Make It Happen

Influence

Governments use regulation to influence how we each make decisions, either through tax policy or laws. Business uses money to change our behavior, either through commission plans, bonuses, or advertising. But how do we, as individuals, change the attitudes and behavior of those around us? The key is our influence over others. If we have it, we are far more likely to succeed, both at work and at home.

Each day, we build our influence, but we rarely do so mindfully. At the base level, influence is the currency of IOUs we earn by doing things for other people. Real influence, however, is something far more profound than simple IOUs. It is the seemingly unexplainable reason why other people go well beyond the expected, just because it is we who ask. Whether you are a senior executive, a sales rep, or a management consultant, influence is a critical factor that will help you generate buy-in to your goals. If you are gunning for a new position, the same concept applies.

To build your influence, consider these concepts:

• If you have a vision, others will follow it, and go the extra mile for "the cause".
• Become an expert communicator, both written and verbal. Words can inspire... or cause others to disengage.
• Write a blog, and collect followers who value your world-view.
• Deliver on your promises.
• Find ways to get involved beyond the narrow confines of your responsibilities.
• Live your words: lead by example.
• Influence is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
• Have your expertise recognized by a third party.
• Become a mentor.
• Change personal recognition into team recognition.
• Maintain a positive attitude.

This Week's Action Item: When you speak, do others listen? When you ask, do others go beyond the call of duty for you? Unlike governments, we cannot mandate behavior, and unlike business, we recognize that merely paying for performance doesn't always get 100% performance. This week, consider your workmates, friends, and family: which two people have the most influence, and why? Beyond the list above, use these two people as models: how did they earn their influence, and how can you do so as well?

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

The Secret... System

Are you one of those people who are organized, or prone to clutter? Do you always gets things done, or sometimes lets things slip? And are you calm under pressure, or get easily flustered? Often, professional success isn't just a question of intellect or attitude, but your ability to be organized, diligent, and composed.

There is one technique that can help you with all three: the technique of systemization. Systemization is the skill of developing process around a set of common tasks. Here are some of the benefits:

• You don't need to remember each step - you just remember the name of the group.
• Efficiency: systems can be improved over time.
• They can be automated.
• They can be delegated or outsourced, in whole or in part.
• They can be branded and marketed.
• Knowledge management: documentation around the system inputs and outputs can be documented.

A simple example of a system or process would be around a sale. There may be a number of steps:

1. Fill in information form about the prospect
2. Pick up product brochures
3. Meet with prospect
4. Write proposal
5. Follow-up to sign contract

If a sales manager gave a salesperson ten sales leads, the salesperson would know to follow the system for each lead. The manager could measure their employee's progress. And neither of them would have to worry about inventing what needed to be done - the knowledge is encapsulated within the system. Interestingly, each of these steps (for example, Meet with prospect) might also represent a process itself.

Systems are wonderful for collapsing large sequential to-do lists into one manageable label. They help with organization, and make sure that nothing slips through the cracks. And they reduce your stress, because answers to many questions are often embedded into the processes themselves.

This week's action item: Most people follow their own processes, but they reinvent/remember each step anew. And since our processes are rarely documented, efficiency, automation, delegation, or improvement are rarely possible. This week, choose two of your messier processes, and write them down. This opens the possibility to being better organized, more diligent, and calmer under pressure. Once you've done so, you know The Secret... System.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Networking fundamentals

With the change in seasons, the venues for networking may change, but not the fundamentals. Consider these five key networking concepts; are you doing them all?

1) Give to Get: Add value to your network by sending magazine clippings, web links, or other materials to them, without asking for anything in return. This concept - making deposits into your network "bank" - allows you to make withdrawals later. Note: if you don't send things that are valuable to the receiver, then in their eyes, the relationship will have little value.

2) Be the host: Instead of thinking like a "guest" at a networking event, pretend that you are the host, responsible for everyone's well-being. Introduce people to each other, ask the "real" host if there is something that you can help with, and seek out those who are standing by themselves.

3) Core ten: Too often we focus on supersizing the number of contacts we have, instead of supersizing the quality of the relationships themselves. Determine the ten most strategic network connections you have, and begin the work to strengthen these relationships.

4) Social Network Risks: While the conventional wisdom is to use Social Networks (such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, and even Facebook and MySpace) to "search" for jobs or new business, too often our listings can lead to disqualification before we even start. Make sure that unprofessional comments and embarrassing pictures are completely expunged. Put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter or a prospect - would they want to meet with you after seeing your profile?

5) Social Networking Marketing: A key benefit of the Social Networks is that they provide visibility to your contact's connections. Look through these connections, and then ask YOUR contacts to help set up a real-world meeting with specific people that you target.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

For those reading (or watching) the news, you may have seen me recently. I've been quoted (or have appeared) in the following newspapers, magazines, or TV shows:

• Foundational Success, June 2009
• Admin Assistant's Update, June 2009
• Globe and Mail, June 12, 2009
• Miss Pink Slip: Adventures in Unemployment, May 27, 2009
• Regina Leader Post, May 11, 2009
• Financier Worldwide magazine, April 2009
• News1130 Radio Vancouver April 24, 2009
• Canada AM, April 9, 2009
• Meftih, Dec 2008

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Great Headlines

whenever you read the newspaper (or look at it online), how often do you really notice the headlines?

Headlines are designed to solicit interest: the editor who wrote them is trying to let you know what the article is about, while at the same time "selling" you on the importance of actually reading further. Consider several recent headlines:

• Will Bing boom or be a big bust? (a BBC story about Microsoft's new "Bing" search engine.)
• The truth shall set you Pre (an Infoworld article on Palm's new "Pre" Smart Phone)
• What you won't do for a job (a Wall Street Journal story on unconventional interview approaches)

Each of these are intriguing, sometimes clever, and attempt to draw the reader into the story. (We might not have the journalist's writing skill, but we often use this same concept with our reports or presentations.)

The concept of headlines also applies to each of us as individuals. We each have our stories and our professional experiences - and each of these has a headline. And at a personal level, what would you want your headline to be? How would you want to be known? In the same way that a news headline draws the reader to the article, a personal headline begins the engagement that others have with you. A bad headline says "nothing here, move along", while a great headline opens the conversation and strengthens the relationship.

This week's action item: Ask ten of your colleagues, friends, and family to tell you what they think your "headline" might be. If you are happy with what you're told, then you're done. If you're not, then work through to change your bad headline to a great one.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Not Like Me

Clients, prospects, friends, family, co-workers, your manager, and recruiters: It's easy to assume that everyone and thinks precisely like you do. But they don't. They each have their own experience, education, training. We know this instinctively, yet still we make mistakes based on this premise. Then during a presentation, in an interview, when we write reports, or in the social media, we don't come across as powerfully as we should.

A few ways to avoid this mistake:

• Put yourself in the shoes of your audience.
• Who are the people that will read your memo or listen to your presentation? is it possible to categorize them?
• What expectations does the interviewer/reader/audience have coming in?
• How will they react to your message?
  Are there special words or phrases that have strong positive or negative connotations?

Without considering the perspectives of others, especially others who think differently than you, it is unlikely that your message will have the desired effect. Based on your answers, what changes should you make in your approach?

This weeks action item: look at your calendar, and choose the next deadline you have. Run through your next memo, meeting, or presentation from multiple perspectives, and make the appropriate changes. While everybody is "not like me", if you craft your message cleverly, your message will have them thinking that you do indeed "think like me".

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

What's Stopping You?

When was the last time you considered your craziest, wildest dreams of professional success? For many people, it was probably a very long time ago. Others do so more often, but consider these dreams ridiculous, unattainable, and beyond their station in life. In both cases, the end result is the same: no action, and no movement to achieving that dream.

Dream goals help us set our direction and our priorities. They give us a benchmark for comparison as we write our to-do lists. And they give us something exciting to strive for: we become motivated. The flip side is that if we don't set dream goals, we can become indecisive, we don't strive for anything, and we become disengaged.

This week's action item: Consider your own dream goals. What is the one thing that you are more passionate about than anything else? And what's stopping you from achieving it? Answer this question, and you'll know what you need to put on your calendar. What's stopping you?

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Superman

In many old movies, and particularly westerns, there was a scene where a tracker listened to the ground, and pronounced the enemy was coming from "that" direction. Or they looked at foot prints and pronounced that the person was two days ahead of them. In more modern movies, everyone knows that Superman was faster than a speeding bullet. In each of these cases, the character had a special skill - an ability that everyone else relied upon.

Interestingly, the difference between the Tracker and Superman is significant: the tracker learned their skills, but Superman was born with them. Three key insights:

This last point is often forgetten, yet it can be the most important: it's what wins the gold medal, closes the sale, or gets you that promotion. Yet even without these, your special ability improves your self-confidence, and provides an intrinsic satisfaction.

This week's action item: Do you have "Superman" skills in a special area, and are you using these skills to your full potential? Or are you a Tracker, working hard to develop your own special abilities? This week, schedule time to decide which you are, and do one thing that will help you develop - or exploit - your special skills.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Reference and Recommendations

Whenever you are considered for a new relationship - as a supplier, customer or investor - the "buyer" needs to check you out. This is especially true when it comes to applying for a new role. The dreaded reference check (or background check) need not be that stressful, if only you considered a few simple points:

1. The value of pre-emptive disclosure: Background checks can be as simple as a few calls to your references, or a detailed investigation by an independent professional. It's important for you to understand that the more critical your role, the more important it is for them to identify any risk you might represent. It is naive to assume that there will be no background check of any type.
   
   Recommendation: If there is a "red flag" to be found, then it is better to disclose it yourself during earlier discussions, where the issue can be put into context. Discovering it by surprise in a background check will usually lead to your disqualification.

2. A clean slate is best: For a no-surprise background check, resolve any outstanding third-party disputes or pending items. Two simple things that can be done would include reviewing credit reports for discrepancies and ensuring any legal actions are settled. If you are being considered for a senior role in a large organization, you may even wish to pay to get a background check done on yourself, just to ensure that you find any discrepencies first. (A background check can sometimes expose situations where someone else with the same name as you has a red flag; nothing you can do about it, except let them know that something might come up, and it's not you...)

3. Social Media profile review: With Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, ZoomInfo, etc, much of our private lives have moved into the public domain. Since reference-checkers will be looking for you on these sites, spend time "looking at how you look", removing questionable content, adding appropriate (and consistent) professional information, etc.

4. Google review: Periodically do a "Google Search" on your name, to see how (and where) it appears. The more senior you are, the greater the number of references there will be - and not all of them positive. Armed with this information, you can address any issues during the interview process beforehand. Google even has a free service called Google Alerts that can be set up so that every time your name is newly mentioned online, the link to it is emailed to you.

5. Prep your references: While your career history and your job responsibilities might be clear to you, they are not likely top-of-mind with your references. Spend time maintaining and improving your relationships with your references. When it is time to use the references, provide details of the new position, reminders from your time working together, and any other important details. (And afterwards, of course, send a thank-you note.)

This week's action item: Make a list of your top five references, then consider what they will think when they see your profile on Social Media sites such as LinkedIn and Plaxo. If your references don't think positively about you when they see your profile, what do you think their reference will sound like? This week, make your profiles positive, at least to the references. And if you haven't yet done so, ask them for a public recommendation.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news

Network Values

When it comes to networking, the focus seems always to be on quantity. How many cards in your rolodex? How many names in your computer? How many LinkedIn Connections?

Unfortunately, in our quest to supersize our network, we often forget about the importance of its quality. Let's face it: a network of ten people who continuously work on our behalf, giving us business leads and career help, is far more valuable than 1000 people who won't return our calls.

Here are several ways to improve the quality of those in your network:

1) Fish where the fish are: Attend events where people who can help you also attend. Nothing is wrong with kids soccer games or neighborhood BBQs, but make sure your "target" type of person will also be there. (Often they aren't.)

2) Meet new people: Once you're at the networking event, ask open-ended questions to people you haven't yet met, in order to understand their needs... and determine if a relationship will be mutually beneficial. If you do spend time with people you know, as them to introduce you to folks they know at the event. An introduction is an implicit endorsement, and highly valuable.

3) Give to Get: Add the most value to those who can give help you the most. Consider sending them newsclippings, introducing them to people in your network, or giving them business referrals: anything, so long as it as valuable to them. The more you deposit into your network bank, the more you can later withdraw.

This week's action item: Who are your ten most valuable networking contacts? And what have you done for them this month - that they value? Answer these two key questions, and resolve to do something for each of these core ten people... within the week.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news to register.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com
www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com/news