Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

The JF Book Review

As a leader, being responsible for the welfare of a group of people can be daunting but being responsible for the lives of a group of people, must be the ultimate challenge, which is why I have so much respect for military leaders.

Wally Adamchik is one such person and he has successfully taken the lessons he learned as a leader in the elite US Marines into corporate life, establishing himself as a consultant, speaker and leadership guru.

“No Yelling – The 9 Secrets Of Marine Corps Leadership You Must Know to Win in Business” is direct, insightful and masterful: Here is an extract from the Introduction:
“Japan, January, 1987 – You are at my side in an M-60 tank. We are conducting a tactical training exercise at the base of Mount Fuji, operating as part of a Marine battalion, working jointly with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. Two days into the exercise, snow begins falling heavily. Of course, battles don’t stop because of bad weather and neither does training. But the snow continues, and our tanks do not have winter cleats on their tracks. We’re in a sixty ton vehicle on the side of a mountain, sliding on ice, with no control. With the situation now unsafe, the battalion calls “time-out”, and we occupy defensive positions as part of the now changed scenario.

We gather our four other tank commanders and explain the situation. We acknowledge the uncertainty, but remind the men that there is work to be done. I leave them with this statement as they go back to their tanks and their own crews; “I’ll be in my tank. Call me with questions. Just make sure you are doing something productive”.

An hour or so later, the Company Executive Officer is knocking on our tank and he is very agitated. “The CO (Commanding Officer) wants to see you. Now! He’s over on the main road in his jeep”. We trudge through the snow several hundred yards to see the Captain. He is red with rage. “Adamchik, what do you think you are doing?” “Sir?” “The battalion commander and I are touring the area and everything is fine – until we come to your platoon. I told him I would take care of it. Now, what the *$§% is that?” he demands, pointing to one of our vehicles.

In front of the tank are two snowmen. More precisely, a snowman and a snowwoman. We know they are man and woman because they are anatomically correct. I am speechless. “Well, what is that?” “Ummm, it looks like a snowman and – woman, Sir. Actually it is a snow couple”. “Really….and why are they there during our tactical exercise? Did they teach you this at Ft. Knox as some new security measure? Or are you just trying to embarrass me in front of the Battalion Commander?” “No, Sir. I told the men to do something productive. I was not as explicit as I should have been”. “No, you weren’t! Now, go fix this! Is that explicit enough for you?” And he is gone in his jeep.

What a lesson in communication! I have never forgotten it. I told our people to do something productive, and they did. They didn’t go to sleep. They didn’t wander around. They built snow people – a snow couple. What else might a couple of nineteen year olds do in a snowstorm? Yet, in this (now) comical moment is a powerful example of the importance of clear communication in leadership. In the coming pages, we will look at actual examples and lessons on various aspects of leading people.”

“No Yelling” includes one hundred interviews with current and former Marines now succeeding in the private sector and I can confirm that this book is inspiring and it is most definitely motivational – I have no reservations about recommending it to you, if you are involved in any form of leadership, you will learn a lot. More about Wally in case you missed yesterday’s post.

Wally Adamchik is the President of FireStarter Speaking and Consulting, a national leadership consulting firm based in Raleigh, NC. You can visit the website at www.beafirestarter.com or email him at wally@beafirestarter.com. “No Yelling” (www.noyelling.net) is available online.

Today’s News: Colleen Francis - a fellow member of the Top Sales Experts team - is Clayton Shold’s guest over at Salesopedia today: Colleen is one of the most energetic business experts I have ever met, her schedule is awesome - so well done Clayton for pinning her down for a few minutes - not literally of course

Tomorrow: That man Jim Meisenheimer is my guest author tomorrow - expect something different, as usual.

The JF Guest Author Spot

When I was in the military it seems we never really worried about Return on Investment (ROI). Yet, ROI is the Holy Grail of business. Run this calculation and the business manager will know what to do. Let’s review the calculation in its simplest form: ROI = (Total Benefits – Total Cost) x 100. For example. If the cost to do something is 10 units and the benefit we receive from it is 20 unites than ROI = (20-10) x 100. So, in this case the ROI would be 200%. Not bad, in fact, if business were this easy anybody could do it. But they can’t. They cant because business isn’t that easy and because the calculation is flawed. The calculation of ROI is as elusive as the Holy Grail.

Managers the world over want to know the ROI on the money they are spending and investing. They are even focused on this in the hiring process. When they sit around the table and discuss whether to extend a job offer they are really asking if the candidate will be worth the investment. This is a noble and worthwhile goal. The formula is fairly straight-forward as we have seen. Measure what you spend, measure what you gain, presto, you know you ROI. Sometimes you can figure it out. Often you can’t. Why not?

Benefits are hard to calculate, costs aren’t. In an attempt to measure ROI we attempt to quantify everything but we can’t. In fact, what really happens is because we are able to identify all the costs of something we are readily able to calculate that part of the equation. We are confident of that number. However, the calculation of benefit can be much tougher. If I invest in safety training I can calculate the cost of that but how will I calculate the benefits of that? If my safety does not get better than does that mean benefits were zero? Or perhaps the training prevented a major mishap but we don’t measure a mishap that didn’t happen so what is the benefit? Zero? I don’t think so. We get so focused on cost that it seems to grow. The font gets bigger and bolder. Unfortunately since we can’t truly quantify benefit we perceive benefit as being less and we minimize it, the font becomes smaller and more difficult to read. Don’t fall into this trap. I am not saying we shouldn’t be aware of what are spending and investing and what we get for it. I am saying to reduce everything to an ROI calculation means you are going to miss out on some big opportunities because you walk away based on a faulty ROI calculation.

As a professional speaker I face this challenge often. The meeting planner wants to know my fee (cost). I tell them and they compare me to the next person on the list and then choose. Actually they often come back and say they really want me but I am outside their budget (cost). I ask why they really want me and they tell me what a great fit I am for the group, they love my energy, they like my style and really think I can impact the audience (these are benefits to some extent). The conversation continues with me asking about other things they haven’t considered and me pointing out other things I do to support the presentation or in conjunction with the presentation (more benefits). I have now shifted the perceptions in their minds from a cost focus to a benefits focus. The font on cost got smaller while the font on benefits got bigger. The challenge for me in this case is how do I truly quantify what the audience will learn? I guarantee they will be entertained and they will learn something but how do I put a dollar amount on that? There are ways to do it but at the end of the day the calculation of cost is pretty solid and one of benefits is less certain.

Yet, many firms will fall back on ROI to make a decision and it is a bad decision. Let’s continue with my scenario. Despite my best efforts I can’t them to shift focus away from cost. They pick the lesser priced speaker who then comes to their event and has less energy, is less of a fit, and presents dated and boring material. Sure, they saved money and the ROI calculation was looking good but now the actual benefit of this lower price provider is clear but it is too late. The audience is wondering why they wasted their time attending such a bad presentation. It happens all the time in every industry. My next door neighbor sells medical equipment and it just happened to him as he was beat on price by a firm that sells a product with proven lower quality. But the purchasing manager isn’t looking at lifetime cost of ownership, just the initial cost. My neighbor has a product with a boatload of benefits but he sometimes he can’t get the buyer to see past cost. In the words of Emeril, BAM, bad decision. ROI has failed again. 

The challenge is to understand and be able to communicate the benefits of any given decision or course of action. That action may apply directly to us or to a business decision but the fact remains, we usually look at cost more than benefit. How do you get the boss to understand the benefits you bring to work every day? This is not a conversation we normally have but it is critical if you are to succeed in corporate America. We naturally don’t do this because it sounds like bragging. Nobody likes a braggart. However, if you don’t brag on your self a bit, nobody else will. Go ahead, tell them what you can do for them.

 Wally Adamchik is the President of FireStarter Speaking and Consulting, a national leadership consulting firm based in Raleigh, NC. You can visit the website at www.beafirestarter.com or email him at wally@beafirestarter.com. His new book is No Yelling (www.noyelling.net) is available online.

Today’s News: I actually should have pointed out to you yesterday, that we have an amazing “Early Bird” discount offer over at the Sales Leadership Zone - for the price of one very average meal with your significant other half, you can enjoy twelve month’s membership - yep, for just $50 (£25) you can have access to the most original and comprehensive site for sales captains, on the entire internet - it’s a “no brainer”

Tomorrow: On the JF Book Review I am going to review Wally’s superb, “No Yelling”