Take a look at our newsletter this month!
WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM / 208-429-9275 / OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
FIND YOUR EDGE
ROLE VS. IDENTITY HOW SEPARATING THE TWO CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED
Americans have a troubling habit of conflating work with identity. Often, when we meet each other for the first time, the first question we ask is, “What do you do?” That’s a sharp contrast to the rest of the world, where prying into someone else’s work life is considered a bit rude. The Atlantic calls this phenomenon “workism,” and defines it as “the belief that work is not only necessary to economic production, but also the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose.” Personally, I think workism could be at the root of a problem I see a lot when helping clients at Sandler Training — and undoing it could be the solution. At some point in our working lives, we’ve all had to face a problem that has grown out of proportion and might even seem dangerous. The difficult truth is these challenges are typically products of our own creation — more specifically, of our workism. When we merge who we are and what we do, we tend to rely on the same coded responses and go on autopilot, unable to get an outside perspective on our work.
To face any kind of issue, you must be willing to separate your Identity (who you are) from your role (what you do). Think back on the last time you started fresh at a new company. How willing were you to listen to criticism? How often did reprimands seem personal? How easily did you read into the instructions of others as a reflection of their personal motivations? “ “THE NICE PART ABOUT BEING THE SOURCE OF YOUR CHALLENGES IS THAT YOU CAN ALSO BE THE SOLUTION. SO, BE THE CHANGE YOU NEED TO ACHIEVE THE SUCCESS YOU WANT.”
The longer we work in a business, the more easily we confuse our identities with our roles. We take criticism as a personal affront and view attempts to coach us as shaded acts of subterfuge. That
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>>
208-429-9275 | 1
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.TheNewsletterPro.com
<<< CONTINUED FROM COVER
also means that the longer we spend in our fields, the more likely we are to fall prey to the mistakes of complacency: Basically, we stop questioning ourselves because we feel that we are our jobs. We begin to see our roles merge with our identities and devote more effort to the “why” of our actions and less to the “what.” Often, we don’t do this because we find meaning in our work; we do it because we’re comfortable. So, back to that stubborn problem that has gotten out of control. Here’s the truth: The majority of challenges you face are challenges you’ve created. You’ve programmed yourself to respond and take specific actions that may not always be in your best interest. Often, it takes an outside influence or a coach to look objectively at the patterns in your behavior and help determine where issues are coming from — which is where Sandler Training comes in. If you’re having issues but can’t determine the source, log your behavior and try to go beyond the symptoms to the root of what’s causing complications in your world. The nice part about being the source of your challenges is that you can also be the solution. So, be the change you need to achieve the success you want. And, if you need help, don’t hesitate to give Sandler Training a call.
–Jim Stephens
DO YOU HAVE A GOOD SLUICE? HOW TO MINE FOR THE GOLD IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
If you’ve been digging into your relationships for value and coming up empty, there’s a good chance you’re mining for gold without a sluice. In literal terms, a sluice is a water channel controlled by a gate, which regulates water flow and directs it into a receptacle, or sluice box. In mining, sluices are used to separate solids from liquids, making it easier for miners to isolate valuable gold from useless water and dirt. The word “sluice” has also become common in certain business circles where it’s used to represent two pieces of fundamental business knowledge: 1. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW. If you’ve created a system that’s supposed to lead you to success but which 1) doesn’t acknowledge an avenue with potential, or 2) is actively preventing you from reaching your goals, then it’s a broken system. Your sluice isn’t directing the water into the sluice box, and that’s keeping you from finding the gold. It’s possible that your plan is missing one of the routes to success because you don’t realize it exists: in other words, because you don’t know what you don’t know. While it can be disheartening to realize that your probability for success can be reduced without your
knowledge, an evaluation of your system and team can often resolve a fair number of unknowns. While you’re an expert at what you do, people like us are experts at figuring out how you do it. 2. JARGON IS A BARRIER, NOT A DISPLAY OF KNOWLEDGE. Businesses are getting more and more comfortable with using jargon and hyper-specific acronyms to display their expertise, but rather than revealing the gold, these attempts to demonstrate prowess can actually muddy the waters. Jargon can obscure how familiar someone really is with your products and services, making them seem “in the know” when all they’ve grasped is the vernacular. To get at the heart of a relationship, you need to cut through the junk and uncover the knowledge beneath. Learning what someone else knows by discussing it openly is the true measure of expertise. A good sluice can dissect the potential in a relationship through a conversation while an unedited flow of buzzwords leaves everything muddy.
If you’re looking for a good team who can offer that evaluation, reach out to Sandler Training. We’re ready to have a conversation.
2 | WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.TheNewsletterPro.com
CHANGING THE WORLD ONE LEADER AT A TIME
Here at Sandler Training, one of the things we love about working directly with the owners and staff of other businesses is that sometimes we can trade services, learning from their expertise in exchange for offering them our valuable sales training. Twenty years ago, we struck just such deal with Ron Price, the owner and founder of the Boise-based, global executive consultant firm Price Associates. For nearly 50 years, Price has been doing his utmost to change the world, one leader at a time. But while he’s a true business guru, an excellent leadership coach, and a renowned public speaker and author, Price admits he had a bit of a blind spot where sales were concerned until he went through Sandler’s training program — twice.
“The first time I went through, it was quite intimidating because Jim [Stephens, a Sandler business coach and trainer] always asks you questions you don’t know how to answer,” Price jokes. “But one of the things I loved about it was that as we were learning new skills, we had scripts we could read where somebody else had already done [that type of sale], and by reading them, we could build our confidence.” Over time, Price says he and his staff made those scripts their own, customizing them to sell the workshops, executive coaching experiences, and team-building exercises that Price Associates offers its clients in the U.S., China, France, Spain, Ireland, Chile, Mexico, and beyond. “I think what Sandler did that I really enjoyed was help me understand the process of building a relationship with a client. When is the right time to talk about their problems, when is the right time to talk about what you can do to help solve their problems, and how to help them feel good about the decision once they’ve made it, instead of going away hoping they don’t reverse their decision the next day,” Price tells us.
208-429-9275 | 3
The vital lessons Price got from Sandler over the years helped him grow and expand his company to become the global juggernaut it is today. Price Associates now has leadership programs in 15 different countries, and its core team of 12 is supplemented by 50 trainers who teach around the world in multiple languages, helping certify the next generation of leaders. As of 2019, Price says the company’s China office alone has certified roughly 1,000 coaches. “I retired from that office last December,” Price says. “I told them that when I turned 65, I was going to retire, so I had my last supper in Beijing. I still have a small ownership part in it, but it’s now functioning without me.” When asked to describe his far-reaching company in a few short sentences, Price says, “Our overarching purpose is to grow great leaders. So, everything we do is around that desire. We do it through helping them understand leadership and develop their own capacities. We do it through innovation. We do it through helping them develop the kind of culture that helps people to keep growing. Usually we just want to get to know them and understand what they love, what they’re doing well, where their successes are, what they see as obstacles to their continued success, and where they’d like to go.” Since stepping back a bit from his day-to-day role in the company he founded, Price has refocused on his career as an author. In the last few years, he’s been working hard to translate his decades of business wisdom into literary fuel for future generations. In 2014, he published two books: “Treasure Inside: 23 Unexpected Principles That Activate Greatness” and “The Complete Leader: Everything You Need to Become a High- Performing Leader,” the latter co-written with Randy Lisk.
Then in 2017, Price and Evans Baiya released “The Innovator’s Advantage: Revealing the Hidden Connection Between People and Process.” Most recently, he collaborated with editor, creative consultant, and success coach Stacy Ennis on a very different kind of business book: “Growing Influence: A Story of How to Lead With Character, Expertise, and Impact,” which hit shelves in 2018. “I had been talking about a couple of aspects of leadership for a number of years, and one of the team members heard me give one of these presentations and said, ‘Ron, you’ve got to get that into a book. I’ve never heard anybody talk that way,’” Price says, recalling the book’s genesis. He reached out to Ennis, who edited a few of his earlier books, and asked her to be his writing assistant. Before they met in person to discuss the work, though, Price had a revelation.
nonfiction book and work,’” he says. “The ideas that I wanted to share were probably too simple or too sterile, and we needed them inside a story. For it to impact people, we had to do it at an emotional level and we had to put it in a story they could relate to.” That spark became the story of a 30-year- old woman named Emily who is stuck in a career as a mid-level manager at a Boise tech company. She’s been repeatedly passed over for promotions and doesn’t understand why until, thanks to a twist of fate and some spilled coffee, she meets David, a much older retired CEO who eventually becomes her mentor. “Through the course of the story, it becomes clear that it’s gender bias, but it’s not toxic gender bias,” Price reveals. “It’s that she has a young child at home and her boss, thinking he’s being kind, doesn’t promote her because he thinks that would be too hard on her family.” The book is as emotional as it is informative, and to really capture Emily’s voice, Ennis stepped into the role of co-
“I had this crazy idea drop into my head from nowhere, and it was, ‘This can’t be a
4 | WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
To achieve the dimension of character leadership, aspiring leaders need to figure out the core values by which they govern themselves, as well as the values they want to live by when relating to other people. “We all know people who we say, ‘I want to be like them when I grow up.’ Those are people who, because of the way they’ve developed their character, draw us in and make us want to follow the example they give us,” Price explains. “Anybody can become that kind of a leader.” In the book, David has Emily choose five of each type of value, something Price has done in the real world to develop his own leadership skills. “I’ve been living this way for quite a few years now, and the No. 1 value by which I choose to govern myself is personal accountability,” Price says. “For me, the key is how you define it. What do you mean when you say personal accountability? So, I journal about what it means to me. There are three, four, or five things I use to define that at this time in my life, in the context of my situation. My No. 1 value for how I relate to other people is collaboration. It’s funny because, for a long time, I thought it was empathy
— that I wanted to understand other people’s experience. But I realized that empathy, while still on my list, is not No. 1. Collaboration, to me, is the ability to find this synergy where, working together, you can create something that neither one of you could have created alone.” Price has spent a lot of time and effort exploring this dimension over the course of his career, going so far as to study neuroscience in order to better understand the brains of Price Associates’ clients and get a closer look at their blind spots and biases. The key to achieving the second dimension, expert leadership, is curiosity. Expert leaders are those in whom we place absolute faith because we trust their experience and expertise — doctors are an excellent example — and the best way to become an expert leader is by studying those at the top of your field, whatever your field might be. “You pick out the five, six, or eight people who are the leading voices in that area of expertise, and you start reading what they’ve written. You start going to their TED Talks and their conferences. Maybe “By deliberate practice, you can change the way your brain thinks,” he says.
author. Speaking to a reporter for the local newspaper Boise Weekly, Price and Ennis called the project “a business fable,” and described it as equal parts self-help book and platonic love story. “When we looked at the manuscript together, when the first manuscript was finished, we both cried,” Price says. “It captured the heart as well as the mind of what we wanted to communicate so well. […] It’s not that we want people to cry, but we want people to recognize that leadership is something much deeper than a title or a position. It’s really a part of how you identify as a human being, and everybody in their own way is called to be a leader.” Over the course of the book, David strives to help Emily reach her leadership potential and increase her personal power, offering his take on the three dimensions of leadership Price and his team teach: character leadership, expert leadership, and structural or positional leadership. All three require introspection and the ability to step back and examine your own values and motivations.
208-429-9275 | 5
come away from Emily’s story with a renewed sense of hope and self-worth.
“I want this next generation, or rather these next generations, to really believe they can make a difference. There is a lot of fatalism in the world today. There are a lot of people who feel things have gotten out of control. So, I want them to understand there really is a role for them to play. I look back at some of the people who have changed the world, and at the time they were changing it, they had no idea what their impact was going to be,” Price says when asked about his legacy. “You can make a difference,” he adds. “Don’t pay attention to what you can’t control; think about what you can control.” To find out more about Price Associates, “Growing Influence,” and Price’s overarching mission, email him directly at ron@price-associates.com. His books are available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.com, Audible.com, Apple Books, and Kindle. And, if you’d like to revolutionize your sales approach and set your company on a clear path toward the kind of success we helped Price Associates achieve, give Sandler Training a call today at 208-429-9275 or visit us at Sandler.com.
you even connect with them on LinkedIn! It’s just your job to take in as much as you can,” Price tells us. “I’m firmly convinced if you do that long enough, what happens in your subconscious is you put together ideas from this expert, and this expert, and this expert, and this expert, and you create a recipe no one has ever created before. And when that happens, you become an expert.” Both character leadership and expert leadership are honed over the course of a lifetime. If you stop seeking out new knowledge after you gain expert status, you won’t be an expert for long. With the pace technology is moving, Price says, people who stop learning become obsolete almost immediately. Continuing to develop both your own values and your expertise over time is the best way to attract people to lead, and in the end, it’s the following that makes or breaks a leader. “If you think you’re a leader and no one is following, you’re just out for a walk,” Price says, quoting a favorite bumper sticker. The third dimension, structural leadership (also known as positional leadership), is distinct from the other two because it’s more about the title. To become a structural leader, you need to actually be handed a leadership position in a company. As Price puts it, people follow structural leaders because they have to, but that doesn’t make being a structural
leader any more secure than being a character leader or an expert leader. You still need to work for it and learn how to carry it well. Doing that requires three things:
1. Knowing the rules of the position
2. Understanding the results you’re expected to deliver in the position
3. Recognizing the relationships the position requires
In other words, you need to know what you’re allowed to do, what you need to do, and how you should treat others. “This is different from the other two dimensions because it’s always on loan; you never get to own it,” Price explains. All together, Price describes these dimensions as “ways we build influence.” The first two, character leadership and expert leadership, are personal commitments anyone can achieve while the third is something that must be handed to you — and so can be just as easily taken away. Readers of “Growing Influence” learn these leadership lessons right alongside Emily, the book’s main character. They’re valuable insights that Price Associates can help companies and individuals take further. But Price says, more than any specific dimension, he hopes readers
6 | WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
DOES GOOGLE SAY YOUR BUSINESS IS 3.5 STARS? REVENUEJUMP CAN CHANGE THAT
TAKE A BREAK
If you’ve read this newsletter before, you know we’re all about word- of-mouth marketing. That’s why we just had to take our hats off to RevenueJump, a software company helping small businesses get the most out of online reviews. If you’re struggling to build (or clean up) your company’s online reputation, this is one resource you can’t go without. SHOOT FOR THE STARS Potential customers are judging your business before they’ve even come through the front door. According to the consumer analytics group Invesp, 90% of consumers check online reviews before visiting a business. Of these potential customers, 92% say they’ll use a local business if it has at least a four-star rating. But how do you meet this high standard when all it takes is one or two bad reviews to tank your score? That’s where RevenueJump comes in. THE FAULT IN ONLINE REVIEWS What frustrates most business owners when trying to build a positive online reputation is how unbalanced reviews can be. Leaving a review feels like a chore for most customers, meaning they’ll only do it if they feel strongly about your service one way or the other. RevenueJump tackles this problem head-on by emailing or texting recent customers with simple, one-click surveys. This simple change has led businesses to see a 650% increase in positive reviews. RevenueJump helps the customers you satisfy every day add their voice to the conversation. BEYOND THE RATINGS RevenueJump does far more than streamline the review process. Their analytics software helps you identify which areas of your business are wowing customers and which areas leave much to be desired. Furthermore, RevenueJump has an optional filter that will intercept negative reviews, giving you a chance to privately address a customer’s concerns before they’re made public. Last but not least, RevenueJump automates the referral process, sending satisfied customers your latest referral offer through their one-click survey. RevenueJump’s tools allow you take control of your business’s online reputation. By fostering an influx of positive reviews and giving you the power to proactively address customer concerns, this software is nothing short of marketing rocket fuel.
We have 20 complimentary copies of this new book to send out. If you’d like one, email joan.stephens@sandler.com or call 208-429-9275 to request your free copy!
208-429-9275 | 7
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.TheNewsletterPro.com
704 E. UNITED HERITAGE COURT SUITE 202 MERIDIAN, ID 83642 WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
Role vs. Identity
2
Do You Have a Good Sluice?
3
Case Study: Changing the World One Leader at a Time
7
A Simple Tool for 5-Star Reviews
8
Step Into the Spotlight With Treasure Valley Children’s Theater
CHARITY SPOTLIGHT: TREASURE VALLEY CHILDREN’S THEATER ‘CHANGING THE WORLD ONE THEATER KID AT A TIME’ get the chance to see live theater even if they don’t have theatrical ambitions, but often, seeing a performance inspires a new crop of actors to try their hand on stage.
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” As far as we know, he wasn’t talking about theater specifically when he dropped that bit of wisdom, it’s no secret that teaching kids how to perform on stage can help unlock their imaginations and build social skills at the same time. The teachers at the Treasure Valley Children’s Theater in Meridian, Idaho, have made it their mission to ensure those positive outcomes and more for local kids. workshops with practiced “artist-educators” who teach performance skills, help build confidence, and ensure every student is having fun. The nonprofit also offers leadership and production programs for 8- to 18-year-olds, and graduates of the 8- to 12- week programs celebrate their accomplishment with showcase performances for the community that draw in people of all ages. The nonprofit feels every kid should Kids ages 4–18 who dream of a chance in the spotlight can take advantage of TVCT’s camps, classes, and
Every play is geared for young viewers, and this year’s roster includes performances of “Charlotte’s Web,” “The Twits,” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The public performances pop up at schools, churches, and theaters all over the Treasure Valley, bringing joy to a wide audience and are made possible by donations from local businesses and individuals. It’s a worthy cause that brings smiles to kids’ faces and keeps the arts, which have fallen out of favor in schools, alive in the community. To see a list of performances, learn more about TVCT and its mission, and maybe even offer a donation yourself, visit TreasureValleyChildrensTheater.com.
8 | WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.TheNewsletterPro.com
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online