Working with Alpha Leaders

Alphas, a.k.a. type-A or Red personalities are the movers and shakers of the world. They are daring and dauntless and many of them believe they have never been wrong. Some are great leaders. Most lack empathy. All of them hate equivocation.

Working with alpha leaders requires preparation, game planning, and speaking emphatically once you have chosen a direction. For example, if an alpha asks you to tell him where to go for lunch, he doesn't want you to give him options. He wants you to tell him to go to a particular restaurant because it is the best one to fulfill his needs--which you have already anticipated. The alpha will judge your recommendation ruthlessly, but will respect your decisiveness. Marketing campaigns, cost cutting measures, and personnel plans need to be equally bold and your presentation authoritative.

Alphas dare to fail their way to success. To work with one successfully, you must be willing to do the same.

A Consultant Attitude

Do you ever struggle with your motivation to go to work and to get the right things done during the day?  There are several reasons why people might perform at lower than expected levels.  One reason could be a sense of entitlement because they have worked at their job "forever" and they are irreplaceable.  Maybe company management doesn't treat them well--they're underpaid and overworked.  Another reason could be a lack of clarity regarding their work responsibilities or unclear company goals and direction.  I have found recently, that adopting a "consultant attitude" can help overcome some of these issues.

A consultant attitude is different from an employee attitude in that a consultant defines his responsibilities in terms of projects divided into tasks with specific due dates and measurable results.  He is required to "return and report" on progress if the engagement is to continue.  He is paid for his skill set and his experience and is continually advertising his accomplishments, without divulging confidential information.  He is never "settled" in his position in the company and understands that his engagement could end at any time.

A consultant also networks inside and outside the engagement, keeping relationships current and looking for potential opportunities to solve problems.  Above all, he must engage in a consultative sales process.  This means that he must explore the client's business, find pain points, and provide a meaningful service.  A consultant is not territorial and operates outside corporate silos.  He is focused solely on providing value.

Some may see this approach as less personal and less emotional.  However, in today's professional environment of "at will" employment, lay-offs, and decreased employee benefits, taking a less emotional approach also means that one is less prone to taking offense at a CEO's self-serving budget cuts.  He is also less likely to undermine a supervisor who takes all the credit for success and is willing to sacrifice the reputation and livelihood of subordinates when expectations are not met.

Today's employer hides behind corporate policy and risk analysis, while today's employees are more litigious than ever before.  Words like loyalty, honor, and compassion are rarely found in the modern work place.  They have been replaced with audits, SOP, and bottom-line.  Accountants and attorneys dominate corporate boardrooms more than ever.  Therefore, developing a personal brand that can be marketed widely is more important than ever.

A consultant attitude will not only provide a measurable benefit to the corporate employer, it will also help an employee focus on activities that will build that personal brand and prepare him for his inevitable hunt for new and diversified revenue streams.  It will also help him develop a sense of accomplishment and a better understanding of how his work affects the rest of the company.  It will turn the employee into an agent of action rather than a victim of top-down decision making.

I arrived at the Utah County Republican Convention this morning at 7:00 AM and found the Salem Hills High School parking lot completely full.  (A friend who arrived at 6:30 reported a full parking lot.)  I tweeted a picture of all of the political signs in front of the entrance this morning.  It looked like some grand sign-maker had thrown up a patriotic pallet of posters for the candidates.  I signed in, received my bracelet and my credentials and pushed my way through a very crowded gymnasium hoping for a glance of and a word with a few of the local candidates.  I had the opportunity to meet several candidates again , which helped somewhat in my decision process.  I saw a number of friends who are first-time attendees at the convention.  In fact, it seemed like there were a lot of first-timers there today.  I was told that the central committee was 60% first-timers.  It is so good to see so many new people getting involved in the political process!  Our precinct attendance was 100%.

Legislative District 60 had 118/123 delegates in attendance.  Candace Salima was in charge of our meeting.  After speeches by the three candidates for State House we held the first vote the results were: Dana Layton: 44%, Brad Daw: 39%, Jacob Siebach: 16% (roughly).  That means that Mr. Siebach was eliminated from the competition.  We were voting to see if there would be a primary election for Republicans.  A primary is avoided if one candidate receives 60% of the delegate vote.  The result of the second vote was: Dana Layton: (60 votes) 49%, Brad Daw: (62 votes) 51%.  Therefore, our legislative district will have a primary vote.  I believe that is the best outcome.

Governor Herbert spoke to us about the good things happening in Utah--always ready to campaign.  "Experts" have deemed Utah the best state in the US for businesses.  This because under his direction, we eliminated 300+ anti-business laws and taxes. Following Governor Herbert, Brad Daw stood up to speak while the final vote was being tallied and was great, despite the outcome of the first vote.  I was very impressed by his calm and cool in the face of being voted out of office. 

During the main convention officials announced that the County had 96% attendance!  I have never seen this kind of enthusiastic commitment from our community before.  I attended every County Convention and a couple State Conventions over about 10 years and  saw a lot of apathy previously.  We heard from almost every other candidate running for state office while votes were being counted for the County Commissioner election.  We voted three times to narrow down the candidates.  The County Commissioner election ended without a 60% majority so there will be a primary between Lorn Grierson and Larry Ellertson.

I have decided that competition is especially good in politics.  A candidate running unopposed starts to lose the connection between his record and his constituents.  Competition makes a candidate accountable.

The Utah County Republican Convention has changed since my last time attending eight years ago.during the time that I participated previously, the conventions were more interactive and wild.  It used to be that anyone with an agenda and a working knowledge of Robert's Rules of Order could and would make an attempt to hijack some part of the convention.  This year, it was very civil and well-organized.  The meeting stayed on task and finished pretty close to on time.  It was a good experience this year.

We're all made to fly--from Fearlessstories.com

I'm subscribed to fearless.com and regularly receive inspiring stories. Here is another of those stories:

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent 

falcons from Arabia. They were peregrine falcons, the most 

beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds 

to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the 

king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, 

the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day 

it had arrived.

The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to 

tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He 

presented the task to the member of his court, but the next 

day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird 

had still not moved from its perch. Having tried everything 

else, the king thought, "Maybe I need someone more 

familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of 

this problem." So he told his court, "Go and get a farmer."

In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon 

soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his 

court, "Bring me the doer of this miracle."

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood 

before the king. The king asked him, "How did you make 

the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, "It was 

very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where 

the bird was sitting."

------------------------------------------------

We are all made to fly -- to realize our incredible potential 

as human beings.

But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to 

things that are familiar to us.

The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain 

undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable, 

the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre 

instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling...

Let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and 

free ourselves to the glory of flight!

I received this story and lesson from a friend via email. While 

the author is unknown, I thought the lesson was quite relevant, 

so wanted to share it with you.

xo

Ishita

Do you have what it takes?

I liked this post from Fearlessstories.com.  

Ever fear that maybe you're just not smart or creative or wily enough to stand out? Too bad you're not a genius. I know. Not everyone can have my luck. But what is genius anyway?

It's solving the problem fast, first, furiously, because even though you didn't have all the information and may have been slightly scientifically unsound, you trusted your experience and intuition enough to put something forward before it was too late.

It's weaving together a winning idea from thin air, in a way nobody else seems to understand, because you saw potential in or sought inspiration from an unexpected place, because you had opened your mind to it.

It's the ability to win a heated debate with the worst parts of yourself, wielding only arguments as simple as "We won't know until we try," "Well, no one else is doing it," and "Why not?" when others around you are losing that debate.

But I've obviously made a grievous mistake in my assessment. These things are as inexplicable from the outside as the feats of any conventional genius, and yet they seem utterly doable by just anyone.

Surely you've had one of these moments. And much like anyone who has ever painted anything once is technically a painter, if you've ever had a moment of genius, you are... a genius yourself! Hot dog!

Blah blah, you have the potential for greatness. You've heard that before. But maybe you'll take it more to heart once you realize that not only is that potential there, it has already been realized multiple times. There's not one good reason to suspect you're armed with only a finite number of masterstrokes.

You have beaten fear before. You are a courageous person. This is not just a possibility, it is the truth. You already have what it takes. You've given it. And that makes you stand out.

-Matt

fearlessstories.com

The Producer Mindset

The following information is something I found while researching Dr. Paul Jenkins that is called "the Producer Mindset."  I hope you find it useful:

The Consumer Mind Set	The Producer Mind Set
1-The conscious or subconscious belief that money and material wealth is a person’s ultimate ambition-	1-The belief that a person’s ultimate ambition is to attain human happiness for himself and for other people-
2-The conscious or subconscious belief that material things hold true intrinsic value-	2-The belief that people hold the only true intrinsic value-
3-The conscious or subconscious belief that the demand for wealth and opportunity far outweigh the supply-	3-The belief that there is and will always be an abundance of opportunity and prosperity for every person, and that the supply of these resources far outweigh all demand-
4-The conscious or subconscious belief that other people should be viewed as competition for all wealth and personal opportunity-	4-The belief that other people are the most valuable asset to create value and obtain personal prosperity-
5-The conscious or subconscious belief that one’s opportunities, choices, and prosperity is restricted and limited to any and all external circumstances-	5-The belief that personal happiness and prosperity is within every person’s grasp regardless of circumstance-
6-The conscious or subconscious belief that people exist as tools and resources to obtain more money and material things-	6-The belief that money and material things exist only as tools and resources to bless and serve other people-

Consumer Paradigms and Emotions	Producer Paradigms and Emotions
Scarcity	Abundance
Fear of Loss	Self Reliance
Victimization	Heroism
Selfishness	Enlightened Self Interest

I believe in the Producer Mindset as it creates abundance rather than scarcity.

Purpose and Attitude of Teams

Friday night, the Utah Jazz had realized their first victory of the 2011-12 season.  One of the young stars on the team was quoted as saying, “…tonight, we played for each other, instead of for ourselves.”  To me this sums up the attitude that will make teams successful.  Teams are important because they can accomplish so much more than individuals and so much more quickly.  Team members should be accountable to and for each other, not just to their leader.  In business today, we have too many individualists who continually care only about the size and quality of their own area of responsibility, at the expense of the team.  They withhold information from the team, they denigrate co-workers to organizational leadership, and they compartmentalize their plans to avoid exposure to the larger team.  These are people who constantly use the name of superiors to manipulate others to do their bidding and who only give partial explanations when asked for details of their projects.  This type of activity fosters distrust and finger-pointing in an organization, particularly when compensation is based on team results.  Self-centered work also creates situations where work is being done multiple times by different people or it brings work to a halt because team members don’t want to repeat the work already done, without visibility into that work.  I appreciate the formula given by Stephen M. R. Covey in “The Speed of Trust”:

High Trust equals High Speed and Low Cost

Low Trust equals Low Speed and High Cost

You can see evidence of this throughout our everyday lives.  For example, since 9/11, because of the decrease in trust our government shows towards air travelers, the speed of getting through airport security has decreased dramatically.  Correspondingly, the cost of airport security has multiplied.  From the cost of keeping TSA employees on payroll and trained to the time wasted in line by expensive business executives, we spend billions more on air travel today than we did eleven years ago.

My personal experience taught me a similar lesson when opening new countries in the direct sales industry.  When a team opened a new market, with full disclosure and accountability to the team, not just the chain of command, the market was opened quickly and efficiently.  And it worked from day one.  In another situation, when individuals insisted on opening the markets without a team, only asking for opinions from other individuals with “functional expertise” without sharing overall vision and progress with those people, the markets took years to open and cost millions of dollars.  Years later, these markets are still unprofitable or have been closed without profits. 

The successful team was probably not as smart or talented individually, but their collective intelligence, talent and experience gave them a chance at success.  The team exposed questions and mistakes that allowed a quick launch, where individuals had to be perfect in their execution to be successful.  Once costumers have access to product in a new market, there is little room for error, as loyalty is easily lost in the early stages of expansion.