Category: Corporate Games

We’re business builders.
We take initiative.
That often isn’t even a debate within us.
We simply do it.

But there are many people
who don’t want to take initiative
at all.

One of the theories
behind the low vaccination rate in the US,
for example,
is
taking or not taking the vaccine
is a very important decision
and many people don’t want to be
responsible for it.
They don’t want to be
the person
who gets it wrong.

They don’t want to take initiative.

As Seth Godin
shares

“On one hand,
giving someone else authority
over our effort
is challenging,
because they might not be aware
of how much we have in reserve
or what else we’ve got going on.

But the alternative
is emotionally taxing:
Taking initiative.

Instead of calling it
“taking initiative”
perhaps it would be more accurate
to say “giving initiative.”
Because it’s in short supply
and we need more.”

As we build our businesses,
we’ll need to align
with people
sporting all sorts of levels
of initiative,
from those requiring instructions
for even the most basic tasks
to people who thrive
working on their own.

We have to place the right people
with the right levels of initiative
in the right roles
to be successful.

Look for initiative.
Learn how to recognize it,
how to test for it.

When I hosted
dinners
in the Before Times,
before COVID,
before social distancing,
I would spend
the most time
on the dessert.

That was the last bite
in each guest’s mouth.
It would be remembered
the clearest,
the best.
I wanted it to be awesome.

When I complete projects,
I give the people
I worked with
a small gift.
If we’re meeting in person,
I’ll bring in muffins.
If we’re meeting virtually,
I’ll send them
things like $5 gift cards.
And I’ll write them
nice notes,
thanking them.

We might have
had our differences
during the project
but they usually remember me
favorably,
often as being ‘classy.’

The last interaction
with you
is likely
how people
will remember you.

Ensure it is
the impression
you want to leave.

If there are no repercussions
for doing something,
we will continue doing it,
especially
if the reward for success
is huge.

And a stern talking to
isn’t a valid repercussion.
Toddlers ignore this.
We adults often
do worse than that.
We mock the person
delivering verbal reprimand,
further eroding their credibility
and leadership.

If we believe
the person might have been unaware
the act was bad,
sure,
outline the repercussions,
give them a warning.

But if they clearly knew
that an act,
like storming the Capital,
was bad
and they did it anyway,
there has to be
serious repercussions
or it will happen again
…and again
…and again.

Is delivering repercussions
fun to do?
Nope.
But it has to be done
or we will lose control
of the situation.

It will be chaos.
And it is d@mn difficult
to build a successful business
surrounded by chaos.

Be a leader.
Deliver those repercussions.

You’re a super salesperson.
Your contact information file
needs its own memory stick.
You close deals quickly.
You can sell anything
and everything.

A prospective new employer
offers you a choice
between a higher base salary
and a lower commission base
OR
a lower base salary
and a MUCH higher commission base.

Which one do you choose?

If you need the money
to live on,
in 8 out of 10 situations,
you should choose
the higher base salary.

Why?

Because base salary is set.
A superb salesperson buddy of mine
has worked for a Fortune 500 company
for two years.
This company has fiddled with
the commission calculation
three times,
each adjustment resulting
in him receiving LESS commission
for the same sales.

Because bonuses
and other calculations
are based on base salary.

Because the company
often determines your patch.
They decide who you sell to
and what you sell to them.
Companies tend to give
the salespeople
with the highest commission rates
the suckiest patches.
(Your manager will likely
say something like,
‘We want to challenge you.’
Don’t fall for that bullsh*t.
What they want
is to reduce
the costs of employing you.)

Because if you’re laid off
(which happens to salespeople
more often
than other employees),
your unemployment benefits
are often based
on your base salary.

Because the next employer
will ask you
what your base salary
was
and use that
to determine how important
you were to the previous employer.

And there are many
other reasons.

Negotiate for as high
of a base salary
as possible.

Whenever we share that
one of our business building goals
is financial security and independent,
some idiot is likely to reply,
“Money can’t buy happiness.”

Yeah, that’s bullsh*t.

Money CAN buy happiness,
especially in the USA.

I grew up dirt poor
in North America.
We didn’t eat every day.
We were homeless at times
and constantly worried
about losing our home
at other times.
Fights about money
were regular events.

Hunger pains
and the constant fear
of being homeless
REALLY impact happiness levels.

In the USA,
money can decide
whether you live or die,
whether your loved ones
live or die.

It is the difference
between getting immediate treatment
for cancer
or delaying it until you have the funds.

Money decides
if you take the weekend off
and spend it with your family
or you ask for that extra shift
at the job you hate
to pay the rent.

Money decides
if you buy your daughter
the coding book she really wants,
the coding book
that might change her life
forever.

There are hundreds
of ways
money can impact happiness.

Money CAN buy happiness.
It might not be right
but it is today’s reality.

A buddy wants to switch careers.
She has been taking evening courses
to prepare for this.

This semester,
she didn’t have the funds
to pay for these courses.

She told me
she’d take the semester off
and do other things.

None of these ‘other things’
have anything to do
with the career
she’s hoping
to, one day,
enjoy.

Which is a HUGE sign
that it is likely
NOT the career
she should be
going into.

Someone truly excited
about a field
would be using their spare time
to take free online courses
or do volunteer work
in that field
or mirror experts
in the field
or do a gazillion other things
that would make her the best
in that field.

If you wouldn’t allocate
at least a portion
of your spare time
to a task.
you might not want
to make that task
your core job.

I’m fortunate to be part of
several support groups
consisting of female writers
in the Romance Novel Industry.

We’re all business builders.
We are all in the same industry.
We are competitors
but we’re also partners.
We share advice and tips,
support each other,
and often help promote each other.

This has been
EXTREMELY effective.

Jocelyn Greenky,
CEO of Sider Road,
shares

“There’s a new girls’ club
that we didn’t have before,
because the workplace
was largely male dominated.

Now that so many more women
are entering the workplace,
we’re finding our voice.

We’re also building
circles of trust with one another
because we may be
experiencing similar hurdles,
and have each other’s backs.”

Consider reaching out
to other women in your industry.

That could help
move you and your business
to the next level.

A friend posted
that she wanted
a $4/hour raise.
She asked
if that large of a raise
was possible.

Many of her friends
posted that it wasn’t.
The increase was too large.
No employer would agree
to it.

Which I found distressing.
They were discouraging her
from even ASKING
for that size of a raise,
telling her not to bother
even trying.

I told her
if she has increased sales
or decreased expenses
by $20/hour,
almost any employer
would seriously consider
her $4/hour wage increase.

(Which prompted a
‘whoa’ from her
and a thread of
‘that’s not possible’
comments
from the friends
who don’t believe
a pay increase of that size
was EVER possible.)

Always ask for a raise
during every
performance review.

But definitely
ask for a raise
if you’ve increased
the company’s sales
or decreased
their expenses.

(If you haven’t done this,
make figuring out
a way
to do this
a priority.)