Michael Hyatt's Blog, page 185

GetNoticed Logo Options [Survey]

GetNoticed Logo Options

Let your voice be heard on my website…













I am in the process of developing a new premium WordPress theme called, GetNoticed! It is based on the principles I teach in my book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. It will be specifically designed for people who are trying to build a personal brand. (I am running the GetNoticed! theme here on my site.)

I intend to set up a separate website for the theme. It will include its own blog and support forum. The next step is for us to pick a logo. Which of the ones above do you prefer? Please feel free to also leave a comment below.

Note: We have not yet announced a launch date. We are hoping to have it out by the end of 2012, depending on how the beta test goes. If you would like to stay informed of our progress or be notified when we are ready to accept beta tester applications, please sign up at the bottom of this page.

If you want to reference the logos after taking the survey, you can do so by clicking here.

How to Get Your Boss to Say “Yes,” Part 3

The ability to sell an idea or project to your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career. In this three-part series I share six steps for doing it more effectively. In this post, I cover the last two steps. (You can find Part 1 here and Part 2

Unfortunately, My Boss Subscribes to Your Posts, Too! [Chat]

I smiled when I received this e-mail:
After reading your post on “How to Get Your Boss to Say Yes, I was inspired and motivated to finally ask my boss for a raise ”

Unfortunately, my boss must be on your mailing list, too. He obviously listened to your podcast, “How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty.”













Judy (A Reader)

Sales Mastery [Event]

I am very excited to be speaking at the Sales Mastery event in Palm Desert, CA sponsored by the Todd Duncan Group.









Date:
October 12, 2012


Time:
08:15-9:45 a.m.


Event:
Sales Mastery


Topic:
Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World


Sponsor:
Todd Duncan Group


Venue:
JW Marriott Resort


Location:
Palm Desert, CA


Public:
Public


Registration:
Click here to register.


More Info:
Click here for more information.

How to Get Your Boss to Say “Yes,” Part 2

The ability to sell an idea or project to your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career. In this three-part series I share six steps for doing it more effectively. In this post, I cover the second two steps. (You can find Part 1 here and Part 3 here.)

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of seeing your boss as the customer. To get him to say, “yes,” you have to first understand his needs. Moreover, you have to frame your proposal in terms of how it will help him accomplish his goals.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/mattjeacock

Then, you have to commit to success. You must be determined to get to “yes,” because your reputation depends on it—first with your boss and second with the people you lead. Once you have taken these first two steps, you are ready for step three.

Step 3: Write Your Proposal

In my experience, the number one reason people don’t get to “yes” with their boss is because they haven’t done their homework. They simply haven’t thought the proposal through. As a result, it is full of holes. Each of these provides an easy out for the boss—and a quick “no” for you.

Several years ago, I developed a Recommendation Briefing Form (a.k.a. “RBF”) as a means of summarizing my proposal and making the recommendation to my boss. I wanted to make sure I covered the key points—briefly and in order. (Click here to download a zipped copy.)

The form contains five major headings. Here’s how to use them:

Recommendation. Start with the conclusion. It is so much easier for me (and probably your boss) to concentrate if he knows what you want up front.

This keeps me from constantly being distracted with thoughts like, I wonder where he is going with this? What does he want? Get to the point! etc.

If you start with the conclusion, your boss can relax and listen to the rest of your proposal.

Also, be sure to state precisely what you are recommending. Don’t beat around the bush. Be brief—two sentences at the most. And don’t include more than one recommendation per form. Keep it simple.
Background. Usually, your boss will need a little context for your recommendation. Give him the background.

But again, be brief. Only provide the background necessary for him to make an intelligent decision. A paragraph should be sufficient. Stay focused and keep moving.
Rationale. List all the reasons why your boss should accept your recommendation and approve your proposal. Shoot for five to seven reasons. (If you come up with more, select the most important ones and delete the others. You want to convince him, not bore him!)

In addition to including why he should approve your recommendation, also articulate the consequences of not approving it.

Once you have your list, prioritize it. Start with your most important reason and then work down your list, including the next most important reason, then the next most important reason, etc.
Timetable. Indicate when you will implement the proposal if approved. If the rollout will be “staged” (i.e., done in segments), briefly outline the key milestones.

Remember: most projects take longer than you think. Under-promise and over-deliver. Take into consideration Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
Financial Impact. State this negatively (i.e., the cost or investment) and positively (i.e., additional sales, return on investment, etc.).

Make it clear, and shoot straight. Don’t downplay the cost or hype the benefits. You want to develop a reputation of being conservative, but not overly so. Again, take into account Murphy’s Law.

Keep in mind that the entire RBF should be no more than two pages long. Shorter is better.

I have seen very effective RBFs that are only a page long. If you have more information, bring it to the meeting as backup, in order to answer specific questions. Note: make sure all the documents you intend to distribute are neat and professional.

Step 4: Anticipate Objections

This is where the battle is won or lost. Unfortunately, it’s a step that most people skip—to their own detriment. Spending thirty minutes working on this aspect of your proposal is the best investment you could make in getting to ”yes.”

First, think of every question your boss could possibly ask. To prime the pump, use the “who, what, why, when, where, and how” helpers.

Make sure each key question is answered in your RBF. Don’t risk getting a “no” because you haven’t carefully thought through the questions and possible objections.

Next, on a separate sheet of paper, list every objection to your recommendation you can think of. Play devil’s advocate. However, don’t try to answer the objection yet.

First, get them on paper. Once you’ve done that, go back and write out talking points (i.e., bullets) for overcoming each objection. Don’t go crazy. Three to five bullets should be sufficient for each objection.

I used to type this up on a separate document that I took to the meeting with my boss. I kept it in my folder for reference.

In part 3 of this series, I will explain exactly what do do when you finally get in front of your boss and are ready to make the pitch.

Question: How is this process the same or different than what you have used in the past? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Stratagy Circle [Event]

I’m very excited to speak at Stratagy Circle with Strata Leadership. Stratagy Circle is an exclusive program designed for key leaders seeking to intentionally shape their organization’s culture.









Date:
December 5, 2012


Time:
03:30-04:30 p.m.


Event:
Stratagy Circle


Topic:
Shift: Leading in Challenging Times


Sponsor:
Strata Leadership, LLC


Venue:
Devon Energy Tower


Location:
Oklahoma City, OK


Public:
Public


Registration:
Click here to register.


More Info:
Click here for more information.

An Interview with John C. Maxwell About Personal Development [Video]

If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here.







In this backstage interview at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2012, I ask John C. Maxwell about his new book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth . He shares three of the laws with me.

His perspective on strengths is especially unique. He makes a distinction I have never heard anyone make. Though he believes as I do that you should focus on your strengths, he explains when it is absolutely necessary for you to work on your weaknesses.

AGM Conference 2012 [Event]

I’m excited to be speaking at the Annual Conference for Administrators of Gospel Music, especially since the conference theme is The Business of Creativity.









Date:
October 25, 2012


Time:
01:15-02:15 p.m.


Event:
AGM Conference 2012


Topic:
Shift: Leading in Challenging Times


Sponsor:
Christian Copyright Solutions


Venue:
Rolling Hills Community Church


Location:
Franklin, TN


Public:
Private


Registration:
Click here to register.


More Info:
Click here for more information.

How to Get Your Boss to Say “Yes,” Part 1

The ability to sell an idea or project to your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career. In this three-part series I share six steps for doing it more effectively. In this post, I cover the first two steps.

When I was in corporate management, I spent a great deal of time listening to proposals. Those doing the pitching usually needed my approval to proceed with their project. Frankly, I was amazed at how poorly most people do in these kinds of situations.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/DNY59

In fairness, most of us never received any formal training in this important skill. As a result, we flounder about, not knowing why it seems so difficult to get to “yes.”In this post and the next two, I want to provide you with a few shortcuts, based on my thirty-plus years in business. Hopefully, this will shorten your learning curve and help you get to “yes” faster with your boss.

Here are six keys I have used successfully to get my boss to say “yes” to my proposals.

Step 1: Understand the Customer

The first and most important key to getting to “yes” is to focus on your boss’s needs not yours. Everything else in this post is a footnote to this point.

No one cares about your needs. Okay, maybe I’m overstating it; a few people care. But, certainly everyone is more interested in having their needs met than yours. That’s just reality. The sooner you accept it, the faster you will get to “yes.”

Like it or not, you are in sales (everyone is). And for a salesperson to be effective, he must show the prospect how his product will solve the prospect’s problem or meet the prospect’s need.

The same is true for the manager seeking approval on an important project.

The boss doesn’t care how your proposal will make your life easier.

He’s concerned about his needs and the needs of the company. So you must frame your proposal in these terms.

Most top managers have two basic needs. They want to:

Grow their organization.
Increase their profitability.

Whether they are a private company or a public one, this is the ticket to their personal success. It is even true in non-profits. If your proposal promises to do either, you’ve got their ear. If not, you’re likely dead before you start.

Middle managers have similar needs. However, in addition, they have a need to improve their image with their supervisor(s). They also have a need to meet their unit’s goals.

So before you schedule an appointment to pitch your proposal, you must answer the question:

“How is my proposal going to help my boss achieve his or her goals?”

If you can’t answer that question, you’re not ready to make the pitch.

For example, when I was a COO, one of my vice presidents wanted to add two graphic designers to his unit. With salary, benefits, and other overhead, this was going to cost about $100,000 a year.

However, rather than lead with this, he said, “Boss, great news. I figured out a way to save the company $100,000 a year.” For me, that translated into additional profit, so I was immediately interested.

He then explained how we were already spending about $200,000 a year in outsourcing cover designs for a particular category of books. He convinced me that we could cut our expenses in half by bringing this function in-house.

He made it a “no-brainer” because he showed me how his proposal met my needs.

Step 2: Commit to Success

When I had a boss, I had a basic rule: Don’t take a swing unless I am confident I will hit the ball. The goal here wasn’t to avoid risk, but to make sure I was fully committed before I stepped up to the plate.

I would encourage you to do the same. Don’t make the pitch unless you intend to make the sale. Your credibility as a manager is at stake—with your boss, your peers, and your direct reports.

For example, I used to work for a guy who couldn’t sell his boss (eventually my boss) anything.

This was unfortunate for me, because my proposals often exceeded his approval limit. He would then have to take my proposal to his boss for approval.

In the beginning, he enthusiastically approved my proposals and promised to get his boss’ approval. However, almost always, he would come back with his tail between his legs, mumbling about how unreasonable his boss was.

Eventually, he started procrastinating going to his boss. He knew he would get rebuffed and didn’t want to appear powerless to me. As a result, my proposals would languish on his desk, waiting for an approval that would never come.

After about six months of this behavior, his boss sensed my frustration. He then asked me to start reporting directly to him.

Frankly, based on my previous boss’s comments, I dreaded the prospect of reporting to the big boss. I assumed he was an unreasonable, capricious tyrant.

However, I found him to be exactly the opposite. He was a great listener and sincerely wanted to help me. He made quick decisions and never impeded my progress.

I worked for him for three years. My ability to get quick decisions from him enhanced my credibility, both with him and my direct reports. They knew they could count on me to get the approvals they needed to accomplish their goals—and mine—in a timely manner.

The key here is to choose your battles and prepare thoroughly.

Eventually, you will develop a reputation for getting things done. This reputation will actually make it possible to pre-sell your boss before you ever say one word.

He’ll be thinking, If Sally is recommending this, it is worth serious consideration. I can be confident she has thought it through and asked the tough questions.

In part 2 of this series, I will explain how to create a bullet-proof proposal that will make it easier for your boss to give you the approval you need.

Question: Have you ever thought of your boss as your customer? What are his or her needs? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

How to Avoid Procrastinating When You Feel Overwhelmed

This is a guest post by Lucille Zimmerman. She is a licensed professional counselor and an affiliate faculty professor at Colorado Christian University. She is also the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Renewed: Finding Your Inner Happy in an Overwhelmed World . You can read her blog and follow her on Twitter.

On my morning jogs, I’ve been listening to Michael Hyatt’s new book Platform (unabridged audio edition). In spite of being a tremendous resource, I find myself getting overwhelmed, sometimes even irritated.

The problem with Michael’s book is that it contains too much information. For instance, the book doesn’t just teach the benefits of Twitter, it tells you how to set up an account, and even what size your personal photograph should be.When describing the video he uses on his speaker page, Mike shares information about the camera, lighting, and microphone. Even though I’ve been building a platform for seven years, I’m overwhelmed.

A few of the book reviews I’ve read had the same complaint: “All of us can’t be Michael Hyatt.” While Michael was running Thomas Nelson some of us were raising kids, going to school, and managing a household. Because Michael excels at platform building, it would be easy to throw his book against the wall and think, “I can’t do it the way he does, so forget it all!”

Feelings of overwhelm, perfectionism, lack of management and organizational skills can cause us to lose motivation and lead to procrastination. Procrastination is a phenomenon in which a person neglects to attend to a necessary responsibility, such as a task or decision, in a timely fashion, often despite their good intentions or inevitable negative and unpleasant.

Simply put, we avoid what’s good for us.

As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I know that “stinkin thinking” causes many of our limitations. We have unrealistic views about self, others, and the world. Perhaps you’ve felt similar feelings of being overwhelmed while building a platform. Here are some tips we can all use in order to avoid procrastination, so make progress toward building our platforms:

Break assignments down. Rather than reworking my entire speaker page, I grabbed the link to a YouTube video of me speaking and inserted it into my webpage. That one small task made me feel better about an overwhelming project.
Change your self-talk. First of all, saying you must do such-and-such makes you feel coerced and pressured. Instead, tell yourself you “get to” or you “want to.”

Eradicate the word “should” from your vocabulary. All it does is elicit feelings of failure. “I should work on SEO. I should get better software. I should change my comment system to Disqus. I should … I should … I should.”

Just for fun, when I got home from my jog, I entered my website into HubSpot’s Marketing Grader and was pleasantly surprised by my site’s score. I did that because I wanted to, not because I felt I should.
Give up perfection. One of the strongest links to procrastination is perfectionism. I know people who have talked about making a website for years. Meanwhile time goes by and their platform stalls.
Stop comparing. I’m not Michael Hyatt. I have had an entirely different set of life experiences, skills, and strengths. For instance, he is happiest when he is building and leading, but I’m happiest when I’m connecting with people. I was changing diapers when he was studying business.
Buddy up. My friend Lori called to ask me how I make my YouTube videos. In the past I’ve simply used my iPhone, but since we both wanted to learn to tape interviews on Skype, we set a date to work on it together. Just knowing I’m getting together with a friend turns a task into a treat.
Reward yourself. Psychologists know that reward is a much stronger motivator than punishment. I implement rewards liberally. Sometimes just knowing I’m going to make a cup of coffee spurs me on. When you accomplish a bigger goal, give yourself a nicer reward.

A while back, I noticed that CopyBlogger had a really helpful infographic for breaking out of a creative rut. Many of these same ideas can be used for procrastination.

Question: Has procrastination ever kept you from moving forward? What helped you overcome the problem? You can leave a comment by clicking here.