Susan Schneider’s Blog

"The Go-Giver"

Every once in a while I come across a book that I feel compelled to share with others. This week, it is "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. I don’t want to spoil the book for any of you, but I am going to go ahead and share the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success; they are just too good to keep to myself. I am sure the authors won’t mind me spreading their message (free marketing, right?).

1. The Law of Value - Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
2. The Law of Compensation - Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
3. The Law of Influence - Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
4. The Law of Authenticity - The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
5. The Law of Receptivity - The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

The phrase "value proposition" has most likely been overused. I fear that "out of the box" thinking or "re-inventing the wheel" have begun to lose their impact. But for the sake of an inability to come up with anything better, I will reference it here. This book does an incredible job of reminding us of some of the greatest virtues…treat others as you would like to be treated. Give more of yourself, more of your time, and more of your knowledge. Growing others will bring twice as much to you in return.

The message is clear. If you are only in business or investing time on something with hopes that you will earn more money, gain more recognition or fulfill an immediate need, you will find yourself heading down a dead-end road. To be truly happy and satisfied, it requires giving of ourselves first.

It's Time for a Negativity Diet

Forget the Zone or Atkins…we may be in need of a negativity diet. Did you know that some experts say that 80% of our thoughts are negative? And guess what that does to our conversations? I would challenge you to try trimming back the negative “trans-fat” thoughts in your mind. A colleague challenged me to do this last week. She admitted that it is not easy; while we have great intentions, the negative thoughts can take over.

So I began thinking. What are some of my negative thoughts? Like French fries and Halloween chocolates, I sometimes find myself focusing on fat and sugar-filled thoughts like…the stock market, unemployment rates, a less than desirable 401K portfolio, and whatever else comes to mind…crime rates, the education system, the list is endless.

To begin, I make a conscious decision. I can only focus on what I can control. My actions, my behavior, my thoughts; I train myself to get on a “positivity diet” full of fruits and vegetables, filling my mind with thoughts like…the future is not cancelled…within today’s problems lie the greatest opportunities…innovative ideas.

In the end, you have two directions you can take…positive or negative. And unless you are planning on moving to a different country, or leaving the workforce in the very near future, I really can’t see why anyone would choose the latter.

What Does Success Look Like?

...and how will you know when you’ve reached it? We all strive for success, whether it is in our professional or personal lives. Unfortunately, we often don’t have a good idea of what success looks like. A few weeks ago, I spoke about creating a vision. Now I think it is important to outline what the success of that vision entails. Envisioning success can be applied to major events - like what you hope to achieve in years to come, or to short term goals - such as completing a project.

Often when I am with clients, I will ask them, “What three words would you use to describe a successful partnership?” I always find it interesting to hear what they have to say and truthfully, sometimes I am caught by surprise with their answer. I am reminded once again, if you really want to know how people feel or what they need, you simply have to ASK them.

I personally feel like those companies in the client services industry put themselves at a great disadvantage when they assume what others need. You are not doing yourself any good by assuming you know what your client wants. In fact, it most likely puts you at a disadvantage. In service, we make the mistake of thinking that by asking questions, we are showing incompetence, because if we really knew our client, we would know what they want. The reality is your client’s needs are changing quickly. What they needed last year or even last week may be changing as I am writing these words.

There is one thing I can promise you. No one ever complains about being asked to share their opinion. I know I can speak from personal experience...why do you think I love this blog so much!

The Art of the Nudge

You can’t get people to do what you want by pushing them. You can’t get people to do what you want by being passive. Somewhere in the middle lies the art of the nudge. The art of the nudge is the ability to point people in the right direction by giving them enough information that they come to the decisions themselves.

Nudging is truly an art. So often, we think that by being forceful in our approach, we will help them see the light…faster. Or, we hope that if we lay enough subtle hints, they will eventually find the answer. Neither provides a win-win approach.

One of the mistakes people make is setting “internal” time clocks on when people should come to an understanding of a new idea or future concept. Just like in life, everyone needs to process information in their own time.

So what does nudging look like? It looks like coming forward with an idea, but not anticipating an immediate answer. It looks like asking thought-provoking questions that allow people to consider new options. It looks like being open to an idea even if your part of the idea may need to be modified.

At the end of the day, it comes down to servant leadership. The ability to lead others by serving them with information, with recommendations, and with ideas they haven’t considered before. Just put yourself in the position of others - how would you want to be approached?

Good News! The Future is Not Cancelled!

Thank goodness, I wasn’t ready to pack up my ball and go home. Seriously, I had to laugh when I heard this quoted at the National Relocation Conference last week. What a great line of optimism with a bit of tongue-in-cheek to the “glass half empty” folks who think things will never turn around. Sometimes we need to hear this straight-forward talk.

After spending a week in Chicago with over a thousand people from fifty plus countries, I am here to tell you that whether or not you agree with Bernanke that the recession is over, the attitudes of individuals are headed in the right direction. Most of the people I talked with have come out of their bunkers and are preparing for recovery. Is it all evident on the balance sheet right now? No. Will it be in the first quarter? Maybe. But those who have survived are preparing for better things to come. They are not waiting for things to get back to the way they were; they are re-inventing, re-investing, and re-defining their services.

I know that I spend a great deal of time focused on being clear about your vision; on a business level and on a personal level. As someone once quoted, “We are limited not by our abilities but by our vision”. This important stuff can wait no longer. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You would be amazed what starting with a few words written on a piece of paper can do to begin the journey.

There’s another important element… surround yourself with positive people. For every few optimists, there are pessimists lurking in the corner. For me, last week’s conference was just what the doctor ordered; a prescription for a plethora of positivity. Whether you attend an event or meet with a co-worker, keeping up the positive attitude is half the battle.

Next to Sell

It is not an uncommon occurrence to see the CEO of our company peeking over the real estate counselor's cubes and asking them if all of their properties are in "First Place". Because let's face it, unlike horse shoes and hand grenades, close doesn't really cut it. If you are going to move real estate, it has to be the next to sell, it has to be leading the pack and it has to be in First Place!

So how is it done? This may seem a bit simplistic, but sometimes keeping things simple works best. In order to move real estate listings, three basic questions need to be asked:

1. Who are your buyers? You need to be realistic. Most homes are not for everyone. A four bedroom two story is not going to attract empty nesters, and it's no secret that transferees tend to migrate to the same neighborhoods. It is critical to think long and hard about what type of buyer is going to be interested in your house.
2. What else are they going to look at? It's probably not the house down the street. Your neighborhood can span many miles today. Your greatest competition may be a new construction home 10 miles away. Too often we focus just on the comps listed in the broker market analysis or appraisal.
3. What is it going to take to be the next to sell? If you are not in first place, what are you going to do to change your position? Perhaps it is an immediate price reduction, some basic maintenance or updated kitchen counters.

It doesn't do anyone any good to be "chasing" the market. Lowering your price because your neighbor did is not proactive. Remember, we are in the business of "selling" homes, not "marketing" homes. I urge you to try this three-pronged approach. I promise you that it is a proven method that has created great success for decades.   

Dollars for Dumps

If we can have Cash for Clunkers, why not Dollars for Dumps or Moolah for Mansions…imagine if we could get government funding to help people dispose of their homes? A few thousand dollars could go a long way in helping someone prep their house for sale: a fresh coat of paint, new carpet or a garage door. Okay, it’s a little out there and I am not proposing a government bailout, but we could put the idea into practice by adding this to the benefits we give relocating employees.

The first 30 days on the market are the most important. Companies are really starting to understand that money invested upfront will pay off in the long run. I have heard it termed marketing allowance, listing allowance, etc. Typically, it consists of a lump sum or capped amount - usually about $2,500 - intended for the sole purpose of getting the home “market ready”. With some guidance from their real estate experts, the review of the broker market analysis and some of the issues sighted on an inspection report, the employee can make some small but noticeable enhancements to their home.

The value proposition is easily seen if you provide a guaranteed home buyout; if it doesn’t sell during the marketing period, the corporation will end up doing the work anyway. Yet even with a Buyer Value Option, this investment, if done right, can shorten the time on the market and be offset by reduced temporary housing, storage, etc.

The reality is that until the market begins to pick up further, employees really need guidance and financial assistance. We’ve already seen guidelines in listing restrictions; this is just taking the assistance a step further.

Find a Need...and fill it!

I felt the need to expound a bit on my last post regarding leadership being more than just a title. It’s easy to talk about leadership in theory, but leadership doesn’t exist unless it is put into practice. Leaders are not identified by the degrees that hang on their walls or an Ivy League school diploma - they stand out because of what they do. Leaders don’t accept the status quo - they look for needs and then they fill them.

Whether it is in your organization or in your community, you are surrounded by needs. Some of them are small, such as practicing patience with others, taking the extra time to talk about an issue or encouraging someone who is feeling anxious or unprepared.

Some needs, however, are much larger and will require a greater amount of our commitment and time. In most cases, it requires putting our own needs aside and deciding that our purpose is to help someone else or make something else better.

When we are caught up in our daily activities and tasks to be done, it is easy to become passive about the issues surrounding us. How many times have you sat in a meeting or listened to a conversation and thought to yourself, “there’s got to be a better way of handling this,” only to find yourself heading back to your desk afterward and deciding you just don’t have time to take this issue on? Or worse yet, you convince yourself that it is someone else’s problem. True leaders don’t define themselves by their job description. They choose to listen and act upon that voice in their head that says, “I can make a difference here.” This attitude exists in all of us. We just have to recognize it, decide to make it a priority and take action. And this takes discipline.

Personally, I have decided to commit part of my morning ritual to focusing on being open to hearing and looking for needs and filling at least one need everyday. Can you imagine the impact on the world, our industry, our careers and our community if everyone did the same?

More than Frog Kissing

I wish that instilling leadership qualities into an individual was as simple as giving them a “BIG” title on their business card. Can you imagine how simple that would be? Everyone could have titles like VP of Inspiration, VP of Visioning, VP of Implication Thinking and just the sheer embossment would immediately create success. Kind of like kissing a frog.

Quite frankly, I would like to get rid of titles. So sure, at times they provide some guidance into what department someone works in or what role they may play. Yet often, it is just a place card for moving up the food chain and unfortunately a lot of the important stuff, such as true leadership competencies, gets left behind.

Leadership, no matter the title or tenure, belongs to everyone in a company. We are all responsible for leading those around us - whether it is our peers, our clients or our supplier partners - to a successful outcome. There is nothing more heartbreaking than for someone to say they don’t see themselves as leaders…in anything. Now, I know that some people would describe themselves as more of a “team player” rather than a leader, but that is using a stereotypical approach to leadership. Leadership isn’t about standing at the podium in a large audience, having 50 direct reports, or like I said before, the “BIG” title. Leadership is simple, it’s about serving others. Giving the best of yourself, assuming the best of others, and having the desire to see everyone succeed.

It's not your Fault

I wish that I could send a note to every transferring homeowner who bought their house in the last five years. If I could, I would tell them that the fact their house is worth less than what they paid for it IS NOT THEIR FAULT. That I understand they are successful business people who are doing amazing things in the marketplace and the beautiful kitchen they renovated, which is not recouping its value, IS NOT THEIR FAULT and so on and so on.

While it might seem simplistic, I think homeowners today need someone to tell them that they are not fools. They weren’t reckless with their money when they bought their home and many are in the same position as they are. You may not be going through the same scenario, but you know the feeling all too well. We all want to get a great deal on critical items we purchased. Would anybody want to tell others that they completely “overpaid” for an item and they are proud of it? Or that their stock portfolio is in the tank because they bought AIG versus Google? No way! We love to share our “discounts” with others. Everyone likes to get the deal and tell everyone about it. Think about how many people went around bragging that they were one of the recipients of the free “Denny’s” breakfast.

I guess my general point is that sometimes we need someone to let us know that what is happening in this marketplace is just not our fault. Truthfully, I think it is very embarrassing for someone to have to admit they are “upside down” in their house. It is personal. So, while my chain letter theory might not work, we can all raise our “sympathy” bar just a bit and make a conscience effort to let others know they haven’t been duped!