Sales tips, leadership communication skills insight and more from Steve Giglio, sales training professional for more than 25 years.

What is a Healthy Debate?

One often hears the term “healthy debate” as a reference to two or more sides getting together to hash out an issue that could escalate into argumentative discourse if not dealt with upfront. Some might believe that a debate in business cannot be healthy at all since it pits people against each other. They’d rather have a “discussion.” Let’s take a look at why debating can be good for your business…if handled properly.

Debate in Business

First, let’s clarify that debating in business is different from the debates seen during political campaigns. The focus in the latter is winning at all costs. It really is about surviving as the candidate of choice.

The great John Wooden once said:

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

In business, a debate will involve strong, well-researched opinions on both sides of a decision that needs to be made. Each side presents its case and a solution is chosen. While some will feel they “won” and others might feel they “lost,” the goal of the decision-maker is to take valid points from both sides and create the solution that works best for all involved…notably, your clients!

Debate vs Discussion

Debating is not the same as having a discussion. A discussion is when people get together with a common issue that needs addressing and all parties have an open conversation about solving that issue. While some may come to the table with ideas on the subject, everyone is there to arrive at a decision based on the input from all.

In a debate, while the issue at hand may be the same, how it is worked out is different. There are “sides,” individuals or groups who have already determined what they believe to be the best course of action. They arrive to debate their points and convince others of their merits. Sounds like the basis of an argument, right? It should not be. What it really means is that people have put some significant thought into the subject already and have come to the table backed with their research, knowledge and experience to voice their input. I like that! And so should you. It signifies that people have cared enough about the subject to put some strong thinking into it and are prepared to communicate their position strongly.

Tips for a Healthy Debate

However, as their leader, you need to set the playing field of a debate so that it doesn’t escalate to all out war. Below I list 5 tips for debating that should be shared with your team the next time you see teams digging in for a fight:

#1 Have an Agenda

Make sure you have scoped out where the debate should start and where it should end. What is the end result needed from the debate? Usually, it is a decision on how to proceed. Too often teams that debate go off on excessive tangents that cloud their larger issue. Stay vigilant to the larger issue, keep track of time. Make sure a decision is reached at the end.

#2 Ask Questions to Forward the Debate

Rather than shutting an idea down too soon in order to be right, ask questions of the team. This will foster advanced discussions of the point at hand. Asking smart questions credentials you as a forward thinker and establishes you as someone who desires a clear outcome.

#3 Offer Ideas/Recommendations, Don’t Insist on Them

Too often executives insist on their ideas being accepted. Be open to hearing what the other side is saying. Yes, offer your recommendation so that it can be discussed. But then see how it sits with the others and whether it opens up new ideas. Discussion drives acceptance. Colleagues need to vet an idea in order to wrap their arms around it and accept it.

#4 Summarize, Summarize, Summarize!

The more you summarize a point the more you move the debate forward while acknowledging your teammate. Make sure they know you understood their recommendation, even if you are not convinced it is the right way to go.

#5 Present the Next Step in the Process

Never let the debate get away from you. Rather, present the next step that the team needs to take based on your recommendation. They need to “see your math,” meaning that they need to know how you came to your recommendation and why you are suggesting the next step. Even if your idea of the next step is inaccurate, by presenting it the entire team will create the correct one.

Go ahead…debate! But make sure, in the end, both sides feel like they were heard and understood. And, that a strong decision was the result, even if both sides had to give in a little. That’s a healthy debate!

Have you ever lost control of a debate? How did you get it back? Share your experience with a comment. Thanks! -sg

 

/111919

Discover the Purpose Before Setting the Goal

During these times, our zeal to get back to normal and drive business forward is quite important. Goals are set and we create plans that can get us there. But what might get overlooked is the purpose behind the goals. The “why” before the “how.”

A recent example demonstrates what I mean.

I was introduced to a healthcare professional who was having difficulty getting her patients engaged in their personal healthcare development plans. Many of them were not following through on the steps required in the plan. In determining her development goals, we focused on the topics she had to cover with new patients so that they understood their care plan, The topics were certainly essential as they included reviewing the plan, understanding insurance coverage, acknowledging the plan’s financial investment, and realizing the importance of scheduling weekly appointments. We also discussed that her patients’ goals would only be met if they honored their health development schedule.

Once I heard this agenda, however, I paused my client and asked if she ever spent time asking each patient what was important to them?

She considered that for a moment and admitted that no, she never did.

We both shared this spontaneous epiphany: she had been focusing on the goals of the plan and not the purpose. Together, we realized that each patient’s reason for wanting improved health was never uncovered to fuel the attention, commitment, and urgency to their efforts.

The balance of the session focused on asking the seminal questions to determine what was most important to each patient so she could retrofit their purpose into the goals of their health plan.

Some of the questions, which you can tailor to your clients, were:

  • Why is improved health important to you?
  • Why is it essential now?
  • What would a healthier you look and act like?
  • Where would you like your health to be by December?
  • What might prevent you from sticking to your plan?
  • How would you like me to support you in this endeavor?

My client began to realize that without understanding what was most important to each patient, she would not be able to effectively convince them they needed to adhere to their plan.

Within thirty minutes of our session, she had a positive result! The next patient she met with committed to their plan for the balance of this year.

The lesson for all of us is that people are motivated by a host of different reasons. If we don’t discover what they are, then we can’t truly be effective in helping them achieve their goals. Going forward, be sure to know your client’s purpose for wanting the results they want, then present your recommendations.

 

Do Unto Others….

You know the rest of this important life lesson.

As you develop as a leader, it is mission-critical for you to carry/embody this lesson daily with you.

Recently, I was working with an executive and I conducted a 360-degree review that was quite critical. What surfaced from my interviews was that he exhibited a consistent level of dismissal of others’ points of view. As a result,  whatever his leadership position he had with his peers and direct reports had almost completely eroded.

Further, he was overly blunt, impatient, and put no effort into tailoring his ideas to others’ situations. It was his way or the highway! The outcome of this was a high degree of social inauthenticity and collective insecurity around him. Essentially, if he wasn’t going to care about them (do unto others), then they weren’t going to care about him (as you would have them do unto you). We had work to do!

We began by discussing these issues and pinpointing specific examples of his leadership stumbles over the past six months. We focused on his impatience and inability to see an employee’s challenge with an assigned endeavor. He never checked in with his directs about their workstreams. He just assumed people would complete their work they way HE would do it, never checking on their progress or accepting any new ideas. I pointed out this was a flawed paradigm/belief system. Many clients think that their direct reports should be able to complete endeavors in their image. This is quite incorrect.

Everyone has a different way they will solve a business challenge. The question is: did the person complete the task and how correct was it? And when it is incorrect, asking oneself, WHAT CAN I TEACH THEM, NOT FAULT THEM FOR?

Ah-HAA! We found his major incorrect behavior. He discovered that he looked to blame each direct report rather than discover opportunities where he could advance the genuine effort they had put forth, guiding them with his experience, knowledge, and expectations. This is where the strength of leadership lives: mentoring instead of dictating. You and I will never get a second or tertiary effort from a direct report without this mindset.

From this discovery, we began to agree on a set of altered behaviors that had him listen before he critiqued. Further, he is now serving as a coach to his team rather than a line boss in a factory.

Together, we developed some key questions he could ask regularly:

  1. What’s important to you this quarter?
  2. How would YOU like to grow?
  3. What would you like to transform professionally this quarter?
  4. What would be your ideal state of development by year-end?
  5. What’s been most challenging?
  6. Would you like my help?

He has begun to see a transformation in his team’s attitude towards him as their leader. Progress!

How are you treating your direct reports? And how is it coming back to you in the form of their behavior and attitude towards your leadership?

 

Stop the Indifference!

I live in a city where a hamburger routinely costs more than $25. And while patrons are enjoying them, somewhere nearby is a fast-food joint selling a burger for less than a dollar. Why in the world would someone pay 2,400% more for the same product?  Two reasons: quality and value.

The same is true in business. People will pay more for quality service and products IF they perceive that it’s worth it. The problem I see so often is that the people often charged with convincing new and existing clients of their company’s value proposition have watered it down so much, the offering gets homogenized. As a result, they are lumped in with the “fast food” competitors and aren’t standing out as exceptional.

That’s where indifference rears its ugly head. By indifference, I literally mean that customers see no difference in your offering compared to your competitive set. When that happens, you know what they’ll base their purchase decision on, right? Price.

Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order?

Value Is Based on Their Needs, Not Yours

I’m often approached to transform a team of like-minded business development executives to lift their commercial offering. The value of this is stopping customers’ indifference. This happened with my business recently.

I was referred to a head of business development by a client. Upon meeting with him, he acknowledged that we were going to discuss engaging me in coaching his team but emphatically stated that “Basically, you people are all the same, aren’t you?” Ahhh…there it was…indifference! Yikes!!

Then I realized he was upset and wanted to be heard, relative to what had last occurred. As many of you know, I’m big on listening to understand someone’s struggle before I solve anything. So, I asked him why he thought this. He proceeded to detail his disappointment with past consultants and why he grouped them all together as one homogenized unit. The experiences left him feeling like he’d been promised the $25 burger but got the 99-cent version.

Have Them See Your Value

Once I understood what didn’t work, I was then able to present how I’d approach his challenge and what his unique solution path looked like. I used details from our conversation and the unique perspective he provided to craft my responses. It was then that he could start to see that I was relatable, listening, and engaged. I knew I didn’t want to be grouped in with those who had come before me.  But as I reflected on this situation, I realized that what was most important to him was that HE and his team were not homogenized, either.

Ultimately, we were able to agree on a development path that was unique to his company and the individuals involved. And it’s important to note that I didn’t just sell him on my service…I got him to see the value of my service to him and his business. He may still have indifference toward my competitive set but I’m no longer in that group!

 

Three Indispensable Communication Principles

You must “be” before you “do.”

You can “do” to the extent which you “are.”

What you “are” depends on what you “think.”

-from the book: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel

Said simply, you must talk the talk and walk the walk to succeed.

“Be before you do” means understanding who YOU are and what matters most to you. It’s what drives you, what gets you up in the morning, what you determine to be your signs of success.

“Do to the extent which you are” means that you can only produce a result you see yourself producing. When you set goals, you set them within what you believe is attainable.

“What you are depends on what you think” says that you define yourself by what you consistently think about. If you’re always thinking about how bad things are, you are defining your attitude for yourself and your team. If you are someone who is always looking for improvement opportunities, then you are putting that out to the world as who you are.

Haanel’s adage makes sense for our world today. The time for genuineness has never been more in-demand. And as he is noting, it all starts with you. People know when you are recommending something that suits you over them and they know when you are recommending an action that’s best for them. Have you defined yourself as someone who is sympathetic to their issues/situation or as someone who is only focused on their own success?

Recently, a client of mine asked if I knew why she had hired me. I was speechless (rare for me!). I said that I would very much like to know. She said that during the interviewing process, the other consultants didn’t make her confident with what they’d deliver. When we met, she said, I had made it clear what I was going to do, how I would do it, and what results we would produce. She didn’t have to guess or wonder. Once I completed the program, she was satisfied that we had accomplished what we had agreed to do at the onset.

In this instance, I was “being” someone who cares deeply about my clients and the challenges they face. What I was “doing” was envisioning my client’s success and setting aggressive goals I knew I could achieve. And I knew I could deliver because what I was “thinking” was about my client’s long-term success, something that occupies a great deal of my time for all of my clients.

By putting all three elements together, I am able to communicate my company’s brand promise consistently and with confidence.

How do you define yours?

 

Run Your Race

From the biblical meaning to the meaning in the movie “Secretariat”, the phrase “Run your race” is important to impart to others.

It says, despite the defeats of life, stick to your plan.

As you develop your leadership skills, and those of others, keep this phrase in mind. Developmentally it says when you hit barriers, take them in stride. Do not get dissuaded or distracted by them. Instead, be fueled by them and continue on the path you’ve chosen.

A few weeks ago, I was challenged by this. I was introduced to a prospective client who was skeptical of the coaching program I recommended. Too many times in this situation, I’ve seen people adapt their recommendations so that they get the business, sacrificing what they believe to be the best course of action in favor of “winning” a client. I didn’t do that.

Instead, I recalled the “Run your race” phrase and recommended that we not work together. She was not prepared for that level of resolve. When she inquired why, I restated the goals she had communicated and said that my plan was the most effective way I knew to achieve them. In my mind, I was sticking to my race, my course. She didn’t have to agree. But I wasn’t going to be detoured.

The result? She backtracked and we mutually agreed on the program agenda.

Had I not been resolute about what I believed was best for her, I might have acquiesced to her agenda, not mine. And then I would have been running a different race. It’s hard to get back on track after that.

In another example, I was recently traveling through Africa. While in the Serengeti, I met a wonderful man who was our camp’s head chef. Upon asking him about his personal journey, he told me that 19 years ago he began working as a gardener in one of the Singita camps. One day he observed a cook cleaning fish for that evening’s dinner. Knowing he didn’t want to garden his whole life, he asked to help clean the fish. That began his culinary journey. He grew in cuisine and is now the head chef of the camp! The courage he showed to engage with the food staff blew me away. I could feel his resolve and determination. He is “running his race” with one published cookbook and another on the way!

Holding/believing in your process/ability to make a difference is as essential as the difference you actually make.

Five Steps for Coaching in Action

My previous two posts discuss how important it is to retain employees post-Covid and that feedback is a core tool you need to employ toward that end.  So, now that you’re ready, willing, and able to develop your team, I have outlined five essential actions to take to insure a relational, professional conversation.

Throughout this endeavor, it’s important you know that the more you engage with your team, the easier it gets. At first, just be comfortable being uncomfortable. It will get better, as a great German expression suggests: Practice, Practice Makes a Master.

Steps for Providing Employee Feedback

Step One: Schedule check-ins

Meet one-on-one with each of your directs, not in a group. These conversations need to be formalized, not ad hoc. Therefore, each month you’ll need to meet with each direct and review the development goals you BOTH have engineered together to measure their achievements. You can also share that your desire is to make your development conversations more intimate vs peripheral. Therefore, one-on-one is best. Your direct needs to see, feel, and understand your concern for them.

Step 2: Avoid postponing and never cancel

Nothing says “this meeting isn’t important to me” more than postponing it in favor of other work or worse, canceling it altogether. Since you are going to do these check-ins monthly, it will be relatively easy to schedule around them. Do it! The message you send when you constantly postpone check-ins is that they aren’t important to you and thus, your employee’s success isn’t either.

Step 3: Be relationally specific

I encourage my clients to be relational and encouraging. But without the former, the latter falls flat. You can tell a direct that she is “doing a great job.” Or, you can tell her “You really stepped up in that meeting and your points hit home with our client.” Which would you rather hear? Giving them specific bits of encouragement also opens the door for providing feedback on areas needing improvement.

With incorrect behavior, remain objective and still be specific. Explain the impact of the incorrect behavior. “When you missed the deadline, others had to delay their work which resulted in the project being late to the client. That diminished their trust in us. What do you need from me so that you can keep projects on track?” This relational approach avoids being too matter-of-fact/critical, which becomes a “marching order” rather than a mutually agreed-upon approach to an issue.

Step 4: Keep their development plan current

In past posts, I’ve stressed the importance of knowing what drives each of your directs, personally and professionally. Armed with this information, you can mutually create a development plan that will get them to where they want to be. But you have to stick to it. So many times, I’ve seen managers create a plan and then fail to ensure that both they and their directs are following it. Soon, the plan is shelved and things start to unravel. Avoid this by consistently reviewing the plan, setting achievable goals between check-ins, and then monitoring their progress through the month until you meet again. This level of caring is critical if you want a team you can trust and that can take on greater responsibility.

Step 5: Stay focused on the objectives

Don’t get distracted. Each meeting should have clearly stated objectives from your direct and you. “Today, we are going to discuss your concerns about the project, outline your role with our new client, and review your development progress.” Keep to that agenda. As with so many meetings, check-ins can be diverted by unrelated discussions which take up time and result in not achieving the meeting objectives. Table them and then, if you have time, discuss them after you’ve gone through your agenda. If you don’t do this, the structure of your meetings will deteriorate and your check-in system will break down. And if you know me, you know that I abhor a system-less approach to development!

Actioning coaching requires that you hold yourself to a high standard of coach and facilitator of a direct report’s growth. Without your insight, a person will plateau in their ability. That’s bad news for them AND you.

The good news is you can systematize this process as I’ve outlined above. The more you employ these five steps the easier and more fulfilling coaching will be for you.

Video: First Step with Feedback

Coaching and Feedback Post-COVID…More is Better

Based on my last blog that dealt with employee retention through strong leadership, you’ve completed an inward look at yourself, determined your goals, and assessed if you’ve conveyed those goals effectively to your team, right?

Ok…then the next step is to provide coaching and feedback to your team. Now more than ever, they need it. The more, the better!

The question is how and when? And my answer is…right after you’ve heard from them first!

Get Feedback Before You Give It

Job #1 is to realize everyone has something with which they are struggling. Our job as leaders and managers is to empathetically find it. Do you do that by questioning? Perhaps…some strong probing questions for sure (see below)…but mostly you’ll do it by listening. It’s been my experience lately that my clients’ employees have a lot to say…they just need someone to hear it. So before you jump into your feedback to them, get feedback FROM them. I guarantee it will change what you were going to say and relationally help you move forward with each employee.

Schedule Feedback Sessions Regularly

As noted above, a feedback session is a two-way street. And, these sessions must be conducted on a regular basis. I recommend you host them with each employee once a month.  If you’re saying to yourself, “What the heck are we going to talk about once a month?” Don’t worry. There will be plenty! On your side, you’ll want to assess the employee’s output, quality of the work, and level of engagement. And part of that assessment is to learn where they think they are in those areas.

To help, here are some employee feedback questions you can ask:

  • How have you been?
  • How did this month roll out for you?
  • What did you enjoy?
  • What was challenging?
  • What are your goals for the rest of the year?
  • What issues are you concerned about?
  • What would you personally like to strengthen?
  • How do you want to be perceived by your peers and management?
  • Would you like my help?

Show Empathy with Feedback

Take note of the first and last questions. Both of them demonstrate your empathy and caring. That’s huge as you develop employees!  The last question is especially important. It hits the reset button on coaching and gives you the chance to establish a development plan you both can own. And then, each month you can review how the plan is going, whether the employee feels he/she got the help they needed, and then reset again for another month.

Give this a try with all your employees. Let me know how it goes! -SG

Key Feedback Principle: More is Better

Retention Through Strong Leadership

Post-Covid, we’ve all experienced a commercial talent drain. With so many options provided by the new remote-workforce culture, people are now unwilling to remain in a position where they are not shaped and groomed.  I don’t blame them.

Our job as leaders is to create a culture of curiosity, skill-building, and empowerment. However, at least once a  week I hear this lament from clients:

“I’ll just finish this work myself; my direct reports can’t do it right.”

And each time I hear it, I blame the leader. Our job, responsibility, calling, is to contribute to people not to marginalize them. But too often, fiscal pressure to hit goals takes a back seat to growing an inspired, eager, motivated workforce that aligns with those goals. Therefore, taking over a project or task yourself is penny-wise but dollar foolish. Not only have you not shown your directs the method you prefer for accomplishing goals but, you have diminished their sense of responsibility by signaling you don’t trust their abilities. Stop doing that!

People Are Inspired by the Inspiring

It is important for leaders to lose the concern over status and transform it to our teams. A large part of your job as a team leader is to make work enjoyable and affirmational after this awful two-year Covid hibernation that stifled people, their talent, and their inspiration to contribute to the world.

That inspiration to contribute must be lit by you. You must foster this environment. You accomplish this by linking each team member’s work to the attainment of their professional development goals.

To do that, it will require a frank conversation where you both acknowledge road blacks, determine how best to overcome them, and then offer constructive feedback for future growth.

Ask Yourself…

To help you determine your role in retaining talent, here are some questions I encourage my clients to ask themselves:

  • Am I inspiring my team?
  • Have I shared MY vision?
  • What have I commercially declared that has moved me and my team?
  • What can my team count on me for?
  • Have I manifested it?
  • As I look back each week, did I actively contribute to each team member accomplishing their goals?

So many times I hear leaders blame losing employees to some force outside of their control:

“They were never going to make it here.”
“This work wasn’t right for them.”
“They never had the drive to succeed.”
“Nothing I could do…they wanted to move to [fill in the city or company here].”

That line of thinking is disempowering for YOU. Consider that they left due to a lack of inspiration and motivation. And then, hard as it might be to accept, realize you could have provided that inspiration and motivation. Once you take that on, you can see how your actions, attitude, and leadership are what is really needed to retain your teams.

So, how did you do answering the questions above? Let me know. -SG

Video: Working on Employee Retention Skills

Offer a “Confidence-Good” to Present Your Value

For several years, I consulted with a marvelous, highly successful fixed-income brokerage company. One morning over breakfast, the CEO offered a provocative phrase and strong acknowledgment of his general counsel that I’ve never forgotten.

He stated his general counsel was indispensable to him for the “confidence-good” he provided him. I paused and asked him to define this.

He said his counsel will often flag an issue that can become larger and more problematic down the road if not neutralized now versus when it’s too late or requires too much effort or capital. I thought this was profound.

Predict the Future, Provide Solutions

I then thought about my own practice and how I offer a “confidence-good” to my clients. It can take many forms, from recommending a Town Hall that will nip a problem in the bud to stating that an organization is not in one voice with their offering, which could lead to fragmentation and miscommunication of the brand’s value proposition over time. These recommendations are examples of “confidence goods.” They provide a client with confidence that you have presciently noticed how to help them and had the courage to speak it. It also demonstrates that you not only concern yourself with current issues but are invested in the company’s future enough to predict issues while recommending preventative solutions. Like a game of chess, you are observing current conditions while staying three to four steps ahead.

As you go forward, define the “confidence-good” you can present to a client and watch it resonate with them!

If you need help with it, give me a call. – SG