Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

I came across these two posts several weeks apart. The ideas they presented seemed to logically follow each other. This is strange only because the first one shown was written in 2013 and the following post in 2009.

Regarding the actual content, it’s still valid, only more so.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Three Categories of People

People have longed for an all-knowing leader who they can mindlessly follow and abdicate their decision-making, since time began.

Some seek this all-knowing leader in religion; others look to politics, while still others believe that business is a better source.

Their time would be better spent accepting the reality that no such thing exists anywhere in any walk of life.

Then there are the people who aspire to be that all-knowing leader.

To that end they amass thousands of friends and followers, network their way well beyond what’s needed to be a LinkedIn Lion and work ceaselessly to raise their Klout score.

Finally, there are those who know without doubt that all-knowing leaders are in the same category as the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Clause.

Which are you?

Follow Yourself; Partner With Others

I have a great idea to make the world a better place.

• Everybody who aspires to the cult of all-knowing leader stops.
• Everybody who longs for an all-knowing leader embraces the reality that no such thing exists.

Replacing these, everybody would

• learn leadership skills;
• apply them constantly to themselves; and
• occasionally in the outside world as circumstances dictated;
• take responsibility for their own actions and decisions; and
• partner with others as equals, whether one was in front or behind at any given time.

Not that I think there’s a chance in hell that this will happen, but it’s a nice thought on a beautiful summer Friday.

Image credit: Warning Sign Generator

I have been traveling this week visiting clients to advance a few opportunities I am working on. One thing that came up throughout the meetings was the need for authenticity.

It seems to be the result of too many salespeople doing a quick transaction and leaving the customer high and dry after. I was struck by their need. Not so much because I haven’t heard it, but that it is coming up in almost all of my conversations.

As a salesperson, I am always looking for ways to provide value to a client and become their trusted advisor. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t happen overnight, but with some effort and true insight it can be achieved.

We as humans have a responsibility to others to put forth our best, be trustworthy and learn to work together as a team. It was my client, however, who showed me that partnership is what matters most.

It made me think about how does one achieve that partnership?

A lot of it is listening and having the business acumen that can fully understand and address complex issues. Some of it is time spent with someone. Some of it is personality.

Being an authentic human being goes a long way in my book and always putting others needs ahead of your own. Being humble and appreciative will pay off huge dividends.

Beyond sales, how else can we be authentic?

Perhaps it’s taking ownership over a project. Asking for mentorship. Seeking out new people to learn from. Etc.

What do you do to build partnerships and become authentic?

Image credit: Barbara

Partnership is an aspect of culture that I think could be explored further.

We all have partners we deal with in life that range from personal to professional. And isn’t it nice to have a partner throughout your day? Someone to help shoulder the burden?

But there is a fine line between a partnership and a parasite and it’s important to remember the distinction.

I work in a partnership daily. My company, Flycast Partners, is a partner of several large scale software vendors. We work hand in hand daily to increase sales, provide services and support. We are essentially an extension of the vendor and work hard on maintaining those partnerships.

This past week my company had the honor of being named partner of the year for North America by BMC software. It was a surprise and unexpected. We are only about 70 strong right now and there are partners that are much larger than we are.

We asked why we were chosen. Was it revenue? Was it the number of accounts we grew? Was it some other tangible thing?

The simple answer was none of that. We didn’t bring in the most revenue or the most new accounts. What we brought was a trusted partnership.

BMC Software is the 7th largest software company in the world and their CEO personally said it was because they knew we acted in the best interest of the customer and BMC.

What drove us to this place?

For one, integrity. The president of my company, Nathan George, believes that you should be honest in all dealings, meet your commitments and do what you say you will do.

He hires based on those criteria. To me these are fairly simple concepts, but not always followed. It would be easy to take the low road sometimes, but not sustainable.

We have competition out there, but we don’t dwell on them. We work on building relationships and providing value.

This is an instance where the partnership benefits both parties.

Next week I will highlight where a partnership can turn parasitic.

Flickr image credit: K-State Research

Several years ago I read an article by Bill Buxton about risk; I think it’s worth reposting, because the article is as valuable today as it was then.

The Value of Risk

In an excellent post on risk, professor, researcher and author Bill Buxton says, “Entrepreneurs, like ice climbers, are often said to risk their necks. But there are ways to cut danger to sane levels—and some very good reasons to try.”

People often comment that both groups are, politely speaking, nuts.

After offering up a detailed explanation of ice climbing he comments, “…the four considerations employed by the ice climber are exactly the same as those used by the serial entrepreneur or the effective business person…”

They are training, tools, fitness and partners.

Buxton ends by saying,

“The most dangerous way of all to play it is so-called safe. Safe leads to atrophy and certain death—of spirit, culture, and enterprise. There is not a single institution of merit or worthy of respect in our society that was not created out of risk. Risk is not only not to be avoided, it is to be embraced—for survival.”

A quick and valuable read—whether you consider yourself a risk taker or not.

Training, tools, fitness and partners—those are the same considerations that make all parts of life not only successful, but worth living.

In a world moving ever faster, where 2008 is considered ancient history, it is worth recognizing that there is much wisdom to be found there.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/3000044567

I have a great idea to make the world a better place.

Everybody who aspires to the cult of all-knowing leader stops.

Everybody who longs for an all-knowing leader embraces the reality that no such thing exists. (Jim Stroup has an excellent discussion on this that started June 8 at Managing Leadership. I highly recommend it.)

Replacing these, everybody would

• learn leadership skills;

• apply them constantly to themselves; and

• occasionally in the outside world as circumstances dictated;

• take responsibility for their own actions and decisions; and

• partner with others as equals, whether one was in front or behind at any given time.

Not that I think there’s a chance in hell that this will happen, but it’s a nice thought on a beautiful summer Friday.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: Joe Penniston @WDW on flickr