What is Your Networking Style – Fisher or Farmer?
Cast a hook and start reeling or plant a seed, prepared to apply water,nutrients, and care, which is your style
The next networking event you attend make a game out of identifying the fishers and the farmers. Take a pen or sharpie (for those cards laminated on both sides) and write the person’s style on the back of the card. At the end of the meeting do a little tally, how many fishers were in the group? How many farmers? What was the biggest difference? How did you feel when talking to a farmer? How did a fisher make you feel? I would love to hear about your experiences.
Business Score Keeping
Many business owners have played or watch a sport. The reasons for watching are varied, for some it is light entertainment, for others it is serious, they keep track of and can recite the stats on demand. So what is your business’ scorecard, what stats are you tracking?
I was talking to a business owner about this very subject a couple of weeks back, the conversation was as follows:
Me: Would you mind sharing with me the things that you track in you business on a consistent basis?
Business Owner: Well let me see, hours, parts and of course our financial statements.
Me: Oh, I’m sorry, I did not form that question correctly, what marketing activities do you track?
Business Owner: We ask very caller where they found our number.
Me: and . . . ?
Business Owner: That’s about it.
Me: I am having a real hard time this morning asking questions. Do you have your technicians put door hangers on the doors of the nearby neighbors.
Business Owner:Oh yea, our techs do that.
Me: Would you mind sharing with me how many they distributed in the last week, or thirty days?
Business Owner: I don’t know.
Me: That’s not unusual, you probably have to wait until the end of the month, until you get your report.
Business Owner: No, they don’t keep track.
Me: How many calls do you get off of these door hangers?
Business Owner: Not many.
Me: I don’t suppose that your techs aren’t doing the door hangers, do you?
Business Owner: I don’t know, maybe they aren’t.
Me: Can I ask you another questions?
Business Owner: Sure.
Me: Do you follow any sports?
Business Owner: I follow golf.
Me: Do they keep score?
Business Owner: They sure do.
Me: Just whether they get a par or not.
Business Owner: The professionals keep track of everything: Percentage of time in the fairway; Driving accuracy; Putting average; . . .
Me: I don’t understand. Are you a professional in your profession?
Business Owner: Yes.
Me: . . . but you don’t keep score?
Business Owner: (Big smile) I see your point, look like I need to keep score.
Me: I have found that those things that get measured, get done. And where there is personal accountability for those scores, it get done better.
Running a 500 million dollar wholesale distributor, we used five to six scores in the C-level offices, managers and staff had their own scores to track and be accountable for.
Score keeping is not always easy, some operations positions have a difficult time being measured. You job as an owner or manager is to figure out what things done right and consistently will produce results and keep the employees motivated.
What Position Will You Take Today?
“Life is not a contest. Sure, there are times when it’s necessary to assume a adversarial posture. But the adversary role, playing a win/lose game, is best done as a last resort, not the opening move. In general, whether at work or at home, resistance is best met with a win/win attitude. The question becomes: How do we both win?” not “How can I make the other guy lose?” It become “How can we work together?” . . . rather than “How can I prove that I’m right and he’s wrong?” The win/lose, right/wrong game is a dangerous one to play, even when you win, or win the first round.”
“One of the benefits, then, of playing the game from a win/win position is that other people will continue to play with you, the effect of which is that you can continue to influence them. The most sensible strategy in attempting to deal with resistance and to resolve conflicts is to conspire to cooperate, whenever possible, rather than to compete. Even Machiavelli would agree. “Do good when you can,” he said, “Do evil when you must.” But if you do evil, be prepared for the consequences.”
Jerry Richarson, Jerry, 2000, The Magic of Rapport, Capitola, CA:Meta Publications
Recent Comments