Leadership Lived

03/24/2025

Who knows... Since tomorrow is a META/FB blackbout, I’ll post this now. It’s official. Signed at 8:20AM. It was even on TV. Mine really turned blue. Don't forget that tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka... new name, META) where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!!!
Hold your finger anywhere in this message and “copy” will appear. Click “copy”. Then go to your page, create a new post and place your finger anywhere in the empty field. “Paste” will appear and click Paste.
This will bypass the system….
He who does nothing consents

According to the show 60 Minutes:
Just in case you missed it: a lawyer advised us to post this. The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook Meta is now a public entity. Every member must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.
I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA.

11/10/2024

Don’t let the illusion of knowledge hold you back! Embrace the FOUR R's for success!

Email from The Nimmo Company THE 4 "R's"   The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge Is Not Ignorance, It's The Illusion of Knowledge. ~ Stephen Hawking I'm always centered on not doing the same things when my

10/18/2024

Bringing people TOGETHER for a common cause first begins with understanding. "Seek first to understand". (Covey)

EMPATHY is VITAL to a positive and healthy CULTURE.

Do I fully understand the perspective of others?

09/15/2024

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/change-your-priorities-grow-sales-john-nimmo-lxi2c

Do you watch reruns? Are you a fan of Seinfeld, Friends, or even Gunsmoke? How many times have you watched Top Gun? My wife and I are a little odd in this way. When we find a movie we like or a show we enjoy, we tend to watch it over and over.

09/15/2024

Do you watch reruns?

Are you a fan of Seinfeld, Friends, or even Gunsmoke? How many times have you watched Top Gun?

My wife and I are a little odd in this way. When we find a movie we like or a show we enjoy, we tend to watch it over and over.

For example, we watch the entire Jesse Stone series featuring Tom Selleck every year. It's a detective drama series that incorporates just the right amount of humor and suspense to entertain the two of us.

There is a standard line in each one of the Jesse Stone's I Love.

"The information is out there; all you gotta do is let it in."

The line refers to finding evidence to solve a crime. The line intends to encourage thinking differently, stopping overthinking, and letting in the obvious. Hmmmm?

In business, like solving a crime, we are solving a puzzle. How do we grow revenue? Be profitable? Pretty obvious, right?

So, is there something obvious in your business you are overlooking, and are you refusing to let it in? Are you willing to listen? Open minded? What could that be?

Every week, I coach and speak to corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who want to grow top-line revenue and build their businesses. Many have teams; they collaborate and pay for developing websites, increasing social media presence, building their brand, pay for marketing, SEO, creating sales funnels, buying leads and CRMs, and the list goes on and on.

There always needs to be more it seems. And what about you?

Is there a measurable and immediate ROI? And what are the opportunity costs? If you are doing it all, prioritizing those activities or some of them and still feel stuck. Your sales are stagnant. You need to grow. Expenses are climbing.

If you are wondering where to turn and what to do next, then know this.

"The information is out there; all you gotta do is let it in."

Some, if not all of the previous methods are good; depending on your specific business model, they may have some merit, but business growth still has a common denominator. It's sales. And sales is communication.

"Sales is the lifeblood of any business."

~Paul Martinelli

If you aren't selling or having conversations, if you or your team lack competency or expertise in this one area, you are headed for failure.

Get it right! Prioritize. This should be the first area of developing expertise and not the overlooked last step. Do not discount the value of this critical skill. To me, it is the obvious. Let it in?

There is a learned science to effective sales communication. If you are unaware or assume it's something when it's really something else, you make a critical error.

Let's wrap our heads around this. Here is what selling is NOT!

It's not coercion, ugly, or misleading. It's not "overcoming some objection." It's not in the ABCs (always be closing), it's not in building trust; it's not simply a "numbers game." Those are all old and misquoted, antiquated notions of what sales is.

Even if it's just for the moment, please get that out of your head!

Instead, think of it this way. My personal mentor, Paul Martinelli, defines sales this way. "Sales, at its highest level, is Serving to solve a problem." That's it!

How effective are you at solving your prospect's problem?

In other words, you don't have a sales problem. You have a communication problem.

If you were to take all the money you have invested in everything else, prioritize differently, and invest in yourself and in your sales team, through an actual professional sales course, not simply a look-alike digital make-believe program, but a six-month course, you would increase your success by up to 84%, and I guarantee you would more than double your return on the investment, and build success for a lifetime.

You will build long-term profitable relationships.
You will learn precisely how to build and maintain rapport with your customers through communication skills.
You will build trust by solving problems and providing solutions and not on commonality.
You will become the authority and respected advisor in your market.
You will understand that effective sales conversation is not at all about talking but in developing NINJA-like listening skills.
Complete the loop. Identify sales as the missing component and take action. You'll be glad you did! And remember,

"The information is out there... all you gotta do is let it in."

06/30/2024

It's The Small Things.... Here are 5 Small Obstacles Getting In Your Way.

We've all heard it said, "It's the small things that matter," or "The Devil is in the details."

If you don't believe that, try sleeping in a tent with a mosquito.

It is most annoying, to say the least. if you've never experienced that, it will surely test your sanity. Imagine, all you really want is to go to sleep and the devilish, flying, blood-sucking, buzzing demon? ... well?

But in life, and answer this for me, ...all you really want is...?

What are the small things getting in your way? Those things that seem to persist and keep popping up? The mosquitos that won't go away. Buzzing in your head? Isn't it time to rid yourself of them permanently?

I'm a big-picture thinker—a fairly high "D" on the D.I.S.C. profile. I tend to focus on the desired results, not the intricate steps to get me there. In addition, I'm risk-tolerant. This combination has served me well at times but also has left me, let's just say,

up the proverbial sewer waterway without a means to propel myself.

(I won't say it like Grandpa said it.)

Our strengths often become our liabilities. There is often a polar relationship; scientific research has proven this relationship between strengths and weaknesses in human behavior. Often they are complementary and have similar polar magnitudes but are polar opposites with similar force and frequency.

Here are five common opposites, presenting themselves as strengths but usually are disguised imposters. They mostly prevent our forward progress.

Knowledge. We assume what we know will somehow guide us to achievement. It's not at all what we know. Often, we must adopt an attitude of unlearning. And no one ever reached great heights of achievement based on what they knew. It's all in the "doing" that helps us reach our goals. Besides, you will never know it all. Value the process of learning.
Timing. Waiting for just the right time, timing the market, waiting until ... whenever you are ready. Just get started. The reality is you will never get much done if you continue waiting to get started. If you are waiting for your ship to come in, you'll be waiting a long, long time. Go now!
Perfectionism. The best way is latent. There will always be unintended and unforeseen results. You must start, if you wish to find the best way. Planning though is valuable. But there is no perfect plan and your success will depend on adaptability as you move forward on your vision and goals.
Fear of Failing. Fear is crippling to most people. We play the "what if" game. Truth be told, yes, you will fail. Fear is a cancer, debilitating your dreams and goals. In the words of Peter Drucker, "fail fast, fail often" and learn from the failure. It is only crippling if you allow it to be. Why is it that we put our faith in our fears? Poverty mindset and entitlement-type thinking have their roots in fear.
Comparison Thinking. Stop comparing your results to the results of others. Ignore the desire to look elsewhere and compare your results to those of others who may be suffering underneath the surface. Looking and comparing is like the iceberg effect. You only see what is above the surface. ONLY view where you were yesterday and make improvements based on that. Your goal is to be better than you were yesterday.

Growth for me means determining what I will not do today. I will NOT participate in the above five traps that keep me stuck.

It sounds simple, and it is, but just because it's simple does not mean it is easy.

Review the five snares above. Make a list of your thoughts toward each one. When have you done them? What were the circumstances?

Be specific about remembering the events or specific circumstances when you compared yourself to someone else, failed to take an action based on the fear of what might happen, felt like you didn't have enough of a plan or felt that the timing just wasn't right.

In retrospect, were they alibis and excuses for nonaction? Recognize why you felt a certain feeling. Resolve never to do that again.

These are just a few of the mosquitos in your tent. They are bothersome, but in the overall picture of your life and business, don't let the mosquito prevent you from having a good time camping and living your dream.

Remember, it's all where your focus goes. What will you focus on this week? Not the mosquitos I hope.

Today, be Encouraged. And Encouraging!

06/23/2024

What if.... leading is not about what you know?
Well, what is it then?

Last week, with an anecdotal story about my golf woes, I wrote about "Lesson One". Using a golf analogy, we discovered how important it is to start business with a good foundation. Lesson One is "Take the Lessons". You can read about it here.

And Lesson Two, if there is one, may just be this. Whether you are an entrepreneur, CEO, manager, educator, speaker, leader of a team, or in sales, I assure you this will be an important insight.

Knowledge management!

This quote by legendary Coach John Wooden came across my desk this week. There are several of these quotes affectionately known as "Woodenisms." I like this one.

It's what we learn after we already know it all... that counts.

We all anchor our sense of identity, aspirations, hopes, dreams, and emotional well-being to something we consider significant to our lives. For many, it's what we think we know.

Consider that what we believe we know might be the very thing holding us back. How do we effectively manage our knowledge, particularly in leadership roles? This demands practice. As the saying goes, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I would add... about them. There you have it. Lesson Two.

Have you ever attended a meeting, or perhaps a keynote, where everything happening was "information dump"? Where everything said could have been reduced to 10 minutes or an email, and where the speaker was more into proving their knowledge and their significance regarding a topic?

How did that make you feel?

What we think we know may be the one crucial thing keeping us stuck. How do we manage what we know?

This may require some practice in a leadership position or in team engagement. It's been said, "People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care." And I would add... about them.

There you have LESSON TWO.

"It's not just about what you know. It's also about how you communicate and manage that knowledge. Can you establish emotional connections, whether in sales, with your staff, with your family, or in new business relationships? How skilled are you at managing Your specific knowledge effectively?"

When we are too quick to give an answer, when we endeavor to communicate all we know about a topic, regardless of how well-meaning, we often alienate our audience.

KEY

It is better to study, pause, clarify, and add value to the subject questions by asking clarifying questions and then being concise without rambling. In doing so, you establish an emotional connection by valuing them rather than the proverbial vomiting of all your knowledge. Knowledge management!

Realize you are, in effect, always in a state of "selling you". Not your product or service your goals or vision. But YOU! People must buy into you. And "Selling is NOT Telling."

It's not what we know that really counts, is it? Learn to ask more questions. I have pages and pages of deep questions that I consistently use and can share. Reach out if you'd like a copy.

in wrapping up, would you agree with me that the world and society is in a constant state of change? What I knew, or what I thought I knew about business, management, and sales, may not be as relevant as it once was.

And yet, many of our attitudes and actions are anchored in what we already know.

Are you open-minded? I hope so because

Your desire to learn and your ability to earn are extraordinarily connected.

For more consider reading Patrick Lencioni's book "The Advantage." You can get it here.

The knowing and the doing need to be in alignment if we are to grow and flourish. Even here, in this newsletter, it's more about you and less about me.

Be Well.

06/16/2024

It's not about Golf. Don't leave.

Go ahead. Just hit the ball straight. It's the epitome of great advice, right? Did you ever get advice or training like that? If so, you should run, not walk away!

Many enjoy playing a round of golf, but many have never or would never consider it. That's okay! Read on.

I don't play golf, though; I used to "tinker" with it. I learned enough about the game from a few friends to attend business outings and be casual about it. But, If you know me, then you know "casual" is NOT a dominant personality trait. Isn't this similar to how many people approach their personal and professional development? Casually?

I hope that's not you.

If you approach business and specifically sales... casually, you will very likely become a casualty. (And Business is all about sales.)

So, What about you? What is your approach to the game of business? Or your personal and professional development?

A good many people play golf. I've noticed many, in a frustrated rage, sometimes throw a golf club into a lake or break a golf club against a tree. Really?

Similarly, many people desire to be entrepreneurs or have leadership positions in business but end up just as frustrated or disappointed with their results.

Someone said to me once,

"Before you take up playing golf, you should take lessons. The alternative is to go out, play golf, and develop all the bad habits that prevent you from becoming competent or somewhat skilled. Then... you'll spend a lifetime trying to correct those bad habits that should never have been developed in the first place. You'll always be frustrated with your results."

Isn't that just like life? Here is lesson one!

"Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." ~ Bobby Knight

And there you have it!

I've been in business all of my adult life. I've been successful. I've always been competitive and embodied a winning attitude. Not because I was smarter or more gifted, but mostly because I just worked really hard.

Perhaps you're like me. I'm sure you work really hard. And if you are like me, I'm sure you awake every morning with the will to win the day. Have an impact. Make a difference. Improve my life and the lives of my loved ones.

And that... that has been the problem.

As we consider business, the heartbeat of any business is "sales." Sales skill is the lifeblood! As a matter of fact, until one successfully navigates increases in revenue through the sale of either a product or service, it raises the question of sustainability.

The measure of competence of any leader in any successful endeavor may be measured by one's ability to influence an outcome—any outcome! But significantly, it is sales.

Here's what I've learned.

I had developed bad habits limiting my personal and professional sales growth. Why? I was unwilling to invest in my personal preparedness.

I had never prepared to win; Prepare. I was lacking in my desire to prepare to win. My approach was all wrong, and just like taking up golf, I became frustrated with my results because I knew I had more in me. But I thought my skill was adequate. Truth be told,

I needed lessons!

Why is it that if sales are crucial to success, we half-heartedly and casually enter into business thinking that if we can talk to people or that because I am an extrovert, we can succeed at sales? Why did I not consider that there is a science to becoming more influential and persuasive?

If you are in business, you've probably been told and possibly convinced by well-meaning people that the rules of selling are ABC. (Always be closing.) Or that "sales" is a numbers game. (That you have no impact on the outcome.) Or that because you can talk, you never meet a stranger; that selling should be your career path and that you would succeed in business. (But Selling is not telling.)

These paradigms lead to costly high turnover in organizations, low self-esteem, negative corporate culture, high-pressure tactics, low repeat business, and ultimate failure because we have never considered there is a proven methodology, a science to success, and to ignore it... costs thousands and tens of thousands in earned commissions and sustainable profit.

Interested? Does the peak your interest at all?

Requirements for sales success. Based on science and proven research.

I've found that a healthy and highly successful sales team and individuals embody the following characteristics and, most importantly, the willingness to prepare to win by developing one's skills. They take lessons!

Minimal politics

Minimal confusion, supported with personal confidence.

High Morale, Inspiration, and Motivation.

High productivity

60% or better in closing ratio.

Low turnover and failure rate

Can you see that excellence in those areas would transform your sales team’s results?

So, how would you feel about taking some lessons? How would you feel about transforming your results? Permanently?

One thing I know, it's true in golf and in life; continuing to do the wrong things, will continue to get you the wrong results.

Please reach out. I'd love to hear from you and share more. If you know someone is a state of struggle, please share.

There is Greatness Within You! I know it!

04/26/2024

Attack today's challenges. Don't allow them to linger. Don't procrastinate. The impossible only exists in your mind. After all, there are footsteps on the moon.