A Leadership Lesson from a Lousy Alarm
In the past month I’ve spoken or performed in California three times. First in San Francisco, then in Sacramento, then in Los Angeles earlier this week. I had a performance in downtown LA on Monday night, but I had to be back in Atlanta early Tuesday afternoon in order to host/MC a big corporate event at Six Flags on Tuesday night. The result of this was that I needed to take the first flight out of Los Angeles on Tuesday morning. The Monday night performance went great, and I hustled back to my hotel with an eye toward getting to bed as quickly as possible. As I got ready for bed, I used voice commands to set my alarm for 3:00 AM… so I could be at the airport by 4:00 AM for my 6:15 AM flight. Off to sleep I went! When the alarm went off I quickly got up, showered, dressed, packed, and headed downstairs. The concierge called me a cab and off to the airport I went. While sitting in the back seat, I checked my phone to get my boarding pass and to see which terminal I needed… and at that moment, I saw the time. It was only 12:45 AM! Apparently my voice command to set the alarm had gone to my tablet — which was still on Eastern time. I got up 3 hours earlier than I had planned! I had no viable choice but to go on to the airport, where I found a nice carpeted corner in the check-in area where I could doze until they started checking folks in at 4:00 AM. It’s funny now, but I assure you… it wasn’t funny in the cab! Through that minor pain, though, came a lesson I’ll take to heart: no more setting alarms via voice command for me! I’ll always check the time on multiple devices when I get up, too. But in the long run, I guess it’s better to be 3 hours early for check-in than 3 minutes late after the boarding door closes. It could certainly have been much worse. This was a relatively pain-free lesson. Competence Requires Context A useful insight I gained from this experience is this: it wasn’t my tablet’s fault that I got up early. The tablet was the picture of competence. It set off the programmed alarm completely correctly; it was “telling the truth” based on all the information that it had. The error in execution was mine, because I failed to provide the overall context needed in order to execute the task correctly. How often do we try to communicate without setting context? As a speakers, leaders, managers, communicators… are we fully considering the context into which we are sharing information? There are multiple examples of brands who published perfectly true content on their Twitter accounts, for example, but due to a tragedy or some other noteworthy event, the tone of the message turned out to be completely inappropriate. A failure to consider context can transform a perfectly accurate statement into a major misstep.
Saturn, a Garage-Sale Telescope, and Your Brand
Saturn, a Garage-Sale Telescope, and Your Brand Earlier this month I was in a discussion about branding and customer experience with a group of my peers. I thought of this story from my 2012 book. I shared it and was told afterward that it made a real impact on several people in the room and how they thought about the way they deliver value to their customers. Maybe you’ll find it helpful, too. I’ll never forget the moment I first saw Saturn in a telescope. It was a 3-inch refractor that I had gotten for my tenth birthday. As I sat in the front yard I thought, “This must surely be as good as the telescope Galileo had, and he saw Saturn’s rings. I wonder…” When I saw it, I was amazed. Awestruck. I could barely believe it was real. That little dot in the sky really had a ring around it. It looked like a tiny little sculpture floating in my eyepiece. The pictures that had come back from Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were enormous investments. The mission, the probes, the experiments, and those photos were built on the educations of hundreds of people and procured at great expense by the American taxpayer. Yet for all their costs, they had suddenly become secondary to my own personal experience through a beat-up garage sale telescope with a busted tripod leg and no finder scope. No matter how sophisticated your audience’s expectations based on other people’s reports, they will ultimately become secondary to the actual experience you deliver. It doesn’t matter how simple the delivery, as long as the experience is amazing. The photo of Saturn above can be seen in Sky & Telescope Magazine’s online gallery here. The story above is excerpted from my 2012 book High JOEltage: 101 JOElts for Becoming Amazingly Effective. The book is available on Amazon.
Small Action, Big Impact
Small Action, Big Impact Have you ever considered the impact that a small action or decision can have on your audience? Something you consider minor can have an enormous impact on a customer, client, or anyone else who is paying attention to your brand. Here’s a real-world experience that may give you something to think about. So What Actually Happened? Last year I was invited to perform for a corporate client’s holiday party at a beautiful venue in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite unprecedented amounts of ice, snow, and multiple transportation obstacles between my home in Atlanta and the venue in Nashville, I still made it and let me tell you — I have never been so happy to get to work! (The story of overcoming those obstacles is a story worthy of an entire post of its own. Stay tuned!) For this corporate event I provided background piano music, strolling close-up magic, and an after-dinner cabaret magic and mentalism show. That stand-up magic show included a number of pieces that required help from the audience. Choosing assistants from an audience is part art and part science. As the performer, you are observing and evaluating countless characteristics. Is this person smiling and open? Refusing eye-contact? Have they enjoyed the show so far, or have you sensed some kind of tension? Are they obviously having a bad day? Are they wearing glasses? Do they need a cane? Does their behavior seem predictable or erratic? Will the stress of being onstage with you excite or terrify them? Will their participation give the audience more enjoyment, or will it create tension? You may not always be able to know the precise answer to all of these questions, but over time you develop a gut instinct for what makes a good fit in each “guest star” role of your show. I was looking for an audience assistant for a part of my show near the end, and as I scanned the audience I caught the eye of a young girl. She was anxious to help, and might have been a good fit if I were doing a show that was designed for young assistants… but in this case, she wasn’t quite what I needed. I smiled, said as politely as I could that I was going to need someone else, and moved on in my search. I was packing up after the show when she and her dad came by to speak. They were super polite and he simply said that she wanted to talk with me. It was clear that she was disappointed, but she mainly just wanted to interact with me. I thanked her for her willingness to to help and got an address. Later on, I sent her a pack of my personal playing cards as a souvenir. She sent back the thank-you card pictured in this article. Three Decisions and Their Aftermath Let’s look at some decisions that were made and what impact they had. First, no matter how politely I moved on from that moment, I consciously chose not to use this child in my program. In my work I either choose or don’t choose hundreds of people in every show. To me, the moment I decide to move on is a drop of water in an ever-flowing river, and I have very good reasons for those decisions. But to a person in my audience, they might never have been at a show with a performer who was using audience participants. They might catch my eye only one time during the show, and if I don’t choose them… that feels very different. If they have invested emotionally in the moment, it can be truly disappointing. Even adults know how disappointing it is to feel that we’ve been “passed over” for an award, or a promotion, or even a sale. We may have more maturity and more emotional tools for dealing with that and building on it, but it’s still a downer. My small action, no matter how necessary it was, nor how unintended any offense, had a disproportionately negative impact on that young lady. Fortunately, they told me about it rather than keeping it secret! Next, after finding out that the young lady was disappointed, I took action. I chose to send a gift and a short note of encouragement. This was another minor decision, as I have decks of cards on hand and it cost me next to nothing to put together a little gift. But the act of doing so was about more than my own reputation management – it was also intended to help a real person feel real joy. It is almost trivial to take a moment to attempt to bring genuine joy to someone who you know needs it. (Psssst — everyone needs it!) Finally, the young lady responded to what I thought was a trivial gift with a thank you note that she made herself! Clearly, my small actions had a big impact, but her thank you note also did – it was the impetus for this article, and a great illustration of core customer service and branding principles that everyone can learn from. What Can We Learn About Customer Service and Keeping Our Brand Promises? Here are some questions to consider: – Do your business processes have built-in decision points that can generate genuine disappointment for some people? (Pssst – the answer to this question is always “Yes.”) – Do you have channels open to find out about those situations? – Are you willing to evaluate those concerns, prioritize them, and address them? – Are you celebrating the successes of doing so, so that others in your audience can see your brand honestly trying to live up to its promises? In any business, you will sometimes have to make decisions that mean some people don’t get exactly what they wanted. However, with thought and effort, you can take some disappointing outcomes and still frame them in ways that emphasize your organization’s commitment to
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances Sometimes we talk about the art of acting as if it were somehow dishonorable, and about nothing but lying and ego. But the reality is that great acting is about the truth, and understanding that can affect the way you make decisions about your brand and your real life responses to change and challenge. In my college acting days, I read A Practical Handbook for the Actor by Melissa Bruder et al. This little book transformed my approach to acting by boiling down much of the Sanford Meisner technique into its most accessible components. It dispensed with a lot of the esoteric emotional exercises and helped focus the actor on the questions at the heart of any scene. Who are these characters, and what do they want? In providing a way to answer those questions, the book first introduced me to a formulation of Meisner’s definition of acting, and it has stuck with me ever since. Generic Viagra https://www.wolfesimonmedicalassociates.com/viagra/ In short, acting is the art of living truthfully within given circumstances. The Given Circumstances In the theatre, the given circumstances can include the words of the script; the choices of the director with regard to blocking, style, and characterization; and the physicality of the set, costumes and props. Sometimes the director chooses to be flexible and allow changes to the given circumstances, but sometimes they are solid boundaries. The magic of acting, though, is that there is nearly infinite room for creativity and expression even within what may seem heavily constraining limits. In fact, some of the most memorable moments on film were improvisations by actors who, in character, reacted most honestly and authentically to changes in their given circumstances. From Jack Nicholson’s “Here’s Johnny!” in The Shining to Dustin Hoffman’s “I’m walking here!” in Midnight Cowboy, there are numerous film examples of amazing, high-impact moments created by actors committed to their purpose and the authenticity of their reactions. Accutane online https://advicarehealth.com/accutane.html In the past couple of weeks, I’ve watched several friends encounter difficult changes in their given circumstances, including lost jobs, problems with children, and the loss of their spouses. Other friends have had happy changes including signing new contracts, landing huge new clients, and having children – or in some cases, grandchildren! All of them will make new choices and they will take new actions as a result of the changed circumstances. Regardless of the nature of the changed circumstances, though, the actions they take will illustrate who they really are. What are their core values? What is, ultimately, their personal brand all about? Authentic Actions Illustrate Character In the same way that people illustrate their values and personal brands through their actions in changing circumstances, so also do organizations and corporate brands. Sometimes the changing circumstances are a function of the economy, or technology, or a change of leadership. Sometimes the new circumstances are a function of a crisis brought on by a customer service or public relations misstep. That there will be changes in the given circumstances is inescapable. That we deliver insights to our audiences by how we perform in the given circumstances is undeniable. Human beings instinctively process stories and characters based on the actions they take as the plot unfolds. Authentically motivated, value-driven responses to changing circumstances are the hallmark of top performers, whether on-stage or in the market. We are all actors because we all take action. When you act with authenticity that is driven by your goals and values, and you will captivate and amaze your audience.
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud!
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud! I’m sure you’ve heard the idiom “Pride goes before the fall” sometime in your life. You may recognize it as coming from the Bible – Proverbs 16:18, to be exact. In the original context, it is a traditional two-part warning: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” But modern English usage has shortened it to “Pride goes before the fall.” It’s generally used in the context of warning people that overconfidence and hubris often precede defeat, humiliation, or setback… usually because the excess pride led to complacency or mistakes. A stuck-up person can be blind to his or her weaknesses and fail to acknowledge his vulnerabilities. Warning people to avoid that pitfall is good advice. There is, however, another way to interpret “Pride goes before the fall,” but it requires that we split the concept “pride” into two component parts. Zenegra https://www.wolfesimonmedicalassociates.com/zenegra/ One part is hubris and haughtiness. That arrogant, overconfident element is a vice and is what the original proverb is warning against. It is about not merely elevating your perception of yourself, but diminishing others as well. It is an unloving and unwise characteristic and certainly as deadly a sin as we’ve been taught. But I believe, as have many before me, that underneath the vice, there is a virtuous element of pride, specifically, the state of being pleased or gratified with the result of good performance, whether your own or someone else’s. Even Christians are taught that we should desire to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That compliment is clearly intended to engender a combination of gratitude and pleasure at a job “well done.” Generic Ambien online https://www.gastonpharmacy.com/ambien.php The negative aspects of pride are, as always, a perversion of a virtue; that is, being proud to an extreme that goes beyond what is merited. Warnings against haughtiness are warranted. But it is both unreasonable and unwise to abandon the feeling of pride in true work and true value. If your work merits approval, then there is nothing wrong with being pleased that you’ve done a task well, that you’ve delivered the value expected of you, or that you’ve performed at a high level. In fact, I think that such pride in one’s work and one’s workmanship is a necessary component of a successful, prosperous society and a successful, prosperous brand. And that’s where the second interpretation comes in. When that virtuous pride is gone, your society will fall. When you stop taking pride in your work, your achievements will slow and stop. When you stop taking pride in your family, your relationships will weaken. When you stop taking pride in your community, your society will crumble. When you stop expecting others to demonstrate pride in what they do, overall quality of output will decline. When pride goes, a fall is sure to follow. It is smart to avoid hubris and arrogance. It is wise to avoid being unrealistic about your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It takes humility to accept that you still need to improve. But in the same way you look at your shortcomings with an honest eye, you must also look at your achievements on their real merits, and take pride in doing a job well. You have a right to be proud of your brand and the things that you do to strengthen it. Enjoy your success – not in a haughty way, but in the context of building on your momentum to achieve more.
Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 4: Contact
Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 4: Contact We all want our audiences to perceive our brands as “amazing,” and the “Five Kinds of Amazing” model provides a way to organize our approaches for making amazing experiences happen. In reviewing the first three elements, the magic metaphors all relate to primarily visual experiences. – Talent/Expertise: relating to open and frequent knowledge sharing – Science/Process: relating to embedding unexpected positive experiences in standard processes – Mystery/Empowerment: relating to the overt contradiction of an established process In this article and the next, we are going to shift gears a bit. In the final two categories, we’ll be referring to effects within a particular branch of illusion arts known as “mentalism.” I’ve written about mentalism before, and you may find it helpful in understanding the metaphor by reviewing that article. To summarize, though, mentalism is a branch of the illusion arts that deals with experiences that are more psychological than visual. Instead of more traditional conjuring effects such as objects appearing, floating, changing colors, or being destroyed and restored, mentalism relates to experiences of supposed ESP, mind-reading, mental influence, ability to affect the physical world through the power of the mind, and predictions of future events. Some mentalism effects or experiences relate to the concept of mind-reading. The “Contact” category corresponds to this kind of illusion, in which one person seems to be able to communicate with another person solely through mental power. The apparent ability to read minds or to influence people mentally is a powerful theatrical experience. Classic performers like Alexander and Dunninger and more modern figures like the Evasons and Max Maven have created sensations with their ability to seemingly get inside the minds of other people. Communication In business, contact equals communication. The key factor here is that there are two minds involved – someone is sending the message, and someone is receiving and, more importantly, responding to it. If someone could really read your mind – and let’s say that they can only read it to the extent that you permit them to read it – how do you think you’d feel? Let’s leave aside the possible negative aspects for a moment and just think about some of the other implications. You might feel as if there were a direct and unfiltered connection, and that the communication was practically instantaneous. Depending on how they handled that information, you might develop a deep trust. You’d certainly feel that you had their undivided attention if they were peering directly into your mind. If you want your audience to feel like you’ve made the best possible connection with them – that is, an amazing connection, then it’s up to you to make sure you communicate with them in similar ways: Regularly So that there’s an expectation that you’ll be in touch consistently. Quickly So that there’s an immediacy in the engagement. Honestly So that there’s an establishment of trust. Attentively So that there’s a clear prioritization of that communication. The faster you respond, the more amazing they’ll find that interaction. The more you share honest, useful, information with them, the more amazing they’ll find your brand. The more attentive you are to them in the moments when they are reaching out, the more amazing the story they’ll tell their own audiences. Next time, we’ll wrap up the five kinds of amazing with a look at another type of mentalism experience and how it relates to your brand’s audience!
Reasons To Use a Microphone
Always Use the Microphone Planners, speakers, networkers, on behalf of your audiences and attendees, I beg you: if there is a microphone in the room where your event is happening, use it and make sure everyone else does, too. Plan for it, use it, enforce it, and remember that it’s not just for the others – it’s there for you, too! – Just making a quick announcement? Use the microphone. – Just introducing another speaker? Use the microphone. – Confident you have a loud voice? Use the microphone. – Think it’s inconvenient? Use the microphone. People who are introducing, people who are speaking, people who are transitioning, people who are just making announcements… everyone who is speaking to a group in a professional setting should use a microphone if it is available. Why? Consider the following. Reasons You Should Be Using That Microphone Your job is to make it easy for your audience to get your message. Whether you’re a planner or a speaker, you bear responsibility for communicating your message as effectively as possible. An inability to hear easily, without strain or distortion, is an unnecessary hurdle. Your voice isn’t as loud as you think it is. Many people think their voices are loud and use that as a reason not to use a microphone. A loud voice, though, seems louder to the speaker than it does to the audience. Often, the person who claims “I have a loud voice and don’t need a microphone” is simply making an excuse to cover their fear of using a microphone or of hearing their voice amplified. Even if your voice is loud and you know how to project well, the change in sound makes the presentation disjointed. Good diction and projection are great, but not everyone’s voice has the same volume or timbre. If most people are using the microphone and one person insists on not using it, the drastic change in audio quality is jarring to the audience. Meetings and events run more smoothly. Microphones grant a perceived authority to whomever is using one. The nature of a group is to listen to what is being said on the sound system. This makes a big difference in the dynamics of a meeting, when you may have interruptions or a group discussion that needs to be reined in. You will strain your voice. Unless you are a trained singer, you are likely to strain your voice when trying to sustain the increased volume you need to be heard clearly by even a small group. Most people do not like the feeling of being shouted at or “projected to.” The microphone allows the speaker to maintain an easy, conversational volume and still be heard clearly. Your brand will be perceived negatively by an audience who cannot hear your message. Your personal or organizational brand is not strengthened by an audience experience that includes strain, discomfort, or the intermittent dropping out of the information you’re trying to communicate. Next Blog: Tips on Microphones In our next post we’ll share some helpful tips on the effective use of microphones for planners, speakers, and entertainers.
When Scrutiny Becomes Prejudice
When Scrutiny Becomes Prejudice Recently I heard a local radio personality – a man with whom I usually agree – engage in such intense scrutiny of a news story that his objectivity audibly turned into prejudice. He discussed wasteful, extravagant government spending and pointed to numerous government conferences as the source of some of his disgust. Frankly, I was with him up to that point. But then he and a reporter went down a cherry-picked list of expenditures, giving short descriptions of conference sessions and the price tags associated with them. “Four 90-minute sessions on crisis leadership” – followed by a fee. Some other sessions with more creative, even fun titles were subsequently laughed “at,” not laughed “with.” Neither man managed to ask what is obviously the critical question: Was the value of the session worth the cost? Don’t Judge a Fee by Its Label A number in the tens of thousands for a handful of breakout sessions at a conference may sound like a lot of money for a few hours in a training room, but the broadcast mock-fest completely ignored the amount of preparation and expertise that goes into creating, developing, researching, and preparing solid content and skilled delivery. There is a lot of time, effort, education, expertise, and experience that goes into that number… hours, months, and years that far surpass the mere minutes on-the-ground in that training room, on the platform, or on the stage. [pullquote align=”right”]”Nobody asked him what his hourly rate would be today if divided into the fifteen hours per week he spends on the air. But if he were being attacked in that way, he would rightly object…”[/pullquote]It is interesting to note that nobody asked that radio host what his salary was. Nobody asked him what his salary was when he was a CEO. Nobody asked him what his hourly rate would be today if divided into the fifteen hours per week he spends on the air. But if he were being attacked in that way, he would rightly object to the positioning of his work as taking only that many hours per week. He would argue that there’s a lot more work going on than what you hear behind the microphone. He’d argue that the reason he’s there at all is because of the cumulative value of his experiences in his life, as a corporate leader, political figure, and radio host. He would argue, in short, that he’s worth it. So would every caller who phoned in to join the angry refrain. Without any facts to the contrary, I wouldn’t begin to dispute the work value of any of those callers, or the value of that host as a radio host or as a CEO. In fact, I am a supporter of free market, no-limits salaries for a corporate leader or anyone else who has great vision, great skills, and who brings great results. And no matter who is paying for that value, if the value is earned then it shouldn’t be mocked. If the value isn’t earned, it should be stopped. But the transaction should not be prejudged and ridiculed without even attempting to understand the value exchanged. That is absurd. [pullquote]”A transaction should not be prejudged and ridiculed without even attempting to understand the value exchanged.”[/pullquote] This radio host – and others belittling the value of live speakers and trainers at live conferences – should pause and give those professionals the opportunity to make the same case they would make if their own compensation were put under a microscope for the world to see. Are you worth your keep? Frankly, we speakers and entertainers ARE worth it, or at least some of us are. We certainly ought to be evaluated and held to high standards, but our value should not be dismissed or mocked because of a creative session or program title in a 24-character field on a spreadsheet somewhere. High Fees for High Value are not Wasteful Let’s be clear. Nobody thinks excessive or wasteful spending is a good idea, particularly when you are dealing with public funds. There should rightly be a higher standard when the taxpayers’ money is being spent, and those expenses should never, ever be treated lightly or frivolously. (In all candor, it’s an unfortunate double standard that the intense scrutiny used to evaluate spending of thousands or tens-of-thousands in these cases is not applied to the spending of billions and hundreds-of-billions in other cases, but that is a discussion for another place.) So let’s accept the shared understanding that wasteful spending is bad. With that as a starting point, I offer this challenge to my colleagues and peers: [pullquote align=”right”]”We need to stand ready to push back when unfair preconceptions of our value are thrust into the public debate.”[/pullquote]Fellow meeting industry professionals – planners, vendors, speakers, performers, hoteliers, and others – we need to stand ready to push back when unfair preconceptions of our value are thrust into the public debate. We should prepare beforehand to be pleasant, well-informed, and steadfast advocates for the value we deliver. There is no reason not to stand in defense of the creative or even unorthodox elements of our meetings that may be fun, social, entertaining, or otherwise non-technical, armed with the knowledge that such segments, used effectively, add real value. Whether paid with private or public funds, a truly high value merits a high fee. Will there be arguments or debates about the value? Sure. But let’s not start with the assumption that any entrepreneur who comes up with an engaging title or structure for his or her presentation is automatically suspect simply because there were four, five, or six digits on the check they received. You cannot fairly label that fee as unreasonable unless you have given their content a fair evaluation, and that didn’t happen in 5 minutes on a radio show. Speakers and entertainers, are you prepared to justify your value? Planners, are you organizing your conference so that you
Entrepreneurship and Magic Radio Interview
I recently sat down with Roger & Stacy Vaughn as their guest for their business radio show, “Veterans with a View” on The Better You Network. Enjoy this conversation about entrepreneurship, business, and making a career out of an unusual passion! Click here to visit the show page and listen!
Recent Press Hits in Alabama and Georgia
Just a quick update this time. I had two recent press hits, one relating to an entertainment opportunity in Alabama, and one regarding a speaking engagement on small business branding in metro-Atlanta. Cherokee County Herald 5-15-2013 (PDF file) The entertainment event was for the Cherokee County (AL) Chamber of Commerce. Even in the entertainment setting, though, I couldn’t help but share some of my thoughts on the business and community impact of such organizations. The event received a full page of coverage in the Cherokee County Herald. [gn_spacer size=”30″] Douglas County Sentinel 5-15-2013 (PDF file) The speaking engagement was for the Rotary Club of Douglas County, Georgia. Although I’m not a Rotarian myself, my grandfather was a District Governor and a Paul Harris Fellow. He took me to Rotary meetings when I was a child, and I think I knew the 4 Way Test before I knew my multiplication tables! I have a soft spot when invited to speak to Rotary Clubs. I spoke on small business branding and got a front page article and photo in the Douglas County Sentinel. Interestingly, both press hits appeared on the same day!
