Dan Coughlin's Acceleration Blog

Why Blog?

Yesterday I was doing a seminar, and I was talking about "collaborate to accelerate." I said, "Talking about collaboration is an oxymoron. The only way to collaborate is to actually collaborate. So I would like for everyone to think of two practical things you've done in the last year that have improved the quality of what you provide to your customers. Now stand and share those two ideas with another person, listen to their ideas, and see if you can't combine two or more of those ideas together to make an even better idea."

The group went enthusiastically on its way. And then with one minute left in the exercise an audience member came up to me and said, "What are two ideas you have found that have increased the value you provide your customers with?" Now I had to participate, and quickly.

And then I thought about my blogging.

I said, "One thing that has really helped me is writing a daily blog. Six months ago I thought blogging was a dumb idea. I thought, 'Who would want to read someone else's daily diary?' But then I realized that a daily blog would force me to crystallize my ideas and generate new content. Blogging forces me to develop an idea and express it in a few paragraphs. My ideas are getting tighter and stronger through blogging. Some of blogs have been turned into 1,000 word articles and some have gone on to become speeches. Blogging is forcing me to improve the quality of what I offer to my customers and is helping me to become a better writer."

What can you create a daily or weekly blog about?

Leadership is the Art of Mastering the Intangible

Today I did an hour session on leadership at a conference for people in the financial services industry. I've done that session many, many times, but today it struck me that everything I'm talking about is intangible. The results of improved leadership are tangible, but the intervention of leadership is intangible. Asking open-ended questions, listening, making a decision, identifying the right type of people for your organization, and influencing how others think; it's all intangible stuff. Leaders aren't producing a product or delivering a tangible service. They simply are doing intangible things like enhancing teamwork and heightening a sense of purpose for other people. However in doing so they directly impact the tangible results of the organization.

What intangible things are you doing today to drive better tangible results?

"Go to the ball."

I'm coaching my six-year-old son's soccer team. They've learned to dribble and shoot and pass and run to get open. But when the games start, I hear myself yelling, "Go to the ball." A six-year-old can learn the parts of the game, but not realize that the real game starts when someone has to take the ball and do something with it. Ben's starting to catch on to that and so are the other kids.

In your business, are you willing to go to the ball? Are you willing to apply all of those lessons you've learned about leadership and strategy and branding and teamwork and execution in all of those books you've read and seminars you've attended and coaching sessions you've received from your mentors? It's not enough to know all of the parts of the game of business. You actually have to go get an opportunity and do something with it.

Reveal the Heart and Soul of Your Brand

Southwest Airlines is all about democratizing the skies, making it possible for anyone to fly. I get that. That concept is reinforced through their commercials, their prices, their napkins, the jokes they tell during the flights, their Rapid Rewards program, the pretzels and peanuts they serve, and their open seating policy.

What is American Airlines all about? They don't give out pillows, they charge customers to check their luggage at the curb, they serve no free food, and their flight attendants are oftentimes rude. What is the customer value they want to be known for? What's their brand? I don't get it.

If you want an inexpensive computer, buy Dell.

If you want an extremely cool computer, buy Apple.

If you want to buy a reasonably priced computer in a store, buy Hewlett-Packard.

I get that.

A brand is the perception of value customers think they get when they buy from an organization or prospects think they would get if they did buy from that organization.

Brand Inventory

Is your brand clear to customers and prospects? If not, make it clear. Conduct an inventory of all the ways you interact with your customers and prospects. Does everything your customers and prospects see reinforce your desired brand? If not, what adjustments can you make?

I have a friend named Alan Weiss, who has become one of the world's leading experts on helping people build their independent consulting businesses. He built his brand as The Consulting Contrarian with executives in Fortune 500 companies. In other words, if everyone was saying to go one way, then Alan would show why going the other way was the smarter move. He reinforced his brand through his books, speeches, articles, and website. You can read his blog at www.contrarianconsulting.com

After you read his thoughts, you will get it. He truly is a contrarian.

What is the customer value you want your organization to be known for? Constantly find better ways to deliver that value and better ways to let customers and prospects know that you're delivering that value.

Rutgers and Notre Dame Football: The Transformation of Two Organizations

I have a good friend, Alan Weiss, who is a graduate of Rutgers University. I'm a grad of the University of Notre Dame. In 2002, ND played Rutgers and was a 40-point favorite. Alan was willing to bet me on the game as long as I gave him the point spread. I should have taken the bet. ND won 42-0. On August 18, 2006, ND was ranked #2 in the country, and Rutgers was not even in the Top 25. Today, 13 months later, ND ranks in the bottom ten teams in the country and Rutgers is in the Top 10. How is this possible, and what does it mean for your business? Here are a few themes that come to my mind:

Leadership & Stability

Greg Schiano, the head football coach at Rutgers, was hired on December 1, 2000. That means he has been there through the bad times and the good times. Here's his record through the first six seasons:

2001 2-9

2002 1-11

2003 5-7

2004 4-7

2005 7-5

2006 11-2

2007 3-0

Is your organization willing to be patient when your senior manager is struggling through a 1-11 season and four losing seasons in a row? Are you as a manager willing to hang in there and keep believing in yourself?

Schiano did, and he never wavered in his goal to win a national championship. He influenced those people that he could at each stage in this seven-year journey. At this point, the story is unfolding for Charlie Weis at ND. Will the university stay patient as he works to build a long-term, successful organization? Will he maintain his patience and confidence in the face of relentless criticism?

Momentum

When an organization begins to win, or lose, on a regular basis momentum is created. It's far easier to sustain momentum than to create it or change it. That's why every play counts. One win that could have been a loss, or one loss that could have been a win, can begin to shift the momentum.

In your business, what small detail or seemingly unimportant project can you propel to a higher level of performance that can generate the momentum you want?

Talent Management

I think the biggest story here is the story of talent management. Rutgers held onto a guy they believed in, and gave him the time he needed to build a successful organization. In those same seven years that Schiano has been at Rutgers, ND has been through three coaches, and a lot of people want Weis fired for losing six games in a row while giving up over 30 points in each game.

The first step in attracting, retaining, and developing talented employees is attracting, retaining, and developing a talented senior manager. Be patient.

The second lesson on talent management is that great players make great coaches, and great coaches make great players. In other words, Schiano became National Coach of the Year when he had the players necessary to win. I doubt he became that much better of a coach in the four years it took to go from 1-11 to 11-2, but I have a hunch his players got a whole lot better.

Always work to improve the quality of the performers in your organization if you want to improve the quality of your organization's performance.

Connecting the Past and the Future

One of my favorite quotes I learned while studying Toyota for a speech I gave to Toyota Financial Services. It said,

"The path to the future is lit with the knowledge from the past."

Recently, Alan Greenspan has been in the news a great deal with the arrival of his new book, The Age of Turbulence. Here are two quotes from Greenspan that I like very much:

"If you try to preserve the past, you will not be able to produce the future."

"It is not an accident that human beings persevere and advance in the face of adversity. Adaptation is in our nature, a fact that leads me to be deeply optimistic about our future. Progress is not automatic, however; it will demand future adaptations as yet unimaginable. But the frontier of hope that we all ultimately pursue will never close."

Those three quotes say a great deal. We need, must, and absolutely have to learn from our past. Not only our personal past, but also the history of other people. And yet simultaneously we can't try to hold on to the past. We need to extract the lessons from the past and apply them in the present to create the future we want.

I know this isn't new news, but so often I see myself and other people trying to keep things the way they were. You may have had a wonderful client for ten years, and so you're trying to figure out a way to hold on to the known rather than to pursue the unknown. I encourage you to push yourself onward, either with the old client in new ways or with new clients. Force yourself to adapt to new circumstances before you're forced to adapt by new circumstances.

Catch-Up Days

Today was a catch-up day. Got home from a long business trip at 1 AM. Got up and went to Donuts with Dad with Sarah and Ben who are in third and first grade. Then spent the day tying up loose ends and running errands. And that's a good thing.

Some days are designed to clear the plate of a lot of loose ends. Nothing too earth shattering occurs. And that's a good thing.

By taking the pressure off of yourself to always perform, you can clear your mind and recharge your batteries. Now tomorrow's a different day. That's a "prepare for next week's big events" day. And that's a good thing to.

Not every day has to be the same. Some days you'll close the biggest deal of your career and other days you'll go to the cleaners. And that's ok.

A Concept for a Conference

Recently I attended a two-day conference. I've attended well over 100 of these creatures. In 99%, ok maybe 100%, of the ones I've attended, the agenda goes like this:

Presentations from 8 AM - 4 PM

Breaks so people can load up on food and talk to other people, whom they usually already know.

So essentially people get talked at for about 6 hours and network for 2 hours.

Here's a new concept:

Have three presentations, one hour each. Have four questions at the end of each presentation for the attendees to discuss. Rotate the groups so people are in three different groups each day, six in total. Notice how the two days would unfold: six presentations, six hours of organized conversations, and four hours of informal networking. Every attendee would be a part of six different groups.

Isn't the purpose of a conference to learn and to meet new people? Let's do less being talked at and more talking with other people.

Ratatouille

Last night in my hotel room, I watched the movie, Ratatouille, by Disney/Pixar. I know, it's an exciting life, but someone has to live it. This animated movie is really very clever and inspirational, for adults. The problem is that Pixar's movies are supposed to primarily be for children and secondarily for adults.

There are a lot of lessons from this movie. First, within the movie there are great messages about pursuing your passions and persevering until you can make a difference. Second, in terms of actual business results, Ratatouille, is nowhere near the success that Finding Nemo and  Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story have been in the past. The lesson here is that no matter  how clever and poignant are products and services become, if they are  not directed toward our targeted audience, they are not going to fare well in the marketplace.

Searching

The church which I belong to recently completed a 20-month search for a new senior minister. The members of the search committee had at least 75 meetings and considered over 86 applicants. These were volunteers dedicated to finding the right answer, and they did a beautiful job of applying patience and perseverance.

Are you searching for...

a new job?

a new way to add value to your customers?

new customers?

a new home?

a new relationship?

a better way to connect with your significant other?

a better way to communicate with your kids?

a way to lose weight or get in better shape?

Whatever your searching for, and we are all searching for something, maintain patience and perseverance. At one point our search committee thought their work was done only to have the candidate change his mind and decide not to join our church. So they went back to work and found a terrific candidate. Be patient and keep persevering.