Russ Sharer Helping Sales and Marketing Teams Improve Sat, 20 Feb 2021 19:13:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Russ Sharer 32 32 69511820 Are You Leading like Alex Levy or Ted Lasso? Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:10:22 +0000

COVID had no greater impact on any technology more than streaming video entertainment services.  New services seemed to be launched every month. (how much does a brand marketing agency charge to add a + to the end of a company’s name?).  And with lots of suddenly free hours spent at home, consumers sought out programming that was fresh and engaging, while letting them escape the tedium of the pandemic.

Apple+ Television launched in November 2019, and its lead entry was The Morning Show.  Star powered with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, series is a Shakespearean tragedy set in a modern network morning television show, where a sudden discovery creates a power vacuum where numerous characters stand ready to rush in and profit.

If you haven’t seen the series, Alex Levy, played by Aniston, has been partnered with the Mitch Kessler, played by Carell, for 15 years.  Without giving away any plot lines, Carell is suddenly removed and Levy grabs center stage.  The irony is that before the discovery, Levy is about to be “retired by the network”.  Recognizing her now more important position on the network’s number 1 rated program, Levy executes a series of actions to gain and consolidate power.  She has leverage and intends to use it to maximum personal benefit.  Around Levy are a series of other characters who for the most part have their own plans to hold or gain power.

Nine months later in August 2020, Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis, came to Apple+, the story of an American football coach recruited to tank an English soccer club as part of a vengeful campaign by the ex-wife of the club’s biggest fan and previous owner.  Another powerful person, using her position to gain what they most want – in this case revenge.

Into the plot comes Ted Lasso, who it turns out knows nothing about soccer, was fired from his previous position and is facing one last chance to salvage his career.  His arrival press conference and initial practice portend disaster.

Alex and Ted practice forms of leadership that are 180 degrees apart, offering us a chance to reflect on whether we personally veer more to a network television or the Premier League character in our own style.

Here are 3 differences to spark your reflection:

Is your circle of advisors shrinking or increasing?

During their times of crisis, Alex and Ted turn to advisors to help them navigate the unknown.  But while Alex’s circle shrinks rapidly throughout the series, Ted’s expands.  She turns to professionals, colleagues and family, and slowly ends up listening only to her instincts.  She feels the need to control her destiny, and in the end only truly trusts herself.

Ted on the other hand sees his circle of advisors continually growing. Starting with an assistant coach that travels to England with him, we see a collection of diverse people from a wide become a part of “Team Ted”.  They bring numerous perspectives during the different plot twists and turns, and ultimately recognize that it is not Ted’s job to create a winning team, but that the effort belongs to all of them.

Next month, the COVID pandemic “celebrates” its one-year birthday here in the US.  How have your advisors changed over that time?  Do you seek out and listen to more people or fewer that you did in March 2020?  Do your people see working together as a core requirement of success, or has your team become more me-oriented?

How do you response to personal affronts?

Alex seems to define all the of turmoil at the Morning Show, which she has begun referring to as “her show” in terms of a personal attack, where any small incident is meant to steal from who she is and what she represents.  Her struggle to understand how all of this could “be happening to me” versus seeing the broader tragedy in the lives of others is heartbreaking.

At the same time, Ted treats every negative act, many of which are personally targeting him, as a chance to practice forgiveness.  Even when key characters apologize for trying to thwart Ted’s success, he extends forgiveness and through the act adds them to his list of advisors.

While 2020 will most be known for COVID, there were many other issues that created or surfaced long-time pain between individuals and groups.  When those occurred in your organization, how did you respond?  Did you seek to humble the other party or to bring healing?  Was it more important to be victorious or inclusive?  Was your first reaction to get even or get back on track?

What flows out of your character?

The final takeaway from Alex and Ted is how the deepest parts of their character are demonstrated.  Alex increasingly ignores those around her.  Closed in by the tightening walls of paranoia, she walks the halls without greeting others, slams her dressing room door, and pushes away her family members.  Her internal pain and narcissism demonstrated as eternal bitterness.

Ted is nearly the exact opposite.  In fact, it’s nearly impossible to know what he is feeling inside as he walks through his first season and the various painful moments.  His response to everyone is kindness, whether to the owner of the club or to the fans on the street who continuously greet him with disparaging words.  Yet slowly, his kindness begins to overcome the scorn of nearly everyone around him.

Over the stress of this last year, what’s surfaced in your character?  Do those around you see bitterness for all that was lost in 2020, or a kindness that keeps them engaged and moving forward?

Leadership is about helping your people see a better future and becoming committed to working as a team to achieve it.  Alex focused on her future better, while Ted shows a commitment to helping those around him grow individually and collectively.

How about you?  Would your people say you more closely channeled Alex or Ted?

Write your Yearly Review of 2021 this Week Mon, 04 Jan 2021 16:00:18 +0000 Reflections on the year just concluded is a popular activity for early January.  Leaders think back on what worked, what didn’t, and what they would like to be or do differently in the following year.  Where did the annual operating plan achieve its metrics? What strategic initiatives made progress? How did the team handle the challenges thrown its way in the past 12 months?

Reflecting is a valuable activity, since to understand is usually the first step to change.  But I want to propose a slightly different task for this January – why don’t you write your annual review for 2021 twelve months early?

Preposterous? Impossible? How can we know what will happen you might ask?  Yet I’d challenge you that much more is known than you might think.

Think about the last year.  While the business conditions and resulting numbers may have been shocking if you’d pondered them in January 2020, there is lot that was known.  I’d suggest you know the four most important components that will make up your 2021 success:

  1. Yourself. 2020 required all of us to change – to think through the kind of human leaders we want to be, whether it’s in our professional or personal lives.  As Joel Manby, ex-CEO of SeaWorld says, “Your people will not remember everything that happened in 2020, but they will remember how you led them.”  So how will you lead in 2021?  In your 2021 Review record the events – whether virtual or in-person – where you demonstrated the characteristics of leadership you want to display.  Empathy during the annual all-hands meeting?  Transparency when discussing achievement against the 2020 plan? Agility to shift to the undetermined 2021 challenges? Encouragement to keep going into the second year of a pandemic that has stressed everyone more than we realize? Persistence to keep moving an organization towards the post-COVID normal when energy lags?  The only right set of meetings and attributes are the ones you want to practice.  Develop a short list of who you will be when.
  2. Your strongest team members. The people who have contributed the most to your 2020 organizational success were the ones you would have named in January.  Stars shine brightest in the darkness.  As you reflect on 2021, how did you help them grow?  When were the coaching sessions held that challenged and honed them?  Training Magazine data shows that retention of top performers increases by 50% when they are effectively coached.  By helping them become better, they see the organization, and you as their leader, more positively.  Give them guidance and freshen their skills and watch them contribute even more.
  3. Your team culture. Drucker’s famous quote about “culture eating strategy for lunch” was never truer than in 2020.  The teams that dispersed and delivered were those with strong, positive cultures built on trust and respect.  Those with unclear expectations or were untrusted (usually demonstrated through micromanagement) floundered.  As you reflect on 2021, how did you demonstrate you were committed and invested in your team?  In the mid-1990s, I worked for a VP of Sales who called his entire team into a sales meeting, showed up late, called one person out of the meeting and fired them, then returned to the meeting to tell everyone “they were his team, and he was committed to them.”  Six months later 90% had voluntarily left the company.  I’d suggest an early 2021 anonymous survey to measure trust levels – how they trust you, their peers and the people in other departments.  Then use the results for a team discussion that starts with your trust level in them. (Note: if you don’t trust them, why are they on the team?) It should be noted that organizations with high levels of trust weathered layoffs and salary reductions significantly better than those without.
  4. Your team mission. What is your organization all about?  Whatever else, it’s usually about servicing and delighting another group of people – customers, students, sister departments in an organization.  COVID didn’t change that.  As you reflect back on 2021, how successful did you execute the mission? Numbers provide a quantitative yard stick, but mission is usually qualitative.  How did you measure true progress and success?  Regardless of the financial challenges of 2020, did your clients feel well serviced?  Did they think more highly of your organization through the year?  Those organizations valued the highest by financial markets are the ones built around passionate customers.  Where do you rank you when compared to the Teslas, Starbucks and Pelotons of the world?

Key performance indicators and the plan remain unpredictable right now.  Will the vaccine mean we can return to in-person in Q1? Q2? The second half?  I don’t know.  But what is known is the 4 components above are critical for successful organizations in 2021.  They all start with you and your leadership.

Are you ready? What kind of year was 2021?

2020 Ends – What will 2021 Bring? Sun, 27 Dec 2020 19:15:52 +0000 Welcome to the end of 2020, which for most of us can not come soon enough.  You’re familiar with the challenges we’ve shared and those you’ve faced alone, so enough of that.  But what of 2021?  A date on a calendar does not bring a reset.  A vaccine administered in your arm doesn’t bring the pre-pandemic world back.  A declaration on social media of an intent to “do better” does not change things.  What are you doing to ensure that 2021 will be a better year?  Here are my suggestions:

  1. Reflect – Change comes when we truly understand where we are and what we want to change.  Start internally, then move to the sphere of relationships around you – both personal and professional.  What would you like to be different at the end of 2021?
  2. Top 3 Actions – Plans fail because of unrealistic expectations for change.  Few can ever give up dessert forever, and therefore a single defeat causes the change to be jettisoned.  Pick 3 things you want to do differently in 2021 and write them down.
  3. Calendarize – Here is a key trick I’ve learned: if it’s not in my calendar, it doesn’t happen.  Go to your calendar and for 2021, or at least the first quarter, add meetings with yourself (or with whomever the action involves).  Then don’t cancel or move them.
  4. Be grateful – This is my personal commitment for 2021.  To recognize that my life is more blessed than most, and yet far too often I focus on what’s missing than what is there.

That’s my thoughts.  How are you committed to making 2021 better?

Welcome to the Blog Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:48:11 +0000 In this time of COVID, leadership is needed more than ever before.  Watch this blog to see what my clients are saying about good and bad leadership practices.

