Passion, People and Principles
post # 348 — April 9, 2007 — a General post
In Survey Results, the third episode of my live videocast and podcast series, we will examine the correlation between a company’s internal culture and the companies overall financial success. The results (from my book PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH) show the key to organizational success is the ability to energize, excite and enthuse the people who provide the organization’s services.
The key is to get on the improvement path. What is the best way to motivate and mobilize your organization?
Audio Timeline:
00:38 — Introduction
01:04 — How does your office live up to its standards?
02:13 — The constant falter: ANYTHING to do with people
03:50 — Energy, Excitement, Determination, Passion, and Ambition: the only competitive advantage
05:26 – Conclusion
You can download Survey Results or sign up to receive new Maister Moments videos automatically with iTunes or other video players. (Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to subscribe.) My seminars are always available for download at no cost.
There are now a HUGE number of consultants who advise professional firms out there, and probably the specialty with the largest number of practitioners is advising professional firms how to market themselves.
Which, of course, raises the question of how these marketing consultants go about marketing themselves.
As an author or blogger, I receive a large number of requests to endorse or review books being published by these marketing consultants, and it’s very hard to be selective. Most of them are eminently sensible, but I have to confess that few make me sit up and say “Wow, I never thought of that!â€
But then again, perhaps I’m not really the target audience for these books. Many of the authors are trying to serve people NEW to thinking about marketing, not observers, practitioners and consultants like me who, for better or for worse, have been trying to make sense of it for a long time.
So, I’m actually not in a position to evaluate how effectively these books serve their marketplace — what may strike ME as simplistic and familiar may actually be a very useful way of presenting really useful ideas and suggestions. It’s just that I’m too jaded to tell.
As a result, if I don’t review your book or give you an endorsement, it may be a GOOD sign that you have written your manuscript well, for a completely different audience.
One of the problems of being around for a while is that an idea needs to be really new or counter-conventional to stand out, while the truth is that the need out there is not for new ideas, but for old wisdom communicated in better ways that can command attention in ways as the old ways lose their effectiveness due to familiarity (or from the simple fact of being old.)
But then, that’s probably what all consultants have been doing from time immemorial.
post # 347 — April 5, 2007 — a Managing, Strategy post
Do you (or does your firm) belong to a network, where you try to collaborate with individuals and firms that are separate from your own?
Many individuals and firms attempt this, attempting to get the benefits of access to professionals in other locations (cities or countries) or in disciplines other than their own.
These networks exist in many professions, mostly to refer business to each other (or at least that’s where I see them working best.) Occasionally, members of the network try to join up to pitch for business jointly, thereby (if they are successful) winning work they would not have qualified to bid for alone. This does happen, but much less often.
In some case, the benefit is not in revenue increases, but comes from belonging to a group that shares best practices. This can be the biggest benefit if you have mechanisms to facilitate the sharing.
My observation is that it’s very hard to make these networks work very well. The are not disasters, and if the memebership fees are low enough, they can be “clubs†worth joining, but the potential is often unrealized.
Does anyone have views on the best ways to ensure that these networks really do benefit their members? If you are a member, what’s the best way to take advantage of any network you belong to?
post # 346 — April 4, 2007 — a General post
I am always delighted when we have ongoing conversations here in my blog. I’d like to express my gratitude by giving credit to everyone who has contributed these last few weeks with these sincere thank-yous for the month of March:
Commentors
Adam, Jason Alba, Alex, Al Arnold, Arnold, Aron, Brad Attig, Richard Becker, Nagesh Belludi, Louise Berto, Harry Binswangaer, Wally Bock, Pawel Brodzinski, Bob Brown, Duncan Bucknell, Shawn Callahan, Martin Calle, Stuart Cross, Lance Dunkin, Francis M. Egenias, Heidi Ehlers, Anna Farmery, Bruce Follansbee, Fran, Jordan Furlong, Phil Garcia, Brenda Glover, Marcel Goldstein, Phil Gott, Mark Gould, Ted Harro, Ken Hedberg, Dennis Howlett, Irene, John, Timothy Johnson, Linda Julian, Frank Kanu, Britt Keener, Tim Khaner, David Kirk, Delaney Kirk, Ed Kless, Greg Krauska, Nicolas Kübler, John Labbe, Roland Lichti, Toby Lucich, Stephanie Lunn, Stephanie Lunn, Javier Marti, Matthew E. Johnson, Ph.D., Matthew Stibbe (Bad Language), Patrick Mauldin, Andre (Redbeard) Mazerolle, Erik Mazzone, Darlene McDaniel, Pat McGraw, Jim McHugh, Bob McIlree, Chris McLaughlin, Michael, Karen Morath, Nancy, Pamela, Steve Pashley, Shelly Phegley, Ponnuchamy, Dave Prouhet, Nick Rice, Ric, Steve Roesler, Rebecca Ryan, Sammy, Bryan I. Schwartz, Sean, Stephen Seckler, Mark Shead, Shelley, Silver, Chas Simpson, Sonnie, Mike Spack, Will Swayne, Kathleen OBrien Thompson, Tom “Bald Dog” Varjan, Cindy Tonkin, Penelope Trunk, Vishal Tyagi, Peter Vajda, Ashutosh Wakankar, Ellen Weber, Susie Wee, Peter Weldon, Ric Willmot, Mary Wynne-wynter, Liz Zitzow
Trackbacks
A-Ideas Blog
Accountants Round Up (also: here)
Balanced Life Center
Blawg Review
BrainBasedBusiness
Business Development
Business for enjoyment’s sake
Client Service Insights (CSI)
Emmanuel Oluwatosin: Inspiring Excellence, Realisi
Internet Marketing Resource Center
Kishore Balakrishnan�s Blog
MabelandHarry
Michael’s Thoughts (also: here)
Modern Sage Online: Practical Living Blog
More than a living
Positive Politics
Recruiting.com
Research, Technology, (also: here)
SalesMotivation.Net
Settle It Now Negotiation Blog
Small Firm and Solo Practice
Software Project Management
Sonnie’s Porch
Target: Vietnam — by Matt Powell
the basquette case
The Engaging Brand
The Greatest American Lawyer
The itzBig Blog (also: here)
The Organic Leadership Blog
Thoughts & Philosophies
Three Star Leadership Blog (also: here)
Verve Coaching
Victor-Fam.com
Podcast Trackbacks
Accountants Round Up
Emmanuel Oluwatosin: Inspiring Excellence, Realisi
Isabont
Law Dawg Blawg
TrackKnacks: Aptitude Wizard Watch
Verve Coaching
Victor-Fam.com
In much of my recent thinking (and writing) I have observed that our biggest barrier, as individuals and as organizations, is the difficulty in doing what is in our long-term best interest, not just what provides immediate gratification.
This problem comes up again and again. In last week’s blogpost about How Not to Manage People, Mark D. observed: “My experience tells me that all things being equal most people want to or are at least willing to embrace your teachings but all things are not equal. As soon as your teachings conflict with short term financial gain, people begin to throw out the teachings which they view as costing them money. I know I am skeptical and somewhat jaded but there is no stomach for anything that risks immediate profits.â€
As I tried to point out, this is not about just MY teachings, but is a much broader point. As I argued in Strategy and the Fat Smoker, it is part of the human condition that we can know what to do, why we should do it, and even how to do things for which we fervently desire the benefits. None of that actually predicts that we actually are going to do what we absolutely know is good for us.
Note that it’s not about a lack of incentives: live longer is a pretty good incentive!
I continue to be professionally frustrated by all of this. If we can’t help people start doing what even they say would be best for them, how can we be really helpful?
So here’s my question: how DO you help people actually get on the program for what is their best interests? The question is relevant if you are a manager trying to coach your subordinates, or if you a consultant or other trusted advisor trying to get a client on the path that is best for him or her.
So what actually works to get people to take the long-term view with their work, their business and their lives?
Rational discourse (logic) doesn’t seem to work consistently well, and providing statistically reliable data doesn’t seem to be persuasive (so much for the Surgeon General’s reports!)
In descending order of effectiveness, here’s my experience in what gets someone (us as well — don’t make this all about THEM) to change from acting in a short-term way to doing what they (already) know is best for them in the long-term:
- Talk up or create the “glamour†of the future state (“Think of how fabulous it’s going to be when you’re there!)
- Make it a moral principal (Isn’t it consistent with our/your values to act this way?)
- Get us/them to commit themselves to more public disclosure on actions, to keep them/us on track (embarrassment rather than guilt.)
What experiences do the rest of you have? Have you helped a short-term actor become a long-term actor? What REALLY helped / worked to bring about this transition? What gets people on “the diet?”
post # 345 — April 2, 2007 — a General post
Here is the second in the series of excerpts from my live presentations. You can watch the video version or just listen to the audio version.
The topic, this time, is the proposition that, for a professional firm, its strategy IS the standards that it lives. It follows from this that management’s key role is the monitoring and enforcement of the values and principles that form the very core of a firm or company.
I talk here about values and principles not as “aspirations†(We aim to be…) but as non-negotiable minimum standards. The success of a company comes from deciding on a core ideology and having everyone voluntarily agree to be a part of it.
00:00 — Introduction
00:30 — The philosophy of managing with values
00:55 — The only deal breaker: not playing the game
01:38 — The importance of having organizational values
02:40 — Conclusion
post # 343 — April 1, 2007 — a General post
I’d like to thank everyone for all the thoughtful comments on my blog. Here are the five posts that had the most discussion this month.
I REALLY hope that people will keep these specific conversations going: the spirit of a blog is that we all react to each other, and I am delighted when these conversations continue.
- How to Set Fees
It seems like a very bad idea to bill by the hour, especially if you are a consultant just beginning your practice. So how do you approach a client to establish accurate value-based pricing? A beginning consultant asks for advice on this crucial skill.
- Required Reading
Back to basics: a couple of my favorite entry-level business books and a host of suggestions from the readers.
- Talking with Reporters
Press coverage might be a nice pat on the back but is it worth pursuing as a marketing strategy? Here are my thoughts on this following a recent experience with the Wall Street Journal.
- The Three-Month Rule
Plans and reviews ought to be conducted on a once-every-three-month cycle — it’s long enough to work around the world’s unpredictabilities both at work and in people’s personal lives.
- Promoting a New Book
For some time now, I have been saying that a book is a “20th-century artifact” and that the way to serve your market (and to get your market’s attention) is to write a stream of articles. The challenge I face – and the topic on which I’d like your input – is thinking about marketing the book I am writing based on these articles…
post # 342 — March 30, 2007 — a Careers, Managing post
CCH (a provider of tax information, software and services) have a new whitepaper, “Recruiting and Keeping Up-and-coming CPAs at Your Firm†which provides insight into what’s important to young accounting professionals in the workplace today, how firms are measuring up and what firms can do to recruit and retain top talent.
The whitepaper is based on the findings of a survey of CPAs with four to seven years of experience, asking them what they wanted most and asked them to rate how well their firms were meeting these needs.
The results are the same old sad story. Fewer than one-half of firms received a very good rating on their ability to deliver on the attributes most important to up-and-coming professionals.
Amazingly, only 39% of the respondenst rated their firms as very good in providing “comprehensive resources to get the job done.”
How about that for convincing your staff about your commitmtent to quality and giving them a good work experience!!
Interestingly, the three most important atrributes of firm culture in the eyes of the respondents were:
Ethical leadership in the firm (only 55% of firms were rated very good!)
Work / Life Balance — Family friendly Policies (38% of firms rated very good)
High quality feedback, supervision and performance management (13% of firms rated very good!)
What ARE these firms thinking of? What IS going on out there?
I’m close to giving up in disgust. why bother writing and taling about sensible management if these results reflect the real world?
For some time now, I have been saying that a book is a “20th-century artifact” and that the way to serve your market (and to get your market’s attention) is to write a stream of articles. That way, you educate your audience to expect new ideas and thoughts from you on a regular basis.
However, once you’ve written the articles, nothing stops you from going for the double benefit of compiling the articles into a book and issuing it as such. That’s the strategy that worked so well for me in launching my career with MANAGING THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRM and TRUE PROFESSIONALISM. Both of those books were compilations of previously published articles, and people really like having them between hard covers.
I think I’m now ready to put together my next book, based upon the articles I have been writing over the past 18 months (and which are all available for download on my website.) With a little rewriting, I think I can bring out my common themes and major messages. (Strategy as determination and courage, management as the willingness to be accountable for the managerial role, going behind the facade of peoplle who claim to want long-term relationships, etc. )
The challenge I face – and the topic on which I’d like your input – is thinking about marketing the book.
Book marketing has always been a complete mystery to me. I long ago learned that traditional publishers are useless, so I’ll be self-publishing (as modern technology allows me to do) with both on-line versions (pdf) available for sale and “dead tree” versions (hard- and soft- cover) sold through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
My past history also taught me that it’s incredibly expensive and completely uncertain to hire specialist book publicists. Over the course of 5 books in the past 14 years, I spent an average of $200K per book on publicists and publicity, and never came anywhere near getting much attention from the audiences I was targeting. All publicists SAY they will get you interviews and reviews in key media, but it never really worked out that way for me. There are over 50 business books published in the US each week, and breaking through the clutter is very hard.
So, here’s my latets thoughts:
Self publish and send out free copies to CEOS and managing partners of key firms
Send out free copies to every business blogger I can think of
Send out free copies to every traditional journalist I can think of
Send out free copies to every university professor in a professional school
Develop a new series of “you-Tube” style videos, 3-minutes long or less
****
So, as I get ready to think about marketing my new book, what activities do you think I should be doing or preparing for?
Yesterday (March 27, 2007) I was (briefly) quoted in the Wall Street Journal in a story about whether or not your spouse is a good person to turn to for career advice.
But this blogpost is not about the content of that story. It’s about talking with reporters.
I’m a great believer in doing it out of courtesy, but unlike many of my professional firm clients, I don’t believe getting quoted is a particularly powerful marketing tactic. Yes, it was nice that my name appeared in print, and also that it was mentioned in passing that I was the co-author of The Trusted Advisor.
But experience has taught me that being quoted like this doesn’t really help promote my business or affect the likelihood of me getting hired.
Yet many financial service firms, consulting firms, accounting firms, law firms and so on spend quite a bit of time trying to get press coverage in places like the WSJ. Why? Is it really worth the effort and the money?
I’ll grant that a story ABOUT me might be powerful, but I have been lucky to have had my share of those, but it would be very hard to identify even a single enquiry hat came from press coverage. My family like to keep track of my clippings, and, embarrassing but true, I (still) get personal gratification from seeing my name in print.
But I think the marketing benefits of talking to journalists, and press coverage in general, are way over-rated for professional businesses.
Do you agree or disagree? Is there any hard evidence one way or the other?
