stop hiring yourself.

I sat across from a woman with her Doctorate in Psychology this morning at coffee who said "we hire ourselves."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We hire people and first train, then manage them to be us. Instead, we should train and manage them for the position, then allow them to be better than us at their jobs."

"Give employees tasks, but give your managers goals." My Dad, a business owner of over 30 years has said many times. "Managers will only get frustrated if you give them tasks. Let them know what you need, then stand back and shut up. Let them do their jobs."


"I was never the smartest guy in the room. From the first person I hired, I was never the smartest guy in the room. And that's a big deal. And if you're going to be a leader - if you're a leader and you're the smartest guy in the world - in the room, you've got real problems" writes Jack Welch.

It seems intimidating, but the fact is, often we limit ourselves by building positions that validate us instead of outgrow us.

Again, the words of my Dad.



"Knock it off."

science fiction.

Since I was a kid I've been fascinated by science fiction. This originated from my Dad, who had several shelves crammed end-to-end with paperback sci/fi novels. Asimov, Lewis, Heinlein, Pohl, Dick, Bradbury, Clarke... 

Having been wrongfully denied our inalienable right to cable television, my siblings and I took respite in these pages instead. If he saw us reading one of his sci/fi books, he'd ask us what we thought of it, and listen to our opinions. Occasionally he'd get a twinkle in his eye and say, "have you gotten to the part where -- " while chuckling at our outcry of dismay that he could have very well just ruined part of the story for us.

I remember feeling robbed of breath during Fall of Moondust, Clarke's book about a recreational space vehicle that lands on a moon and sinks into the dust. Out of the Silent Planet was an eerie tour of a less-than-human planet that made me feel uncompromisingly awed and formed the unstable jello-like semblance of my friendship with the Sorns, a tall alien creature. Who wouldn't, with a hross name like Hyoi? The feeling of my stomach leaping into my throat as I frantically flipped through the pages of the opening sequence in Heinlein's Starship Troopers left me exhilarated. By the time The Bugs appeared I hated them and was ready for them to be dispatched of immediately. I was not disappointed.

When I read sci/fi the ceiling was blown out above my head and anything could happen. Curiosity became a just and faithful king that ruled my attention span while I read and commanded me to find out what happened next, rarely letting me down. Ten to fifteen years later, I don't remember a single line from any of these science fiction books I consumed to feed my never-satiated imagination. But today merely seeing the title on his shelf brings back powerful emotions, every single one making me feel something specific tied to making it from the front to the back of the book alive.

"You know Jim, you may not remember what someone says. Maybe you don't remember anything they said. But you will always remember how that person made you feel." Dad taught us feelings are powerful. "You may not be able to change how you feel at any given moment, but you can change how you act, and your feelings will follow." he'd say.

These were not empty words of cautionary wisdom. They were true, living breathing words, and I was afforded the fantastic visionary journey of discovering one aspect of this truth on my own through his books.

excerpts on public speaking.

“The best leaders very often are very good storytellers, and they will tell a story which sums it up without their having to say so. Their story hits the emotional centers as well as the cognitive.” -Daniel Goleman

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Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson’s TED Talk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice,” received the longest standing ovation in TED history. He told three stories. The first was about his grandmother. When Gallo asked Stevenson why he chose this story, Stevenson replied, “Carmine, I always tell a story about my grandmother. Why? Because everyone has a grandmother.” From the outset of his talk, Stevenson forms an immediate connection with his audience.

The human brain loves stories. “Stories that trigger emotion are the ones that best inform, illuminate, inspire, and move people to action. Most everyday workplace conversations are heavy on data and light on stories, yet you need the latter to reinforce your argument. So start incorporating more anecdotes—from your own experience or those about other people, stories, and brands (both successes and failures)—into your pitches and presentations.”

The first thing you want to do is get your audience emotionally charged. Next, you want to hit them intellectually.

“In the workplace, your listener (boss, colleague, sales prospect) is asking him or herself one question: ‘Is this person teaching me something I don’t know?’ So introduce material that’s unexpected, surprising, or offers a new and novel solution to an old problem.” -Carmine Gallo

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The Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor was once asked why the characters in her short stories were so outlandish. “When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do,” she said, “you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock — to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” -Geoff Loftus

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“What are the body language signs of fake listening? The eye contact is too fixed and too still. A person holds his head very still, as if to show that he’s really focused on you. Or she smiles too brightly, holding the smile too long. But a real conversation is full of anticipatory nods and handoffs of eye contact in order to allow smooth conversational ping-pong. It’s relaxed and synchronized. Fake listening feels very different from that. It’s tense rather than fluid, abrupt rather than smooth, hyped rather than natural.

And that’s just the face. Watch the rest of the body. Is it turning away from you? Is he tapping his fingers? Is she pointing her feet toward the door? Is the other party in constant motion, never quite coming to rest during the conversation? These are all signs of connection deficit syndrome.

Don’t do it. Take the time to connect with other people by being truly present. Let your own mind go quiet and instead of chattering away to yourself--or planning your escape--focus on the other person with the intent to connect. You’ll be amazed what you can learn. When everyone else is moving at a hundred miles per hour, start your own slow connection movement.

People who are in agreement with one another tend to mirror each other. One leads, the other follows in a matter of a few seconds. It’s especially revealing and easy to spot when there are three people talking; typically two will align and mirror and the third will not. All of this makes for entertaining people watching.

Spouses, partners, and lovers usually mirror one another’s physical orientation when they’re together or with others and they’re in basic agreement. It’s interesting to watch couples for signs of mirroring--and its opposite. You can often detect trouble in the relationship before the couple is aware of it.

People who are profoundly sympathetic to one another--lovers, siblings who are close, even business partners--are fun to watch because they will move together virtually as one. When you see this kind of unconscious dance, it’s a strong signal that the two people are in intimate agreement, either mentally or physically or both.” -Nick Morgan

community dynamic.

For those of you unfamiliar with how illegally downloading things (films, music, television shows, books, and every assorted media you can think of ) has survived for so long, let me give you a brief summary of how something so prevalent and in-your-face can last.
It's a community.
A very strong community.

The moment someone uploads a file that has "trackers" in it, that file is immediately red flagged by as many people as see the first red flag.
The moment someone uploads a file that contains "malware" or a "virus", the same thing happens.
No one downloads a brand-new file that hasn't been reviewed yet by individuals in the community, save for a few intrepid souls.

The same goes for the overwhelming majority of all organized crime. There are a few key individuals that play important roles, but their success and the successes of anyone who will ever benefit from their actions is entirely dependent on the people that surround them.
Community simply brings more eyes, more ears, and more minds together under a common purpose.

Each person in your company, your crew, or your team is a part of the community. They bring a unique set of perspectives and experiences to the table that when tapped, can affect your bottom line. Are you using them?
Have you asked each individual what they think they could do to strengthen your business?

intentionally create real value, don't stop at offering a product or service.

I've been wrong before. Many times in fact. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and risk being wrong again. 
I would venture to say 12 Years A Slave will win the Academy award for Best Picture this year, for one simple reason: it told the best story. 
Each year a hobby of mine is to watch  most of the Academy nominated pictures, and this year I enjoyed most of the selections that were listed.  12 Years A Slave is not funny, it is not easy to watch and was just short of agonizing to sit through at parts. In exchange, I highly doubt most viewers will ever forget the experience of how they felt during the movie. The Atlantic seems to think the filmmakers did a great job representing not only the majority of the Autobiography it was based on, but the time in history it portrayed.

Ty Montague writes: "In a world of abundance, what your product does for your customers is important, but not nearly as important as what your product means to them." In this case the product was the film, and the meaning was one man's struggle to survive an often terrifying series of circumstances.

12 Years A Slave is a triumph not merely because of the story that it tells (the filmmakers weren't so shallow as to stop there) but what that story means to the viewer. It communicates not just that slavery was/is wrong, but that each individual has a purpose, intrinsic value, and regardless of their situation every human will battle at one point or another with their own identity. We are in life together, and we must choose who we are each step of the way.
Tell me that isn't award-winning storytelling. 

Again, Ty Montague: "Back in the summer of 2006, New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker was mulling the question of what makes one object more valuable than another. What makes one pair of shoes more valuable than another pair if they both deliver on the functional basics of comfort, durability, and protection? Why does one piece of art cost $8,000,000 and another, $100? What makes one toaster worth $20 and another worth nearly $400 if they both make toast? As Walker turned these questions over in his mind he concluded that it is not the objects themselves, but the context, the provenance of the objects, that generates value. In other words, the value isn’t contained in the objects themselves, but in the story or the meaning that the objects represent to the owner.

Walker decided to test this conclusion in a simple and direct way. With the help of a friend, he began buying random, worthless, or low-value objects at tag sales and thrift shops. The cost of the objects ranged from one to four dollars. An old wooden mallet. A lost hotel room key. A plastic banana. These were true castoffs with little or no intrinsic worth.

Next, Walker asked some unknown writers to each write a short story that contained one of the objects. The stories weren’t about the objects, per se; but they helped to place them in a human context, to give them new meaning.

When Walker put the objects, along with their accompanying stories, up for sale on eBay, the results were astonishing. On average, the value of the objects rose 2,700%. That’s not a typo: 2,700%. A miniature jar of mayonnaise he had purchased for less than a dollar sold for $51.00. A cracked ceramic horse head purchased for $1.29 sold for $46.00. The value of these formerly abandoned or forsaken objects suddenly and mysteriously skyrocketed when they were accompanied by a story.

The project was so successful (and so interesting) that they have now repeated it 5 times and put all the results up on the web. It is also a book.

Walker’s experiment reminds us in a clear and extremely tangible way how the concept of value works in the human brain: a can opener is a can opener is a can opener until it is a can opener designed by Michael Graves and a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. A shoe is a shoe is a shoe until it is a pair of TOMS shoes. For every pair that I buy a child who has never been able to afford shoes gets a free pair as well. Suddenly, these objects are part of an inspiring narrative — one that I can use to reveal something meaningful about myself to others. That’s something I am willing to pay for."

What story are you trying to tell? Do you have the ability to communicate so persuasively that people remember how they feel when you were telling them your story? 

If not, how do you get there?

What are you walking into the room with?

In a study done by two psychologists in November it was hypothesized that "the psychological states individuals bring into newly formed groups can produce meaningful differences in status attainment." The tests conducted studied the effects of triggering three approach-based psychological states: promotion focus (defined as a focus on aspirations and goals), happiness, and a feeling of power.
In other words, what mindset did you walk into the room with?

The side of the brain activated by thinking certain ways resulted in neurological, hormonal, and psychological effects that lead to behavioral changes: "For example, people primed to feel powerful are more likely to take action such as turning off an annoying fan, while those primed to focus on promotion and happiness offer more ideas in brainstorming and guessing tasks. In our studies, we wanted to know whether these mind-sets would make people more proactive—and thus boost their status—in live, face-to-face group interactions."

The effects were clear. People made to feel promotion-focused, powerful, or happy before the group task behaved more proactively and achieved significantly higher status than those in other states. For example, in one experiment, 60% of those primed with an approach orientation were described by at least one teammate as the “leader of the group”—nearly double the rate expected by chance. 

The researchers concluded "it’s pretty easy to push yourself into the kind of proactivity that marks you as a person worthy of respect—someone others want to follow."
Further testing showed "the temporary mind-set that you bring to an initial group meeting can have a lasting impact on your status and influence with your teammates."

But what if you made the decision before you entered the team or group meeting room to be the most servant-like? The most humble? Listen more than anyone else? Be the most encouraging?

Read the full study here.

boost the boosts.

"Market leaders today are those that define what performance means in their respective categories:

Volvo sets the bar on safety, shaping customers' expectations for features from seat belts to airbags to side-impact protection systems and active pedestrian protection; Febreeze redefined the way customers perceive a clean house; Nike made customers believe in themselves." -HBR

When you look at brands you truly care about and why those companies stand out, chances are it's not because of how sexy their products look or even a great experience you had with their organizations. Brands who communicate real, transferable values do more than just create profits, they ensure that returns will continue.

Before you dive forward with something that has the potential to grow you or your business fast, make sure that it happens on your terms. It's your values that are communicated. Everything that comes out of or is associated with you and your company should point at the same message every time.

The hook, the virality of the surprisingly effective marketing ploy you're endlessly seeking will undoubtedly produce profit if you gain that delicious spike in sales. But do you have the structure and the commitment to a singular message behind that power boost to ensure the returns will continue until long after the buzz has died?