Learning how to sell...For those whose business card DOESN’T say so!

I asked a group of high performing accountants seated in a room if they were in sales. There was a dead silence in the room and then one of them said very firmly and politely that they are charted accountants and not a sales team. I specially noticed the intent in the statement which was manifested in the tone of the gentlemen.

I think it will be only fair that I first define what selling is. According to Brian Tracy Selling is a skill to persuade and influence someone to behave in a manner in which they would not have on their own.

If you agree with this definition than all of us either sometime during the day or throughout the day are selling. It could be in office, it could be at home as  you  try to convince your child why it is time to study instead of watching television or when you  try to convince a customer service representative that why she should give you an additional  discount.

Sadly, barring those who sell products or services, so few people make a conscious attempt to learn the art and craft of selling. 

Why should I learn to sell?

If you do not know how to sell your ideas you will have to fall back on demanding or on leveraging the power in the relationship. Both styles create unnecessary friction.

The first axiom is that persuading people to behave in a manner which is different to what they are used to is equivalent to asking them to change. Change as we know is very difficult and requires that we build new neural pathway in our mind.

Mentioned below are some back of the envelop ideas which any can use to sell their ideas in any situation:

• Striking a relationship
• People buy ideas from those who they like, know and trust. Trust comes from being honest, delivering on your promises small and big; being knowledgeable; respecting the  other person, example would be being a good listener; and being able to communicate in a wave length which is easy to understand

• Explaining what is in it for them; the proverbial WIIFM
• People are keen to know how the change ties with their personal goals. Make sure the outcome is stated in positive as the mind cannot picture the negative.

• Supporting them as they try
• A child learns to walk by stumbling and this principle does not change as we learn new things as adults. If a child was scolded every time it fell I don’t think any child would ever learn to walk

• Encouraging them when they make mistake
• Coach when the performance is up; offer support when the performance is down. 

• Celebrating when they reach the summit; so they take up even bigger goals next time
• I always believed that everyone from 2-90 years of age values recognition. The more you recognize the positive behaviour the more of same behaviour you will get from the recipient.

Last but not the least; be firm in your conviction but flexible in your approach change is difficult and not everyone changes at the same pace.

“People become what you expect of them; and what you expect of others is linked to personal beliefs you hold for self.”

(Second of the two part article)

In the first part of this article we had discussed the influence “positive expectations” has on performance of an associate. The theme of this article is: what are the ingredients for developing the attitude of “positive expectations” in managers?

Managers who have “positive expectations” of subordinates are the ones who have great self confidence in their ability to select, train, and develop talent in others. What the managers believe about themselves subtly influences what they expect from the associates (Pygmalion in Management, J Sterling Livingston).

The “Sweeney Miracle”

James Sweeney, Professor of Management and Psychiatry was in-charge of the Bio-medical computer centre at the Tulane University, US. Professor Sweeney believed that he could teach a poorly educated person how to be a computer operator. To prove his conviction, Sweeney selected George Johnson, a former hospital porter and who was now working as a janitor at the computer centre as his understudy.  IQ test taken by George Johnson had indicated that he can’t even type let alone become a computer operator.

George completed his janitorial duties in the morning and in the afternoon learnt how to operate and program computers. Finally George not only successfully learnt how to operate computers but also became in charge of the main computer room and was responsible for training new employees to program & operate the computers.

Professor Sweeney’s expectations were based on his own ability and not on the learning credentials of George Johnson (Pygmalion in Management, J Sterling Livingston). Over the years several such experiments have been conducted at workplace to validate the theory. If you look at the top performers in an organization you would find a disproportionate number belong to teams where there is demonstrable leadership. It is not a coincidence that high performance of associates and leadership of managers go hand in hand.

Application

Managers don’t gain self confidence about their abilities just by having the title. They have to have the knowledge and competencies about the task they are supervising.  In the early years, managers’ expectations have the most significant influence on the associate’s performance. As an individual matures in his role his self image hardens and he begins to see himself as his career record shows. In the field of sales, it is a popular belief that the sales performance of an individual in the first six months becomes a water mark for rest of the career; give or take 10%.

Similarly teachers have a significant influence on the performance of the students in the formative years.

These findings should give managers a food for thought in terms of responsibility they carry on their shoulders. Approximately 70% of the Indian population is under the age of 35. Companies can provide the new employees with the right environment as future business leaders will emerge from this class. The managers who handle the new employees should know how to develop new talent in addition to having a successful personal track record. Further, one of the yard sticks in their performance evaluation of managers should be success in developing new people.  The big advantage managers have is that during the early years people are most open to new learning thus making strong self image a bit easier.

The secret behind Super 30’s success-reverse engineered

(First of the two part series)

According to the latest statistics of the Joint IIT exam, only 1 out of 45 students, finally made it to the engineering institution which participate in the process! Perhaps it is the toughest entrance exam.

On the other hand, Anand who runs “Ramanujam School of Mathematics” in Bihar has created history by sending 212 students (out of 240) to the IITs since 2003. Super 30 (www.super30.org/as) as this program is called has caught every ones attention. What makes these results even more remarkable is the fact that all the students come from financially poor families-the school bears the entire cost for these  students.

The secret formula for this spectacular achievement has several ingredients: the laser sharp purpose the students bring to the program, the learning methodology, the hard work by one and all and so on.

All of the above reasons may not explain the achievements of this group entirely. The question is what is  the X factor which brings out the best in these students? Can management science explain the marvel?

The “Pygmalion Effect”

The class of Super 30, is selected after very careful screening. According to the staff these 30 students  are the most deserving among the thousands who apply. The group is given utmost attention as they are the torch bearers of the proud legacy of the program. They are best of the best. The expectation of every student and people around them is that the students are good enough to make it to the IIT. The results are a foregone conclusion (other ingredients are very critical as well).  The "positive expectation" is the X factor in the entire process it gels the efforts of everyone associated with the program-students as well as teachers.

Research has shown that children who are expected to succeed by their teachers are more likely to succeed; similarly employees who are expected to succeed by their managers are more likely to perform well (Reference: Pygmalion in Management by J Sterling Livingston- HBR Classic). This positive expectation is called The Pygmalion effect also known as self-fulfilling prophecy. This concept has application in educating students, managing teams, raising children, in treating patients, hiring new employees and in becoming self aware. By the same token the reverse is also true, lower expectations invariably results in poor performance.

The origins of this theory lies in the Greek mythology, Pygmalion a sculptor, carved a statue of a women and fell in love with it. His love for the statue was so intense that the statue came alive. Subsequently he married her and  raised a family.  

Application in real life

Managers, educators, care givers and parents wield the power of attention, training, teaching and encouragement. When we have low expectations of someone it gets quickly communicated through our actions. Just consider how much attention, praise and time we shower on our top performers and compare it with those who are not doing as well. If science is to be believed it may be worth the effort to give equal attention to those who you think are mediocre and the results may change your paradigm (patience will be required). The by-product of this shift may be better team performance, lower attrition and improved profits.

What do you think, have you seen self-fulfilling prophecy in action?

Delayed gratification in the instant world

Mr. Narayana Murthy, in a television program described entrepreneurship as “delayed gratification.” I think it was an apt description of a career which so many aspire. Unfortunately majority of the people never seed their thought and of those who do, many pull out the green shoots too quickly. A small majority who have the staying power and luck on their side are able to enjoy rewards. The journey is full of obstacles and rewards are mostly received in the future. At times the true rewards are harvested by the next generation. I guess this is what Mr. Murthy meant when he spoke of “delayed gratification.”

 The “Marshmallow Experiment”

The concept of “delayed gratification” was first studied forty years back and the results continue to surprise everyone even now. Back in 1960, Walter Mischel at Stanford University conducted a “Marshmallow Experiment” using four year olds as the subjects of the study.  Walter assembled a group of four year olds in a room and gave each one of them a marshmallow with a clear instruction that he would be leaving the room for 15 minutes and those who do not eat the marshmallow would get another marshmallow when he returns. When he returned to the room he found that some children could wait while others could not. Researchers followed these children into adulthood and found that those who could wait were better adjusted and more dependable (as reported by their families); and scored an average of 210 points higher on the SAT test.

In another study conducted by Dr. Anders Ericsson at Florida University on acquisition of expertise found that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert. If one practiced 20 hours per day for 50 weeks in a year it could take an individual 10 years to reach mastery level. 10 years of continuous work surely qualifies for “delayed gratification.”

Dr. Anders study covered fields like chess, music, sports, medicine, engineering and ballet dancing-fields where one could separate expert from other.

Besides entrepreneurship, marshmallows and discipline-mastery there are plenty of other inspirational goals which meet the definition of “delayed gratification; for example, studying for IIT, wanting to lose weight, learning a new language, aspiring to be a professional sports person just to name a few. All of these goals have several things in common, they are stretch goals, only a minority will ultimately succeed and all of them require sustained effort over a long period of time.

How do we ensure that we are focussed during the journey? In addition to strong personal character the role of a mentor can be of great importance. Mentor is someone who probably inspired this individual in the first place and also believes in him. Perhaps this is single most important external critical success factor.

Manager as a mentor at work-place

At the workplace most of the regular goals are byte sized. A good case in point is acquiring new skills to improve performance. The goals or improvements required may be small but collectively they can have a huge impact to the top and bottom line of the organization.

The key to achieving these goals is learning. The learning could be of technical or soft skill type. The soft skills are much harder to imbibe as it requires that we abandon or change our current habits. By and large, employees do not initiate the process of learning because learning anything new is a stretch and people are not naturally inclined to do difficult things. Additionally, we are all afraid to fail. And even if employees start the journey the early results are generally disappointing. Subsequently they get discouraged and abandon the effort.

Those managers who understand that failing initially is an integral part of learning are able to manage the learning process of the team mates more effectively. These managers provide continuous support in terms of encouragement and feedback to help employees become self reliant.

It is suffice to say that lucky are those who have people around them to provide feedback. It is important to understand that the purpose of providing feedback is to support the employee in his endeavour; it is not to show how much the manager knows.

 There are no self made men and women; behind every success there is a mentor; someone who cares and provides encouragement and guidance to do things which one has not done before.

Has there been someone in your career who mentored you?

Are managers paid to provide answers or ask questions?

Let me say at the outset that the headline of this post is not applicable in situations where life threatening matters have to be addressed or there is an emergency.

However, once the situation is in control, the information in this article will be of immense value to those who manage teams and are deeply interested in making their team members self-reliant.  

Now that we have some clarity on the scope of the discussion let us explore the background behind employees asking questions and managers providing answers.

Why employees ask questions?

Employees or colleagues ask questions when they face a dilemma or they need clarification on an issue. The employees are justified in asking questions from their managers and supervisors. Where else would they go? On the other hand, employees use their managers as a Go-To person because soliciting response from someone else is lot convenient compared to mentally stretching self.  And by the way, if the answer does not lead to the desired outcome the responsibility can be easily shifted to the one who provided the answer.

Why managers love to answer questions?

Managers are doers and therefore the natural response when a question is asked is to provide the answer.  It is also true when we answer questions it massages our ego and when we direct the action of others we feel like a super human. Many employees can sense this weakness and leverage the desire of the manager to be superman to their advantage.  Needless to say that there are obvious benefits for making the boss feel good.

Unfortunately when we provide answers we miss the opportunity to coach and develop the employee. There is a Buddhist saying that when the student is ready the teacher will come-and when the student asks a question he is ready to learn. The manager does not have to be the teacher in the traditional sense as a slightly different approach is required to convert the situation into a learning moment.

How does it work?

If someone has managed a team than they have definitely been asked some time or the other-boss what should I do? The natural inclination is to provide the answer to the hapless fellow. This benevolent attitude may become a obstacle when it comes to developing employees.  On the other hand, it is an ideal situation for helping the person develop his/her own insights.

 Let us review a conversation between a manager and an employee. The employee was asked to develop a curriculum for an induction program and he has not started on the project. During a routine meeting following conversation took place:

Employee: Boss what are some of the topics that should be included in the induction program?

Manager: What is your intent here do you already have a list of topics that you want to share with me or you would like to generate some ideas?

Employee: I could not come up with any good topics

Manager:  It looks like that you have given it some thought, what would be some of the topics that came to your mind?

Employee: I have never managed an induction program so I do not know

Manager: Let us put our thinking cap on-put yourself in the shoes of a brand new employee; what would be some of things that you would like to know about your new employer? (Let the employee think aloud with some answers). 

By now if the employee has a healthy list of topics, the manager can follow-up by asking topics that should be covered from the company’s perspective. The conversation can be extended to cover validation of the topics by other stakeholders, ensuring that the agenda can be covered in the stipulated time frame, short listing speakers etc.

Last but not the least; the manager must inquire about the learning from the discussion and how the insights developed will be useful for the employee in handling similar situations.

In case this line of questioning does not help, the manager can direct the employee to other sources for information (speak to someone in similar situation; or read an article—the employee is supposed to do the legwork). If the employee is unable to develop a robust agenda the manager can fill in with some additional information but the answers should be offered in a manner that it does not give an impression that the manager is attached to the information. Otherwise the employee will not take ownership of the ideas and nor would any learning take place.

Why not just give the answer it is quick and easy?

Yes, it would have been easy to rattle off the answers as soon as the question was asked; there is a possibility that the quality of the manager’s list would have been slightly better than the one which the employee created but the ownership of the employee would have been limited. Moreover, in future every time the employee would have been stuck he would be back at the manager’s desk.

What are the benefits?

Plentiful for all the stakeholders. The manager gets an opportunity to develop an employee and make him self-reliant. Work situations where such dialogues are routine succession planning and talent management get on the auto pilot. The employee is motivated as he or she has learnt something new which can be applied to other situations.

As I had said earlier the role of the manager has evolved over the years. In the knowledge economy workers despise managers who are just score keepers. When the manager and the employee are job satisfied, it means higher performance, greater engagement and retention; all this translates into higher top and bottom line for the organization.

Have you worked with a manager who encouraged you to find your own answers? I am eager to hear your experience.

Tenure and success in the IPL: lessons for the business world

Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 4; by the way they also won IPL 3; and have appeared in 3 of the 4 finals since the tournament began. Volumes have been written about the underlying reasons for the success of CSK. Depending on who is commenting, several theories have been forwarded by the experts. Some claim that it was the magic of Dhoni’s captaincy, others say that it was the team composition (Steve Fleming claimed that team selection was done keeping in mind the home condition) and some also point out that CSK benefited by retaining maximum number of players from the past editions of the IPL. It is public knowledge that during the auction CSK retained M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina, M Vijay and Albie Morkel; and also aggressively bid for R Ashwin, S Badrinath and Doug Bollinger.  What should not go unnoticed is the fact that Stephen Fleming, the coach, has been part of the team since the first edition first as a player and now as a coach.

Experience and tenure

It may be difficult to identify a single reason for CSK’s success, as each of the points shared by the experts had some role. It is well known that leadership plays an important role in professional sports and in corporate world. Further, good team composition is essential for achieving success, as it is the team which implements the strategy. The third point, retention of high performers from the previous editions of the IPL says a lot about the management’s attitude and faith in experience. It is open knowledge that decisions in the IPL revolve around money but in the end retaining talent was not only good business but also the winning strategy.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore had a good tournament last year but barring Virat Kholi they went for a complete makeover of their team-unfortunately the results did not change much. Delhi Dare Devils and KKR cannot be questioned for rebuilding their teams.

Retaining talent, encouraging tenure has several benefits:

Most of the time talent development efforts are limited to the top 2-3% of the employees, completing ignoring the core. There may be a differentiated and less featured program for the core but nonetheless attention to this group is equally critical. This is your middle class solid and gives continuity to the business. In an organization, the HR is responsible for promoting talent development but the onus of execution is with the immediate managers.

Companies which focus on developing and retaining talent enjoy all round benefits. By the way, organizations who don’t invest in developing talent don't focus on retaining talent either. They are happy recruiting talent from other sources. The jury is still out on how beneficial is this strategy in the long rum. Some of the benefits of having a specific talent retention and development strategy are:

• It reduces costs of hiring and retraining employees
• It is a great way to build a management bench and attract new talent
• Investment in further developing tenured employees is proportionately less
• Talented tenured employees are great ambassadors for the organization- they help build culture

Why do talented employees leave?

There are several reasons why employees leave their organization. The key among them is that they are no longer growing in the organization. And people and products have one common trait; if they don’t grow they go. Therefore, it is important for organizations to create an environment in which their most important asset can flourish.

Is growth the only driver?

Not really. The current tangle between Chris Gayle versus West Indies Cricket Board is a good case in point.  An organization may bestow all the money, training and title to an individual but if it cannot fulfil the basic human need of appreciation, respect, love and recognition the employee would look elsewhere. The current crisis is a timely reminder to all managers; don’t forget to hug and appreciate your employees from time to time, they may not be asking for a raise or a promotion but just a pinch of acknowledgement of their services to the organization.

“He taught me to teach myself, which is the greatest thing a teacher can do.”  Isaac Stern (famous violinist)

Over the last few decades, there has been much talk about “learning organization” both in the business press and the academia. One criticism that the concept of “Learning Organization” gets is that it too much top down. The objective of this article is to highlight how Developmental Coaching model can actually promote the concept of “learning organizations” from ground-up.

Let’s face it, the job for which an employee was hired yesterday is not the same job that he is doing today. With the business landscape evolving at break-neck speed, the need to support the employees so they can continuously deliver superior performance is not an option but a basic business requirement.

The current paradigm in the business world is that the responsibility of employee development lies with the learning & development function. A direct outcome of this thought process is that the learning & development function has been given the sole responsibility of this task.

As part of employee development, the one kind of training which the L&D function organizes more than any other is class-room training. Class room training is ideal for building foundational skills especially technical skills. Using class room as a medium large number of participants can be covered in a relatively short period of time. The other benefit of this option is that it gives the participants the opportunity to learn and practice in a safe environment-an important and necessary part of the process.

It is well known that class room training cannot deliver all the development needs of employees. First and foremost, not every company has a full-fledged training department. Secondly, the ones who have trainers find that gathering everyone in the classroom is an expensive proposition. The travel costs and the loss of productive work-time can make it very difficult to convince people. Since adults learn in small increments without the follow-up all the momentum is lost. Self paced on-line learning has helped but only marginally.

Last but not the least; the range of topics which can be covered in a class room is limited. When personal skills are the focus; for example, topics such as assertiveness, resourcefulness, self reliance, commitment to grow, emotional intelligence and cognitive skills (to name a few) we need to explore other options.

In companies where Developmental Coaching model is in place, if the trainer is unavailable, the immediate manager can ensure that employee growth continues. Secondly, when the learning & development function and the immediate manager jointly take up the responsibility of employee growth, follow-up to the class room training is seamless. Further, for the learner to internalize the new concepts he needs an opportunity to practice and receive feedback. Both of these issues can be addressed with the involvement of the immediate manager. The class room trainer cannot provide such a platform.

What are your views on the advantages and limitations of class room training?



A Guide to Development Coaching

Recently Deccan Herald carried an article which was originally printed in the New York Times, titled “Google’s quest to build a better boss.” The article talked about “Project Oxygen” an initiative at Google where the people analytics team analysed performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards enterprise-wide. The purpose of this exercise was to identify traits that employees found of value in their managers. In the order of priority employees wanted bosses who were even-keeled, made time for one-on-one meetings, helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and took interest in employees’ lives and career. In the ranking order the technical ability of the boss came dead last.

These findings are a reflection of the traditional manager-supervisor relationship at work place where the focus is on results and outcomes only. The business world is changing rapidly but unfortunately the management style has not kept pace with the changing attitudes and expectations of the workforce.

For Google rewiring their managers in the soft skills will be as complex as writing new software codes, but there is hope. The solution is in skilling managers in “Developmental Coaching.”

What is Developmental Coaching? Developmental-Coaching is a management tool, a powerful leadership skill, in the hands of the managers which promotes self-directed learning in the employees. A word of caution, in order to implement “Developmental Coaching” a certain mindset and environment is essential. However, creation of this environment will automatically address some of the wants of the employees which were highlighted in the Google survey.

Developmental-Coaching has one of the highest success rates, compares well in terms of cost and complements the existing methods. It has to be kept in mind that Developmental-Coaching is a distinct skill and does not come automatically with the “title”; it is learnt like any other skill.

In organizations where Developmental-Coaching is used as a way of work-life, benefits flow all-around. The employee exhibits greater sense of job satisfaction as he is learning and experiencing growth; the manager learns a very important leadership skill of improving the performance of his team; and the organization benefits by getting improved productivity, retention and customer service. Finally, with Developmental-Coaching in place year-end Performance Management exercise is not the beginning of an attrition cycle but a normal event of the year.

We will cover the entire topic of “How to introduce Developmental-Coaching” at workplace in these pages over the next several months. Keep reading and commenting!