Leadership Blog

The Counselor Leader -- Behave the Business of the Business

2015-07-31T23:32:40+00:00

Comment and Question: Tom, I been asked by our main manufacturer to be part of a panel discussion that describes why our company is so successful. They see our success when they measure our market share numbers but those numbers are about how we manage what we sell. They don’t reveal the leadership reason for our success. Our success is a function of a leadership decision as to how we sell. You know our company. All of our sales professionals have attended your counselor selling workshop. We’ve embraced the leadership philosophy of selling on purpose. I’ve told them about this approach at council meetings and they dismiss it as something that will not work with what they call hard core price buyers. A description of our approach will be very different from the other presenters. How should I present our approach without sounding confrontational? S. T.

Answer: S. T. What a great opportunity for you to deliver a very strategic Leadership message to everyone in attendance. Be clear that success in any business is totally a function of “behavior” that can not be measured. As a Leader, you decided that your business must compete with a very different business approach. To defeat the competition by playing “their game” better was not working. After attending my workshop to evaluate the Counselor process, you consciously chose Counselor Selling as “The Difference.” After Counselor Selling, your sales people began to behave “The Difference.” That was your Counselor Leader decision. They did the Care Reviews to “understand” their existing customers. That “behavior change” is what “caused” your journey to success to begin. The manufacturer may not agree with what you are doing until they understand what “caused” it to happen.

Key Point: Leadership is about starting in a new and different direction. “Behavior”must change in order to start.

There is an old truth that states: “No one can talk (negotiate) themself out of what they behaved themself into.” As a Leader, you were very wise starting many years ago to invest in changing the “behavior” of your sales people. There were many things that had to change, but the macro “behavior” pattern was to create a critical mass of everyone “Selling ON PURPOSE.” That was the philosophy taught in Counselor Selling. You knew this would work based upon your past career.

What should you reveal about your success during the panel discussion? Be “humble” in presentation. Humility is a “behavior” that is not confrontational. Tell them about your choice to Be a Counselor Leader, not just a Leader. The term Leader had to have a very different meaning in order for behavior change to begin. Tell them how you required your people to define the selling system to support ON PURPOSE, Win-WIn behavior. Everyone needed to learn how to “behave” even with the “hard core” price buyers. The “arm wrestle” in Counselor Selling proved that this could be done. Tell them about reaching the critical mass of Counselor behavior with the young people and how you decided that even the most senior sales people had to get on board. Tell them how your Counselor Leader approach required the senior “guys” to buy-in. Some resisted claiming they knew “how to sell.” You tested them and they did not know how to behave the Business of the Business. Tell them how the critical mass had to include the “behavior” of your entire company. Everyone had to “behave” their role as described in the story about the Business of THEIR Business. Yes, Leading the Counselor “behavior” was difficult at first, but now it is “effortless and effective.” Customer loyalty, not market share, is the measure of “The Difference.”

You know this presentation. I’ve heard you tell the story many times. Summarize your presentation by saying, “Customers must BUY who we ARE before they are even interested in WHAT we HAVE (products) or WHAT we DO. Deciding who we are going to BE was the Counselor Leader decision. Who we ARE today is proven by our behavior – not tenure or size or the scope of our offering. That is WHY we ARE successful. Because it is THEIR business – not mine --everyone is a Counselor Leader in our company today. We made the Leadership choice that everyone has a role in executing the Business of Our Business and “The Difference” is in How We Sell ON PURPOSE.

The Counselor Sales Leader

2015-07-30T20:34:43+00:00

Comment and Question: Tom, I been asked by our main manufacturer to be part of a panel discussion that describes why our company is so successful. They see our success when they measure our market share numbers but those numbers are about how much of what we sell. They don’t reveal the true reason for our success. Our success is a function of how we sell. You know our company. All of our sales professionals have attended your counselor selling workshop. We’ve embraced the selling on purpose philosophy. I’ve told them about this approach at council meetings and they dismiss it as something that will not work with what they call hard core price buyers. A description of our approach will be very different from the other presenters. How should I present our approach without sounding confrontational? S. T.

Answer: S. T. What a great opportunity for you to deliver a very strategic message to everyone in attendance. Be clear that success in any business is totally a function of “behavior” that can not be measured. After Counselor Selling, your sales people began to “behave” very differently. They did the Care Reviews to “understand” your existing customers. That “behavior change” started your journey to the success you are realizing today and very few manufacturers have measures to determine how that happened. All measurements are of “effects”-- not causation. What they want to hear is about the “cause.”

There is an old truth that states: “No one can talk (negotiate) themself out of what they behaved themself into.” This is a very difficult lesson for many people and companies to learn. No company can “talk” (sell) itself out of a product defect – a late delivery – a poor customer service interaction – a picture on the menu board that does not come in the bag. Yet, many companies advertise the “new and improved” hoping to regain lost credibility. Some even change their names to suggest that new “behavior” is in something “bigger” and “better.” Yet, the “muscle memory” of the faulty “behavior” pattern remains and is the actual “cause” of customer neglect. As your people learned in Counselor Selling, No-Trust is a massive barrier that can not be overcome with “talk” about “sports” or superior products or any increase in magnitude differences.

S. T. As a Leader, you were very wise starting many years ago to invest in changing the “behavior” of your sales people. There were many things that had to change, but the “macro behavior” pattern was to create a critical mass of everyone “Selling ON PURPOSE.” That was the philosophy taught in Counselor Selling. You knew this would work based upon your past career.

What should you reveal about your success during the panel discussion? Be “humble” in presentation. Humility is a “behavior” that is not confrontational. Tell them how your people defined the selling system to support ON PURPOSE, Win-WIn behavior. Everyone needed to learn how to “behave” even with the “hard core” price buyers. The “arm wrestle” in Counselor Selling proved that this could be done. Tell them about reaching the critical mass of Counselor behavior with the young people and how even the most senior sales people THEN had to get on board. Tell them what we did to get the senior “guys” to buy-in. Tell them how the critical mass had to include the “behavior” of your entire company. Everyone had to “behave” their role as described in the story about the Business of Your Business. Yes, Leading the Counselor “behavior” was difficult at first, but now it is “effortless and effective.” Customer loyalty, not market share, is the measure of “effortless-effectiveness.”

You know this presentation. I’ve heard you give it many times. Summarize your presentation by saying, “Customers must BUY who we ARE before they are even interested in WHAT we HAVE (products) or WHAT we DO. Who we ARE is proven by our behavior – not tenure or size or the scope of our offering. That is WHY we ARE successful. We made the simple CHOICE that everyone has a role in executing the Business of Our Business and the difference is in How We Sell ON PURPOSE.

The Transformation of "More" and "Less"

2015-07-28T23:10:51+00:00

Leaders and Counselors:

Comment and Question: We have been in a battle between “More” and “Less” for over a year. “More” is now demanding “Faster” and “Less” is going “Slower.” We are being overwhelmed with IT solutions as to how to do “Faster.” It was not until I recently attended Counselor Selling with you that I realized that this battle is not one of persons or technology, rather a structural issue. I can’t get the management here to understand how structural change can resolve this battle. We are stuck in what you called the swamp of “Bud-wise-“er” and starting to “yell at the water.” How can I make them aware? Z. A.

Answer: If you as a reader are not familiar with my work, you can refer to Chapter 6 of my book Transformational Change and read about the Structural approach to Change. I’ll be glad to send you a copy or you can buy it on Amazon.com. The Laws of Structure are on pages 78-79.

Z. A. As I shared with you at Counselor Selling, we must all get out of the PROBLEM BOX in order to meet the challenges we will face in the future. The old adage applies: “Problems are never “solved” with the same intelligence that created them.” The “more with less” command actually “confronts” the “intelligence” that seemed to create the “recession” but the recession of 2008 was not “caused” by the lack of “intelligence” of any person or human entity. The Recession was the EFFECT of the burnout of the Industrial Age Businesses Model. Read “What’s Happening” on pages 8-9 of Chapter 1 entitled Burned Out and Still Shining. The “problem solving” Industrial Age Business Model still forms the underlying “structure” in many companies as it has “caused” them to be successful for the past 100 years. It is like the Constitution of the United States. It will not be easily replaced or amended.

Key Point: Many Mangers will “defend to the end of their careers” the polarized, problem solving strategies of “More” and “er.” Please don’t make them “wrong.”

Also, be careful of IT solutions. A new high tech golf club will not change the underlying “structure” of a faulty golf swing. It will just hit the ball “er” out of bounds.

What is a non-confrontational way to resolve the battle? Simply embrace doing things “Different with the Same.” The difficulty with this approach is the lack of Vision to activate a “creating” orientation. The word “Different” as a Vision lacks definition – some vague definitions are the “Next Level” and “World Class” and “Make a Profit.” Refer to Chapters 8 & 9.

How should you proceed? To create a very clear picture of “Different” begin by simulating the future using the Transformational Sales and Leadership Simulation. During the Simulation the battle between “More” and “Less” will instantly disappear. No technology is involved. No one’s career will be threatened and your entire company can be involved in the Simulation. The “Wall” in the attached picture serves as a clear Vision of “Different.” Also, the picture of the team at KHS America shows how the “Less” embraced this approach. Suggest that your management team simulate the future and end this battle. It can be sudden, successful and very economical.

Overcoming Business Mistakes

2015-07-23T19:47:48+00:00

Tom: At a speech in South Bend several years ago I heard you talk about how business mistakes are merely learning opportunities, and it takes great leadership to overcome those mistakes. What is the single biggest mistake in todays business environment? T. C.

Answer: T. C. There are three that are at the core of almost all business mistakes.

To confuse a Measure as a Vision – To BE a $100 Million Company – To BE the Market Share Leader – To Maximize Shareholder Value -- are all legitimate measures of business success, but people are not inspired to “achieve a number.”
To try and solve “systemic” problems with “solutions.” An example we see often is to want to change the “culture” of an organization.
To confuse Strategy as a Purpose – to deploy resources “against” something rather than “for” the customer. “Defeat the Competition” is the most common. This Win-Lose orientation results in massive amounts of negative feedback for everyone.

All three of these would require extensive explanations that are beyond the scope of this blog. Simply stated great Leaders embrace a new Context to drive change rather than fix, solve or improve the linear Content of the work environment. Nothing “different” comes from Content manipulation. It only occurs from a “recontextualization.” Our Founding Fathers changed the Context of the “Colonies” to “States” allowing their “cultures” to remain intact – yet demanding that new “United States” Content to be invented. It would have been a massive mistake to allow the Colonies to become Countries like they were in Europe. Leaders in todays business environment must “unite” (align) all the functional entities to create a “capability” due to the intense need for “real time” responsiveness.

I wrote about this form of Leadership in my book Transformational Change which you received at the South Bend meeting. If you need additional copies, I have them here at my office or it is available at Amazon.com.

Igniting the Spirit of the Journey

2015-07-23T00:52:18+00:00

Comment and Question: Tom, thank you for sending me your book. (Transformational Change). The title of Chapter 1 “Burned Out – Still Shining” says it all. My people are “burned-out” yet still working. As you have suggested, it is helpful to think that it is not me that is causing this problem but condemning the Industrial Age business model it is not something our people will readily understand. Why did the Industrial Age business model “burn-out” and how can I explain it in a simple way that my people will understand and what will reignite their spirits? B. J.

Answer: B. J. There are many reasons but the main cause was the lack of “direction.” Using the following metaphor of ships at sea might make sense to your people. There are thousands of ships at the bottom of the ocean for lack of a compass. It did not matter how fast they were going. They did not “arrive” at a “life supporting” destination. Some did arrive at that desolate island called “customer neglect.” The Industrial Age business model was not equipped with a “directional” compass. It had a “speedometer” but nothing that would signal the need to turn around or change course. Linear and incremental “magnitude” was all that mattered. When the company was in “control” as measured by the magnitude of “efficiency,” there was no need to be concerned about the “direction.” Others were headed “toward the setting sun” but stopped short of the destination as the focus on “magnitude” was exhausting for the people. This allowed the company to “drift” off course while new measures of “magnitude” (IT technology) were installed. When the journey toward the “low cost” destination continued, they once again headed in the wrong direction when storm clouds blocked out the “sun.”

With new technology on board, some companies are “still shining” with the hope that the correct destination will someday appear – but not knowing that they are “still going” in the wrong direction.

Directional control is the absolute key to Leadership. Magnitude control is the domain of Management.

How can your reignite the “spirit” of the journey? Simulate it with your people to reestablish the legitimacy of the destination and the direction that must be taken. As you can see from the attached pictures, the Transformational Sales and Leadership Simulation is designed to ignite that spirit.

May your direction be focused on your customers and the destination be fulfilling for your people.

Is Mass Customization Real

2015-07-23T00:13:30+00:00

Question: Tom, There are leaders in our company who have not heard of and others that don’t believe in what you call mass customization. How can I prove it to them without insulting their intelligence? M. V.

Answer: M. V. You do not need to prove it to them – you need to help them “see” it – it is hidden in plain sight. Ask them to consider the following: there has never been two multiple item carts at the check-out in any grocery store, Wal-Mart, Home Depot or any big box store that are alike? The Store contains the standardized Mass and they are the Customizer who is pushing the cart. There are no two cell phones alike. There are no two Harley bikes alike. Every person’s insurance portfolio is customized. An ATM allows them to “customize” their banking experience. Every round of golf is “customized” using the 14 clubs of “mass.” The design of every air conditioning system is “customized.” Yes, many products are still mass produced, but somewhere they go into a Mass Customized SYSTEM. It starts as the “mass” called a coffee bean and goes into the “customized” Starbucks experience.

Mass Customization is a massive competitive advantage and very profitable. Consider why Wal-Mart has been successful. It is a “massive” arena for “customized” shopping and it is this reality that allows them to offer “low prices” to “orchestrate” that “buying experience” for their customers.

Never insult anyone's intelligence. It is an awareness issue. Help them be aware that “buying” is always “customized” regardless of the perception that the “seller” may have about his/her business. No company can survive as strictly the “Mass” today. The “buying experience” is king. They can experience this transformation in awareness using the Transformational Sales and Leadership Simulation. It legitimately “confronts” those who do not “believe” that Mass Customization is real and here to stay.

Leadership: Business Modeling

2014-05-21T22:05:52+00:00

Comment and Question

Tom, there has been a lot of interest in business modeling recently. I attended your Simulation last year and recall the New Business Model diagram in the Simulation workbook. It is nothing like the process that is being recommended in some of the recent meetings. What is your take and how is your approach different?

S.S.

Answer

I have not attended the recent meetings and can not comment on the validity of the approach. Business modeling, like innovation, has been one of the most misrepresented issues in the business “press” for the past twenty years. If it was an accurate process, the failure rate of new business start-ups would not be over 90%. So--- the question is, does the “business modeling” exercise accurately define the behavioral process of developing a successful “business?”

S. S. As you know, I wrote an entire book Transformational Change on this subject. The New Business Model is called Mass Customization. (Refer to page 138 of Stanley Davis’s book Future Perfect) Therefore, all business modeling sessions must start with that MODEL of Customer expectation. What is an ATM machine, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Harley Davidson, Facebook, Apple --- some people get caught up thinking that the business model is all about the technology or the innovation to create a new product, but the business model of any business today must be based in the underlying STRUCTURAL REALITY of Mass AND Customized. The second Structural requirement is the “Economics of Real Time.” There is “No-Float” in anything today, (Refer to pages 81-83 of Dee Hock’s book One From Many). The absolute key to business modeling is to start at the STRUCTURAL level. It is from the underlying STRUCTURE that behavior within the Business of the BUSINESS emanates. If any company is not a Mass Customized “Real Time” business today, it is domed.

Therefore, by definition business modeling is an activity that defines – at the Structural level --- the “macro behavior” of the Company and how the process of execution must be designed to serve Customers. (Our Founding Fathers developed the Constitution to define how everyone must behave.) The only consequence of a business model is to “translate” operative level behavior into beneficial service to customers. Another common mistake is to confuse Measurements for PURPOSE. The Operative level of any organization can not execute “create shareholder value” or even “make a profit.” For example, in their Business Model of 1972 General Motors articulated “10 strategies and measures” that proved to contain “false assumptions.” One example was: “Quality does not matter: it is a matter of styling.” The operative level “translated” all 10 of those strategies into operational behavior and none were designed to serve customers. They subsequently changed the word “styling” to “low cost producer” and “cost cut” to bankruptcy. (Fortune Magazine, February 20, 2006)

The approach that I describe in Transformational Change is based on simply answering the 10 Questions that people within any business/organization/City must answer in order to be aligned in executing the Business of the BUSINESS. You can see from the attached the Defective and New Business Models that have been developed from our Simulation.

S. S. Thank you for the question. This is a massive Leadership topic and very relevant as our Economy struggles to make the “transformation” from the Industrial Age Business Model to meet the challenge of Mass Customization. If you would like a presentation on this issue at your next business modeling meeting, let me know as I have a three hour presentation of the approach described in my book.

Leadership: Causation vs Potential

2014-05-21T20:21:21+00:00

Comment and Question

Tom, I have not read your book but there must some systemic reason why it is almost impossible to implement change. I’ve been involved in product ideation exercises for innovation and nothing comes from it. I’ve heard many presentations about transformational leadership and nothing transforms. The conferences about being a change agent continue and nothing changes. We conducted sales training for 8 sales engineers to develop new business and nothing has changed. Everyone blames the economy. Do you have a systemic answer that is not grounded in blame?

C. B.

Leadership: Teamwork vs Alignment

2014-05-21T20:07:30+00:00

Comment and Question

Tom, I enjoyed your presentation about releasing human potential at our meeting several weeks ago. In your last email you indicated that there is a big difference between teamwork and alignment. Can you explain further as we are big on teambuilding.

C. B.