What I've Learned in Business So Far... - Page 9

This is good stuff Aaron. Thanks.

This is true in my experience.

The Airport Test In consulting, this is a term sometimes used to describe the likeability of a candidate. The idea is to ask yourself if you would not mind spending 2 hours in an airport with a colleague. If that seems like no problem then they have passed the "airport test". But as I get older I think this also applies to business partners. Business is too hard already to not have partners you care about. My small software company is doing well and I hired two "grey haired" gentlemen to help me get the product commercialized and the patent completed. They have been invaluable as mentors, educators, and all around good guys. Some people have book smarts or the right level of experience or the right pedigree but are strange or odd in different ways. Find smart people who will disagree with you but present good arguments and that you don't mind having a beer with.

Some thoughts one charisma in business leaders. You will find along your journey some leaders and colleagues that are charismatic. People and clients will be drawn to them. They will advance ahead of their age. They will be invited to important meetings, often for less good reasons. They will generally be an asset to the company. Some will be genuinely good people, many will be highly political but with the gift of charisma. Of course, one might argue that true charisma and leadership will inspire people and offer follow-through in the decent and fair treatment of everyone on the team. On the rare occasions this actually occurs, I have seen teams do insanely great things. So it boils all down to trust. In business it might be best to follow the ole saying "trust but verify". Actually "verify then trust" might be more appropriate.

This gets into selling strategy. Once I won a $6 million deal by presenting two different solutions, one which meant our solution and once which represented a smaller cut for us because the client's internal team did more work. I created a side by side comparison along the key dimensions which showed our solution was more robust but we also cleverly made one dimension the technology foundation because we knew they were real nervous as their internal IT folks had blown the last ten installs. We won the business.

The key to great selling is intelligence about your client's needs and fears.

Good Work Habits *Set expectations appropriately on each project. Managing people's expectations is critical. *If you are overloaded decline work but share the reason. *Look at your Outlook or other calendar the night before and think about a "to do" list to keep you on time with deliverables. *Prepare for every call, internal and external. Bring a point of view and any needed analysis. If you show people you are prepared then they will be inclined to include you more often. *Be careful who you copy on your emails. There is a fine line in business between informing important stakeholders and spamming. *Think twice before copying senior managers and leaders in emails. Sometimes you will be unaware of the political goings on in the executive area and an innocent email can lead to unintended consequences. *Consider strongly but don't obsess over format of any content. You want it to look good but you can get OCD and lose sight of the big picture. *Develop a network of close colleagues whom you care share analysis and thoughts with. A good critique is worth its weight in gold. *Find a mentor or close friend you can privately and confidentially bitch about a work issue with. Someone who can thoughtfully share 3rd party insight and advice is invaluable. *Avoid people who don't deliver results. Life is too short. When they blow a major deadline, make sure someone senior hears about it in a diplomatic fashion. *Play nice. Collaborative teams is where it is at. *Avoid office negativity. It may bring you down and accomplishes little beyond the initial cathartic release of pressure. *Reward people who perform. *Treat administrative and operations people with love and respect. It will pay huge dividends. There is no place for bullying anyone with a lower title or any job. *Communicate honestly with everyone you interface with. Senior leaders appreciate the truth-good, bad and ugly.