Before You File For Divorce From Your Job, Try Using The 80-20 Rule.

Would it surprise you to hear that 2.9 million people in the US “divorced” their jobs in June of 2016? It surprised me, but maybe it shouldn’t have. People spend a considerable amount of time at work. It’s quality time too—time when we’re alert and engaged. Unfortunately, when our workday is done, we’re often too tired to enjoy what’s left of the day. And, if we aren’t happy with the way our job is progressing, all those quality hours start evolving into one long painful rerun of the movie Groundhog Day where every day starts and ends in the exact same place.

It’s understandable why someone might decide it’s time to quit their job: low pay, unreasonable expectations, inflexibility with scheduling, lack of support or teamwork, etc. I get it. But quitting a job comes with its own bucket of stresses. There will still be bills to pay, and we all have to eat. Yes, quitting is always an option—especially if it’s time for a career change—but before you decide to “divorce” your employer, use the 80/20 rule to establish some clarity.

Make a list of all the projects you’re working on. Once you’re done, take the list and go somewhere where you won’t be interrupted while you’re working on it.  

If you look carefully at your list, you’re going to see projects that are actually other people’s projects. Put a line through them. Next, look for projects that are going to move you ahead. Put a star next to them. Now here’s the trick: Cut your starred list by 80%. I know exactly what you’re thinking, “Oh crap. I can't do that." Yes, you can.

The data being collected about multitasking is piling up—it doesn’t work. Having a planner that’s as busy as downtown Chicago in rush hour traffic doesn’t mean you’re better at your job. It probably means you’re saying yes to everybody else’s priorities, and not leaving yourself enough time to focus on what you need to get done so you can:

• Enjoy your work
• Excel at your job by doing what you do best

Once you’ve identified your 20%, schedule hard completion dates for each item, commit to those dates!

Remember that neither your boss nor your coworkers will know you’ve taken this step. That means being prepared for their interruptions. Politely ask coworkers if you can get back to them later. If your boss wants to add another project to your pile, skillfully ask him or her how it ranks in priority compared to the other work you have to do.

Take the time to, as Steven Covey puts it, “Sharpen the saw.” Your work may be just one aspect of your life, but it’s a pretty big aspect, so it’s important to schedule time to revisit your project list every so often to make sure it’s on track with both your work and your personal goals.

No one should have to “divorce” their job because some parts of it aren’t working at the moment. If you enjoy the job, and you don’t really want to quit, identify your 20% and put your valuable time, energy, and focus into those priorities. If your employer doesn’t respect your methodology, you can quit with a clear conscience.

On the other hand, using the 80/20 rule to set yourself up for success could put you in a position where you once again enjoy the sound of your alarm clock signaling the start of a new day!

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new

product development, sales and product training. I work with a great national sustainable packaging company and their exceptional distributors to increase sales. My success has been and is in utilizing the Pareto 80/20 principal in business and life. I have become an expert in seeking out and eliminating behaviors that prevent business people from being successful. I am a member of The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net 

Warning: Ignoring Your Gut Feelings Could Ruin Your Life!

During a recent conversation with my daughter, she told me about a friend of hers who cancelled her wedding just shy of 3 weeks before it was supposed to take place. Drama and lost deposits aside, her decision to cancel impressed me. It had all come down to her deciding not to ignore her gut feelings. Something about the relationship just hadn’t felt right.

Early on in my sales career I accepted a job my gut tried me to warn me about. "Don't do it! There are red flags all over the place!” I didn’t listen. Instead, I ignored my own inner intuition in favor of the logical parts of my brain where all the reasons justifying why I should take the job resided. Needless to say, it wasn’t too long after I started the job that I realized I should have listened to what my gut – instincts, intuition, or whatever you want to call it – had been trying to tell me.

We have gut reactions for a reason. When we get them, our job is to take some time to consider what our gut reaction is trying to get us to pay attention to. Granted, there are times in life when you will make choices that go against your gut. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you take the time to try and figure out what and/or why you’re reacting. Below are a few insights meant to remind you of how truly valuable your own internal guidance can be.

Everyone has gut reactions, but they tend to pop up when we’re facing a decision. Our gut could be saying “Yes!” or “No!” because we have gut feelings in both directions. Either way, this reaction to a situation is reason enough to consider what it is that does or doesn’t feel right. If you can identify the cause/source of your reaction, you’ll be in a much better position to make a better decision.

Ignore your gut reactions at your own risk. Your gut instincts, feelings, reactions, and intuitions have one goal – to keep you safe and happy. The problem is that all your gut can do is let you know when your safety and/or happiness might be affected. Your gut can’t tell you what to do. That’s why it pays dividends to pay attention to what it’s trying to tell you. When you do, again, you’re more likely to make better decisions about how to proceed.

Your gut will remind you what’s important to you—even when you aren’t sure what’s important to you. Do you find yourself getting stuck in the same situations over and over again? I’m willing to bet your gut instincts have been working overtime trying to get your attention each time the same less-than-ideal situation comes around. From now on, if you begin to recognize a pattern that isn’t doing you any favors, stop! Is it possible your gut has been trying to inspire you to make a different decision all along?

Most successful people think of their gut instincts and intuition as a gift, and have learned to pay attention to them. That doesn’t mean they make their decisions based solely on those feelings. They use them as an invitation to look deeper into a situation and make sure that the course of action they choose is more likely to be beneficial, meaningful, and possibly even more profitable for them in the long-run.

What have your gut instincts and reactions been trying to tell you lately?

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new

product development, sales and product training. I work with a great national sustainable packaging company and their exceptional distributors to increase sales. My success has been and is in utilizing the Pareto 80/20 principal in business and life. I have become an expert in seeking out and eliminating behaviors that prevent business people from being successful. I am a member of The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net 

How to Avoid a Knife in the Back

Acquiring, building, and maintaining solid relationships with clients and customers is arguably the first priority of a sales professional’s job. After all, without those relationships, there is no job. So we go into the office and set our minds to the task of keeping those relationships in tip-top shape. We might hear a coworker who always seems so pleasant and agreeable say something that sounds a bit strange, but don’t think twice about it.
We witness little things with our other coworkers too—like a look, a roll of the eyes, a gesture behind someone’s back, or one coworker whispering to another coworker—but don’t think much about it until we find ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a workplace drama we did not see coming.
Building relationships with coworkers is not like building a relationship with a client or customer. To varying degrees, we have a choice about who we want our sales clients to be. We rarely have a choice about our coworkers. And while it might not be fair to say that we should always be aware of what our coworkers are up to, it would be naive to believe that their actions in the workplace are designed to build anyone’s career other than their own.
If you don’t want to inadvertently get caught up in office drama—or worse, be the source of it—use some of the same strategies you’d use when you’re getting to know a client better. In the workplace, that means paying attention to the clues your coworkers are giving you.

For example:

Gossip - A coworker might ask you a question about yourself, or someone else in the office, that seems innocent enough to answer. BUT, what will they do with your answer? Will it come back to bite you on the #%&? Stick to the facts, and take care with the jokes or information you might be tempted to share about others.

Superficial Sincerity - People in the workplace can become very good at hiding their insecurities behind a facade of sincerity. It would be nice if all of our coworkers felt confident, comfortable and secure in their jobs. BUT they don’t. Don’t expect a coworker to jump on the sword perched in the middle of the room even if it does have their name on it.

Trust – This is one of the most important aspects of any relationship, BUT it’s hard to build trust in an environment of casual “work” relationships. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust the people you work with. It just means that if you witness a coworker doing or saying something behind someone else’s back, chances are extremely good they’ll do the same behind your back too.

None of this is a suggestion to look for trouble where there isn’t any. It’s just a reminder that the same ability you use to build relationships with your clients can be used to help you safely navigate through office politics with your coworkers. All either situation requires is your attention.

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new

product development, sales and product training. I work part time with a great national sustainable packaging company and their exceptional distributors to increase sales. My success has been and is in utilizing the Pareto 80/20 principal in business and life. I have become an expert in seeking out and eliminating behaviors that prevent business people from being successful. I am a member of The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net 

Rip Van Winkle Selling

As the story goes, Rip Van Winkle wanders up to the mountains to get away from both his nagging wife and his responsibilities. He meets a man struggling with a keg and helps him reach his destination where a group of men dressed in antiquated Dutch garb are playing nine-pins. After imbibing in the contents of the keg, Rip lies down to take a nap, his musket and dog both at his side. When he wakes up, it’s to find his musket rusted and rotting, and his dog gone.

He travels back to town, but doesn’t recognize anybody. He finds his house in ruins, learns that his wife has passed away, his dog has been long dead, and no one’s seen or heard from him in 20 years. When he gets into trouble for announcing his allegiance to King George III, he discovers that he slept through the entire American Revolution!

This story reminds me of some of the stories I’ve heard from sales people over the years. They start by shaking their heads and complaining that selling isn't what it used to be. As they continue, their frustration with management starts coming through. I nod my head because I know what they’re going to say. It doesn’t matter which department their complaining about, it still boils down to the same thing—management expecting superior results from antiquated tools. What can you do you?

If the Problem is that marketing is relying too heavily on brand name recognition as their go-to strategy for getting customers and prospects to say yes…

Your Solution may be two-fold. You might not be in a position to get management to change their strategies, but you can still bring great resource—like Hubspot—to their attention. If they’re slow to embrace digital opportunities, don’t let their limits become your limits. Improve your position by figuring out where your tech and web savvy millennial customers are hanging out. Connect with them where they are, and through resources like LinkedIn, and let that be your edge for bringing in new business.

Is the Problem that management is relying on an old CRM, a homegrown CRM, a CRM designed more for accounting than for sales, or worse yet—no CRM at all?

Your Solution could be to provide management with information about the value of updating old systems. Today’s CRMs are more cost effective, and do more than keep track of customers. Remind them that as a sales professional, knowing your company has a reliable CRM in place allows you to speak with more confidence about the products and services your company offers. But again, don’t let their limits become yours. Make sure you have your own CRM in place if they don’t.

Every company has built in challenges. If you’ve chosen to stay, then there must be a good reason why. If you’re comfortable with the thought of snoozing through the next 20 years, don’t do anything. 

If you’d like to be prepared for what comes after the next 20 years, let’s have a conversation.

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new product development, sales and product training. He works part time with a national sustainable packaging company and their distributors to increase sales. Alan is an expert that speaks on eliminating behaviors that prevent you from being successful in sales and uncovering sales prevention departments that hinder your success. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

ODE TO PHEBE CANFIELD CAMP---AND TO US

Probably because of last month’s holiday, I awoke this morning thinking of my home town, Durham, Connecticut. All during my grade school years I marched in the Memorial Day parade, which always ended in front of the cemetery. Although we knew my mother’s side of the family had been in New England since before the Revolutionary War, it wasn’t until the 1990’s that I discovered that one of my eighth great grandmothers, Phebe Canfield Camp, is interred in that cemetery.  I doubt my mother was aware we had such deep roots in the town.

I've often lauded the bravery required of and exhibited by women living in the New World during the 1700’s and before, when the entire population of settlers was under 300,000, and creature comforts were few. Women routinely faced death by starvation or childbirth, or infections, or by the hands of the original inhabitants. Getting water for drinking, cooking, bathing and laundering must have required daily acts of determination and even heroism.

In 2015 our U.S. population is over 300 million. Women share personal and intimate information in the ether for anyone in the entire world (and beyond?) to see and use. We typically drive personal transportation machinery at speeds of 60 or more miles per hour. We trust our safety to strangers who pilot us through the air. We expose our bodies in a way Phebe could not have condoned or even imagined, and we may elect to raise children without benefit of a husband in the home. We are confident we can provide a living for our families.

On this day, June 17th, a new thought occurs to me. If Phebe were here now she might laud our everyday brand of bravery. It requires different skills than she needed, but our bravery is equally impressive.

Jeannie Newman, CEO of JZN Associates,  offers professional and personal development workshops and seminars  to corporations, organizations, and agencies. Topics include the CustomerCentric Mindset,  Staff Retention, Self Esteem, and everything in between. All offerings feature Emotional Intelligence at their core. Find her at JZNAssociates.com, or on LinkedIn. Her avocation, as you may have guessed, is genealogy.

 

The framework to outwitt the devil. Part 1 - Intro

You can be exposed to many different philosophies, models, ways of thinking, and technologies when studying self improvement.

Many of these philosophies seem to conflict.

So how do you internalize this wisdom in a way that is useful for you?

The answer is personal for everyone.

My mentor told me about Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil and this book has become my answer.

Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success

Written by Napoleon Hill in 1938. Deemed to controversial to be published. It was hidden in a drawer for over 70 years. 

In 2011 the book was finally published long after the death of Napoleon and his wife.

Over the next few months, I will be sharing my interpretations and wisdom gained from this book.

It is my intention to give you insights into my philosophy, simplify your belief system, and bring you happiness.

Today's I am writing about the history around the writing of this book.

Napoleon Hill met Andrew Carnegie in 1908.  Mr Hill wanted a way to pay for law school. Mr Carnegie wanted a factual record of what made men successful.

The result was 20 years of research and interviews with over 500 individuals viewed as successful and 2000 who where called failures.

Napoleon Hill received no pay for agreeing to this opportunity and had to "hustle" to make a living. 

In the 30 years it took to write write Think and Grow Rich and Outwitting the Devil the world experienced World War I, The Roaring 20's,  The Great Depression, and the beginning of World War II.

Napoleon personally faced poverty, the lost of his savings and his home in the Catskills Mountains, and had to run for his life.

This experience was needed to discover what Andrew Carnegie calls your "other self"'.  Stay tune for next month's post about the "other self"'

If your looking for health and happiness coaching please visit me at 

www.michaelegerhealthcoach.com

Act Enthusiastic and You’ll Feel Enthusiastic

Some of my undergraduate classes took place in the evening, at a community college. After a full day on the job we adult students would traipse into school, tired and perhaps a bit out of sorts, still in our work clothes and work personas. Many of us were the sole support of our households. All of us were responsible, serious adults, determined to continue our educations. Oh, at times we were a grim group.

In one particular class our professor was a human dynamo, about as big as a minute, but as wise as a century. No matter where we were in our moods or our careers, we were all very respectful of her.  When she said “Jump,” we jumped~~~quite literally.

Not at every class, but sometimes, she would walk into the room, take a look at us, and command everyone to stand. Then she would order us to do a number of vigorous jumping jacks, as we all shouted, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll feel enthusiastic!”

A few moments later we would be in our seats, panting, perhaps, ties and scarves askew, but newly energized and eager to learn.

Now, anyone who has ever been in a customer service environment is familiar with such mandates as, “smile when you greet the customer,” or “a smile can be sensed over the phone.” The message seems to be that the smile is for the benefit of the customer. While that is true, it gets even better than that.

By acting as if we are happy, we become happy, since emotions follow actions. Feel free to test this statement on yourself. One caveat: You need to reach into your heart for a real smile. A sickly grin, a sarcastic smirk, will not bring forth your desired effect. Have you ever been advised to, “Have a nice day,” in such a way that you understood it was not the actual message? Then you know exactly what I mean.

And if you have difficulty in bringing up that smile, just stand up right now and do five jumping jacks. Here's to your happy, enthusiastic Monday!

 Jeannie Newman, JZN Associates~~~JZNAssociates.com

Welcome to the JZN Associates Blog the 17th of Each Month!

Have you ever been so frustrated by a company’s poor customer service that you wanted to scream?
 

Is it possible anyone ever felt that way about your company’s customer service?

According to current statistics, for every one customer who complains to you, 26 won’t tell you they are unhappy--but they will tell nine to fifteen other people. And a scary 13% of them will tell 20 or more people. Picture them in the middle of town…with a bullhorn made out of your hide.

               Don’t let this happen to you!

Now picture yourself enjoying a successful business, secure in the knowledge that your staff is using their well-honed Emotional Intelligence skills to deliver sparkling customer care to your constituents.

Emotional Intelligence--also known as soft skills, or people skills—makes the difference in any arena between going through the motions and delivering an authentic, warm experience. As the principal of JZN Associates, my specialty, my passion, is helping individuals put their Emotional Intelligence to practical use in their careers and in their personal lives. I am available to agencies, organizations, and corporations. My experience is in recruiting, hiring, training, managing and motivating across a variety of industries, in both the non-profit and for profit worlds.

Watch my blog for Pearls of Wisdom on such topics as 

·         CustomerCentric Mindset

·         Employee Retention

·         From Disgruntled Customer to Biggest Fan…And much more…….

Jeannie Newman

http://jznassociates.com   Jeannie@JZNAssociates.com   860.794.4109