Exceptional Selling

"Exceptional Selling, How the Best Connect and Win in High Stakes Sales" is a wonderful book by Jeff Thull, Author of "Mastering the Complex Sale". I had an opportunity to revisit his book this morning when I was trying to articulate a point to a colleague about "good enough" versus "remarkable" We all know that Seth Godin constantly stresses the importance of being "remarkable", but do we really incorporate that concept into our daily management focus? I mean, do we look at what we produce in the context of "is that remarkable", or do we just allow the pace and urgency of our daily work lives to influence us to allow "good enough" to pass us by and get released, posted on our web site, sent to our customers, printed as a brochure, etc. Why isn't "good enough" good enough? Why does everything have to be "remarkable"? After all, remarkable is darn hard and if one is pressed with a commitment to produce/release by X date, then isn't "good enough" going to get us there and we can always do "remarkable" the next time?

I guess I'm old fashioned - or perhaps new fashioned........I'm not really certain. I just know instinctively that "good enough" isn't going to win in today's market and that while being "remarkable" is indeed difficult and it is unlikely that you will achieve it every time, striving for "remarkable" should always be the target and that you should never accept less from anyone including yourself.

Okay, that was my one key thought for the day. Now go back to work and have fun!

Performance is Reality

One of my earliest "management" hero's was Harold Geneen, the CEO of International Telephone & Telegraph from 1960 to 1977. During that period, Hal led the growth of ITT and took it from a $750M dollar firm to a $16 billion dollar firm while net earnings grew from $29 million to $560 earnings, a compounded annual growth rate of more than 20%. Net earnings grew at least 11% in 15 of those 17 years and ITT acquired 350 firms and created over 200 new profit centers. When Hal retired in 1977, ITT was the ninth largest industrial company in America.

So what was his secret? In one of the books that he co-authored in the late 80's called Managing, he noted that the best way to manage a business was from back to front; i.e.: you started with the end goal in mind and then worked backwards through all the steps required to achieve that goal. In his mind, the goal wasn't a target or an objective. It was in fact a commitment and everyone in his organization worked towards that commitment because achieving anything less than the commitment was failure in his eyes. He held people accountable and he did not accept excuses. In fact, he is well know for having said that, "I think it is an immutable law of business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises-but only performance is reality." I've always remembered reading that quote and I've repeated it over the years to more folks than I can remember. I think that is one of the reasons technology got into such a rut in the late 90's and early 2000's. We stopped forgetting that performance is reality and everything else is essentially noise. Harold Geneen was a tough leader and he was relentless in his pursuit of the commitments established for the firm each year. He accepted responsibility for delivering against those commitments and he expected his management team to do the same, and if they couldn't deliver, then he found managers that could and he found them quickly.

As we begin the process of building our 2008 business plan, I am reminded of the lessons I learned from Harold Geneen all those years ago and I'm filled with an energy that comes from both optimism and resolve. Moreover, I'm filled with a sense of purpose and commitment. I think it is the only mindset that you can have if you are going to be successful. Resolve to be successful. Resolve to achieve the commitment. Resolve to be relentless in your pursuit of the commitment. Lead the team and remember that "performance is reality" and forget everything else!

Web 2.0 & Maggiano's in the Morning

So what on earth could he be talking about? Maggiano's in the morning and Web 2.0 sounds like a strange combination unless of course you were attending the panel discussion this morning sponsored by Pink Magazine, Melia Design Group, Nimbus Software and Interface Guru and wanted to understand how you could leverage Web 2.0 to create successful on-line business strategies. Moderated by Daryn Kagan (darynkagan.com), the panel discussion was interesting, fun and certainly informative. I never knew "usability" was a discipline until someone asked what characteristics they should be looking for in a potential "usability" employee. Did Cia Romano (CEO and Founder of Interface Guru) actually say to look for an anthropologist? Hmmmmmm. That's a twist I hadn't considered before, but it makes absolute sense when you think about what a "usability" expert contributes to the business. Brad Fallon, CEO of Smart Marketing, Inc. may have pulled the biggest smiles when he noted that the three great discoveries of mankind were fire, the wheel and affiliate marketing. Genevieve Bos, the co-founder and publisher of PINK magazine dazzled the audience with her iPhone and crackberry (do you really need two form factors Genevieve?)and her insights on understanding not only who your users are, but how they want to engage content and what content do they want to engage. Finally, Paul Arne from Morris, Manning and Martin gave an interesting brief on some of the liability issues that on-line media companies face in today's environment. As noted during the recent Georgia Tech Security Conference, Web 2.0 has "created numerous new attack vectors" and we all have to be vigilant in safeguarding access to our personal data.

I met some very interesting new folks this morning, which is always a treat. Traci Fento, Founder & CEO of WorldBlu, Inc. (www.worldblu.com) is a new transplant to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. Her firm helps companies to create democratic work environments and I was really intrigued with our conversation. I also met Zenobia A. Godschalk of ZAG Communications and had a delightful chat about Web 2.0 security issues as well as the lack of VC funding in Atlanta at the moment. Kevin Howarth from TechLinks and I sat together and it was fun catching-up with him this morning as well. All in all, a good solid networking event with some great content. Great location and well executed.

Finally, my sincere apologies to all for failing to post for such a long time. As some of you know, I have been working as a consultant for Tescom USA for the past several months. But what many of you may not know is that I recently accepted the position of VP of U.S. Operations for Tescom and I'm now focusing all of my efforts on building Tescom's brand and reputation in the Southeast. It is a great firm and I'm delighted to have been asked to join the global management team. I'm off to Tel Aviv shortly for my first global sales conference and I know it is going to be fun meeting the international team and learning what is working across the globe with their operations.

I will sincerely try to post more often now that I have my feet firmly planted at Tescom. Meanwhile, hope everyone has a delightful day.

Wednesday Morning

Arrived early as I normally do each morning. The drive is actually relatively pleasant given the traffic is quite light at 6:30 a.m. when I leave the house and staying in routine, I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and quick glance at the New York Times on my way out the door. I only actually purchase the paper on Friday and Saturday and occasionally on Sunday if I can find it. There use to be a wonderful spot at the intersection of Piedmont and Peachtree called "Joe Mugg's", which carried all the major papers on a Sunday morning. We used to go there after Mass, get a coffee and pastry and sit and read the Sunday papers. It's a shame that a city like Atlanta doesn't have a decent newspaper. The Atlanta Journal Constitution is quite small town for a metro area approaching six million in population. You would think we could get attract a paper with some weight, but I guess newspapers in general are rapidly disappearing across the nation and given we only have two remaining national papers (USA Today and The Wall Street Journal), it isn't surprising that no one wants to invest in anything other than internet driven solutions. Still, I long for the comfort of a newspaper with a decent editorial section.

School is in full drive now and both Joe and Ellie are up to their usual tricks; i.e.: not wanting to keep up with their homework and class assignments. I don't know if I have the energy for middle school given how much work they are piling on Joe. Poor kid is absolutely lost at the moment and if we can't get him organized I fear he will have a very depressing year. Ellie is less absorbed at the moment, but remembering how 4th grade went for Joe I imagine it will get more intense as the year rolls on.

Weather is still quite humid although the heat has come down a few degrees over the past two weeks. Still, it is quite uncomfortable at the mid-day and will probably remain so for another month or so. I expect it to start getting cooler towards the later part of October if last year is any guide.

I'll post again soon on the political landscape.....just too tired after yesterday to rant and rave about my favorite idiot in the White House. Boy, I've come a long way in the past few years! (A long way to the left that is.........)

Have a great day folks and enjoy a photo of Kate, Joe and Ellie with the Brooks during their visit to Scotland. The Brooks were our neighbors in the Netherlands and Simon, Elizabeth, Emma, James and Timmy are all lovely folks. They live in this absolutely lovely slice of heaven that was dropped into Scotland. Our best wishes to them as always.

August

It seems like just yesterday that I posted, but when I opened my blog this evening I realized that nearly a month has passed since my last entry. August seems to have just blown past me. I guess because I've been working a fair amount of hours and school started back a couple of weeks ago, which of course means that Kate is teaching again and between her teaching, my working, the kids activities and trying to have a life I just let my blog kind of drift away from me. Sorry folks. I can't honestly say that I'll do better, but I will try to post with a bit more frequency.

After the Gaul Family Reunion things started to settle back down here in Atlanta as we prepared for the new school year. We did manage a brief visit to Nashville and had a really good time. What a fun city! We went to the Grand Ole Opry, President Jackson's home, the Opry Hotel and just walked a bit on market street. The kids both got cowboy hats (a must in Nashville) and Kate seemed to enjoy herself for the most part. There were a couple of tense moments. I think when you try to pack so much into a couple of days it is inevitable that you will find some tension rising to the surface. For me, it was the kids being the kids and for Kate is was me being me because the kids were being the kids. Oh well, we did manage to sort it all out with a family conference and got back in one piece.

I've been really struggling with the situation in Iraq and I'm so angry with things that I just don't know what to say anymore. I think I'm mostly angry with myself for voting for that jerk in the last election and for believing that he really did know what he was doing when he sent our kids to die in the Middle East. I can't help but believe there are a lot of folks just like me wondering how we could have been so wrong. I noted that the conversation at the recent family reunion was quite different than it was three years ago. We are a mixed bag when it comes to politics with Liberals, Conservatives and some Independents. But the Conservative element that was fairly vocal three years ago seemed pretty subdued this time around. With the possible exception of one or two retired military chaps joining us as Father Joe's guests the Conservatives were all of the same mind; i.e.: the guy in the White House today is not the guy we thought we were electing in 2004. I haven't made my mind about the next election, but I'm going to be significantly more open minded than I have been in the past. We need a change in direction and I'm looking for that change agent, but haven't found him/her as yet. I suppose we still have some time left for a real leader to emerge and I'm praying that one does filter to the top. We got far too many issues not to get it right next time around.

Anyway, enjoy what's left of your Saturday evening and a few snaps from the Nashville Trip.

The Gaul Family Reunion

We arrived home just over an hour ago after spending two nights in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the site of this year's Gaul Family Reunion. A fairly decent turnout although some favorites were certainly missing this year. None of Mary's kids were able to make the journey and their absence was quite noticeable. On the other hand, all of Judy's family arrived and it was great to see all of my niece's and nephew's.....the regular ones, the "great" ones and the "great, great" ones. My brother John traveled from Ohio as did Mary and Roger.....a long journey for a short weekend, but that is what being part of a family means sometimes. My brother Jim and wife Becky (Becky's celebrated a birthday on Saturday) were only able to spend one afternoon and early evening with us, but he still make the drive from northern Virginia and we all were very grateful. Judy and John drove up from Atlanta via Raleigh where they stopped to see their kids and grandchildren while Kate and I traveled from Buckhead with our kids while my oldest son Patrick made the same journey with his children and his friend Colleen after spending a week with us here in Atlanta.

We all had a delightful time and there was plenty of food, beer, wine and music. I tried to be Mr. Chef, but after not being able to keep the incredibly large grill arranged by my brother Joe (who was hosting this blast at his home) lit long enough to get anything cooked, a couple of old hands at grilling took over and I headed out with my camera and video cam.........I'm beginning to think that I make a better photographer than I do a cook; or at least an outside grill cook.

There will be more notes on this past weekend, but I guess I'd better get upstairs and make a cup of tea and relax a bit before the work week starts. I'm most relaxed however after spending a weekend with some of the finest people I know in this world. I'm truly blessed to have such a wonderful extended family and it is always great to hang out with them, even if it was for only a brief moment.

Pictures include a snap of (reading left to right) Joe, John, Mom, Jim and myself, all the grandchildren, my brother Joe and his namesake and my son Joseph and finally my brother-in-law Roger relaxing with a cold one. I fear that he and I had one too many cold ones on Saturday evening, but that's another story for the naked city.

Family Reunion

This weekend is the annual Gaul Family reunion, a nationally recognized event that brings folks in from all over the nation for a day of grilling and chewing the fat. I don't really know how many will make it this year as we are all getting a tad older and traveling has become more problematic this year. Suzanne, John's wife is recovering from an illness and probably won't make it although John is going to try to get coverage and head down from Ohio for the weekend. Mary's back is giving her fits, but she left this afternoon with her husband Roger and our Mom, who is currently staying with Mary for the summer. Jim and Becky will arrive tomorrow evening and Judy and John are either already there or won't arrive until tomorrow afternoon. We've made the the trip to Sam's Club and there are lots of burgers and hot dogs waiting to hit the grill. The beer needs to be iced as does the wine, but all in good time.

It is not a regular event in that we don't have one every year. They usually take place every two or three years. The last one was in North Carolina in 2004 and we celebrated my brother Joe's 60th birthday and Mom's 86th birthday. Both are three years older this August and although Mom keeps saying that she won't make another one she always seems to hang in there for one more. Hopefully and the good Lord willing, she make this one and a few more as well. Relatives on my Mom's side seem to live longer than the average American. 90 year old Stricklands are not that unusual these days. My uncle is 92 years old and Mom will be 89 and my cousin is also well into her 80's and they all have sharp minds given their ages. I know I'd be delighted to be 92 and still able to carry on a serious conversation about the economy and the political scene, which is exactly what my Uncle does when I visit him.

Anyway, a great week with the new job. They are wonderful people. Really passionate and truly engaged. I'm enjoying working with them and hopefully the contract will be extended for a bit longer and I can continue to enjoy working with them. It is truly exhilarating to be getting up in the morning and driving to an office and hanging out with exciting, fun people. I honestly don't thing you can ask for much more in life than a good family, good health and a job that you enjoy. I am truly blessed!

Have a great weekend folks and I'll check in with you after the festivities. Meanwhile, a bit of Harry Potter and his slick sister witch!

Back To Normal

Well, the family is back home from their seven plus week adventure to Europe, assuming of course that you include the UK in the European frame of things. I suppose now that Gordon Brown is in charge you will see a rapid departure from the lap of GWB and a bit more functional autonomy being asserted, which is fine with me and about damn time! This photo however comes from Leiden, our favorite town in the Netherlands and where we lived for nearly seven years.

Joe has grown over the summer and Ellie has come back with a right proper little English accent. She even picked up a bit of the Birmingham twang just to give Mom a twinge or two. She actually does it quite well and could easily be one of "those girls" I would meet on my occasional trips in Birmingham. Of course, I never met anyone that I wanted to have a long conversation with much less anything else until I met her Mom, but that is probably a story for another day.

I saw Shelby whatever his name is on national news this evening......he has one of those YouTube questions for the candidates........an interesting guy even if he is a Democrat. I tried to find him on www.adonkeyandanelephantwalkintoabar.com, but he wasn't there unless of course he is the one who likes crack and enjoys turning down requests to be his friend.

Just got interrupted by my brother Joe who has recently discovered the joys of Windows Instant Messenger Video......we chat now just about every night and it is kind of cool that this retired 60 plus year old catholic priest is finally moving into the 21st century. He does IM, Video and we are about to introduce him to Skype once one of us visits him in North Carolina and loads it on his computer. He doesn't do these things himself you know.

Anyway, I hope Shelby's question gets asked because it is a good one. He asked what the plan is for after we leave, which means that he and perhaps lots of other folks understand that it is just as important to have a plan for leaving as it would have been to have a plan of going there in the first place. (And we all know that sure as hell didn't happen!) I still think we can stop this thing if the people of America get off their collective asses and make their voices heard. Hell, if an old Republican war-horse such as myself can see the error of his ways, then there has to be hope for the nation at large. But you can't just "rage against the night", you have to participate in the process......you know, write your elected officials and make your voice heard.

Anyway, nearly 9:30 p.m. and I must retire. These 5:30 a.m. wake-up's are kicking my ass! Have a good night folks and think about what I've said........if you don't know who to write, then take a look at the donkey/elephant website and they will help you figure it out. It is time to get active!

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

The world is a very different place at 5 a.m., which is exactly what time I've been waking up over the past two plus weeks since I started my contract. What's even more interesting is that I'm going to bed between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and that has to be a record for the midnight kid. Heck, I almost never even thing about going to bed until at least midnight and more often than not I'm still sitting up reading at 3 a.m. I can't tell you how many times I've slipped into bed at 3 a.m. or later and just stayed there as Kate got up to get the kids ready for school. Oh well, those days are long gone and somehow I don't think I'm going to miss them. I've really enjoyed the past couple of weeks........you know, getting up, putting on a suit with bright shinny shoes and headed off for work. Makes me feel like a kid just starting the school year!

I see that our President is still defying the odds and ignoring just about everyone on just about every issue. I noted he is still quite popular in Albania however and possibly he is considering his options for after the next election. Albania could use another Dictator and boy does he fit the bill.........speaking of Bill, where is that boy? I haven't heard much from him recently and would have thought he would be center stage for the Live Earth concerts, but perhaps I just missed him because I haven't been watching that much TV the past few weeks although I have certainly been catching up on my reading, especially reading technology articles about the space I'm now occupying, but more on that later.

Just purchased a new book called "Buzzmarketing, Get People to Talk About Your Stuff". It is written by Mark Hughes, the CEO of the consulting firm Buzzmarketing and the host of the syndicated radio talk show, The Buzz Factor. An interesting read so far and I'm especially enjoying his insights into American Idol, the program that for me shows us the way towards future political elections. Come on, why not? We line them all up on Tuesday night and have them give a 2.5 minute campaign brief and you vote on the most talented lad or lass and over a period of a few months we can get to the final vote. The winner gets a makeover by the political equivalent of Clive Davis (now, who would that be I wonder) and the runner-up gets to be the VP, regardless of his or her political affiliation. In fact, that really should be the way we elect the two positions.....no more tickets........you run for the spot you want and so we could end up with a Democratic President and an Independent VP......I don't think we will end up with a Republican anything come next election.

Okay folks, have a wonder day and we will chat with you soon.

No, I Haven't Dropped Off ................

The face of the earth despite the many assertions to the contrary. I have however signed my first major contract as Patrick D. Gaul, Inc. and collected my first paycheck for that engagement, which has been deposited into my own corporate bank account. All very neat stuff for an entrepreneur and hopefully it explains my unusual absence from my blog. I was initially working to close the opportunity and now I'm working to deliver against the contract, so my days have been rather filled and getting back into the routine of getting up in the morning, putting on a suit, and driving to an office as opposed to waking up, putting on a robe, making a cup of coffee and heading to the basement, has required some adjustments. First, I'm waking up at ungodly hours..........this morning it was just after 4:00 a.m., although in fairness I did go to bed at just after 9:00 p.m., which means I had seven hours of sleep and that is probably about an hour or two longer than I normally get on some mornings. The big difference now of course is that I cannot just rollover if I stay up to some ungodly hour because I got interested in a film at midnight. Still, it is good stuff and I'm enjoying the work, which I shall have to keep relatively quiet for the moment because I have certain commitments to the client.

On the political front, I have officially changed my status to Independent and no longer refer to myself as a Republican. I'm now officially a conservative Independent, although I suppose my previous affiliation still influences some of my thinking relative to government and how it should be run. I just cannot in all good conscious continue to belong to a political party that has completely ignored the values of democracy that this country holds so dear and continues to do so everyday. Even today our "President" defied the Rule of Law by commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, the White House Advisor who was convicted of lying to the Grand Jury about the CIA operative leak. He was convicted in a court of law by a jury of his peers and gets a "get out of jail free" card from the President. The prison term was excessive according to George, but he is still being punished because he has to pay $250K and be on probation for a bit.......like $250K is a serious fine for the likes of Libby! How much more of this can the country tolerate? When will the American people wake up and realize that we have a dysfunctional government? What will it take to motivate this country to do something about the situation? Unfortunately, I don't see a real leader emerging from the ashes to lead us out of this quagmire. It is pretty much the same old tired group of politicians vying for the top spot and pretty much the same group of tired old senators and congressmen and women holding down those spots. Where is the new blood? Why can't the same group of Americans that come together to nominate the winner of American Idol show-up for a vote on national unity?

I don't know about you folks, but I'm ready for a change, and I mean one hell of a serious change!