and ketchup. 

That being said, I'm getting a standard flu shot, then later the nasal H1N1 spray.  Combined with preventative practices, hopefully I'll get through to next spring healthy and productive!

The problem with smarty pants talk

On Saturday, during one of the college football games, one of the TV commentators described a hit on the field as being pernicious in intent.  He repeated himself as he declared that #22 on the defense was filled with perniciousness as he set his sights on that wide receiver. 

The other commentator asked, "what do you mean by pernicious?" The reply to his question was funny, but typically off putting:  "Pernicious means to have intent to harm or destroy. I can't believe you don't know what that means, maybe you should have come out of college early for the NFL after all!"  They both laughed and moved on to simpler language for the rest of the game. 

Why did the commentator use 'pernicious' in the first place?  I suspect that somewhere in life, he learned this word, realized many others don't use it much and loaded it into his smart-pants arsenal.  He probably thought that by using that word, he'd come off smarter and teach everybody a new word.  That's not really how it works in the real world.  In fact, a study at Princeton conducted by psychologist David Oppenhemier concluded that the more flowerly or smarty pants your language, the less intelligent you are perceived.  Really.  

This makes sense to me.  If I use language with you that you don't understand, I use words to put myself on a pedestal whereby you must look up to me.  This pushes you away from me, and often causes you to believe that I am purposefully trying to impress you.  That pushes us further apart, and usually you'll conclude that I am at best book smart.  This is why I use very simple language in my writing and during my keynote speeches.  I want to speak to every body in the room in a common venacular that everyone understands.  People connect with visuals, emotions and language.  If they disconnect with language, you'll usually lose them eventually.  Lofty language can alienate more often than it educates. 

I'm not saying that you should only use high school level language.  In many cases, you can find a word that is more specific or illustrative than common talk.  Instead of saying that someone told a story in a moving way (general), one could say that she was 'cinematic' in her story telling.  That's an effective word substitution that is helpful and not off putting.  Here are a few rules for using big or non-common words: 

1. Always consider your audience.  What is their level of education, sophistication and self-confidence? Are they prone to boredom?  Do they need to be intellectually stimulated to be engaged with you? 

2. Make big words fight for their life.  When you edit or before you speak, always require a case for a new word's use.  Is it more specific than the commonly used word?  Is it more helpful in illustrating your point? 

3. Define non-common words, in a sentence if possible.  If it's a big time smart pants word, acknowledge that it's one of those scientist or university words, but you use it in a attempt to illustrate the point.  

Always keep in mind that people are impressed by ideas, not words.  If you are a big thinker, it shines through regardless of your vocabulary.  When you start to use big words as a substitute for creative thinking ... you are being self-pernicious ... if you know what I mean.