SuddesGroup

The Exceptional Presenter

May 18, 2009 | Tom Suddes

“One great INSIGHT is worth 1,000 good ideas.”
Phil Dusenberry

In our JUST ASK approach, there are 3 ‘BIG’ INSIGHTS:

1. You’re in SALES. Get over it.

2. HOPE is not a strategy.

3. SELLING is not TELLING.

Almost everything in my life, my speaking, writing and training… and in our FOR IMPACT WORLD… is about PRESENTATIONS. Read more

 Email This Nugget | Comment

Outliers: The Story of Success

December 9, 2008 | Tom Suddes

Malcolm Gladwell, of TIPPING POINT and BLINK fame, writes an interesting book (Outliers: The Storry of Success) on what separates the ‘highly successful’ from everyone else.

Here are his five steps to SUCCESS:

1. Find MEANING and INSPIRATION in your work. (That’s easy if you’re working at a For Impact Organization!)

2. Work hard. (That seems to be a given in the 3rd Sector.)

3. Discover the relationship between EFFORT and REWARD. (This is where we need some work. 97% of funding comes from 3% of our people. Lions, Mice & Antelopes. The Triple Ask.)

4. Seek out complex work to avoid boredom and repetition. (I’m all about avoiding boredom and repetition. I’m not sure about the “complex” work. Think Big. Build Simple. Act Now. You won’t be bored.)

5. Be autonomous and control your own destiny as much as possible. (For Impact Leaders, Social Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs in General, Intrapreneurs, etc.)

Special Note: This may be the major reason I enjoyed this book. Gladwell writes that talent and IQ don’t matter as much as we think they do (vis-à-vis success). That means I’ve still got a chance.

Pick up this book. Gladwell’s style is easy to read, and full of insights.

 Email This Nugget | Comment

Tribes

December 1, 2008 | Tom Suddes

If you are a SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR, For Impact Leader or aspiring ‘wannabe’, you need to get Seth Godin’s new book TRIBES… TODAY!

This guy is a brilliant thinker and a powerful writer. Simple. Clear. Direct.

TRIBES is all about CHANGING THE WORLD… MOVEMENTS… and LEVERAGE.

I will write a better review/summary shortly, but you need to get the book NOW.

 Email This Nugget | Comment

The Encore Generation

November 18, 2008 | Nick Fellers

The Encore Generation is one of those phrases like Tipping Point or The World is Flat. It’s sticky, captures a huge concept and has real staying power.

This phrase comes from Wilford Welch and Tactics for Hope: How Social Entrepreneurs are Changing the World. The book is strong bid but this one small nugget about the Encore Generation really stuck out for me.

"Something new and… powerful is happening with men and women of retirement age who are addressing many of challenges around the world. Unlike their grandparents, they can expect to live longer and stay relatively healthy and active for twenty or thirty years past retirement age. They have skills as a result of years of professional work, and may also have considerable financial resources. They know much more about the state of the world than did previous generations, are concerned and want to collaborate with others than did previous generations."

I like the Encore Generation because it captures those on the talent spectrum looking to move from success to significance. We all know the boomer population is turning into the boomer senior population… what an encore!

We’re also seeing more and more Encore Generation involvement in the social sector:

• As organizational mentors: At a level more engaged than ‘board member’ but not one of executive staff.
• As transitional leaders: Stepping in 2-3 days a week to right the ship for an organization in lead.
• As ’sales officers’: Particularly those that came from a sales field – driving funding.

What I also see happening is the pairing of Encore Generation and Gen Y. The first of Gen Y grew into adulthood under the dot-com bust, 9/11 and Enron. It’s a population that doesn’t know or understand ’stability’… it only knows change. Gen Y’s are also the first generation to be completely proficient with the web, openness (globally) and technology – and while it has a stigma for being coddled I think any young generation has unparalleled ambition. The Encore Generation teaming with Gen Y – tons of ambition plus the wisdom to fail fast – will have an incredible impact.

Tactics of Hope: Book | Blog | Website

 Email This Nugget | Comment

Brain Rules

November 4, 2008 | Tom Suddes

Just finished Brain Rules, a terrific book by John Medina (cool website too). Since he is a Developmental Molecular Biologist and Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning & Research at Seattle Pacific University, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to understand anything that he wrote! He’s convinced me that the brain (even my brain) is more advanced than we give it credit for.

Medina has 12 rules. I think all of us can actually just read these rules and get something from it. However, I would encourage you to get the book ASAP. It’s simple, powerful and applicable.

Here are just a few ‘nuggets’ that reinforce much of what you’ve already heard and seen at For Impact.

• The whole VISION thing. Double meaning. The ability to see into the future, and just simply just the ability to see. This rule and chapter highlight the idea of PRESENTATION TOOLS, engaging both sides of people’s brains, etc. It’s terrific.

• MULTI-TASKING is an illusion. We need to FOCUS and PAY ATTENTION on what we’re doing.

• The *TRINITY MODEL. I’m not kidding. Medina talks about 3 separate but full integrated systems in the brain.
  1. The Alert/Arousal Network
  2. The Orienting Network
  3. The Executive Network

  *You know how much I love the number 3. It also so happens we have 3 BRAINS, the human brain, the mammalian brain and the lizard brain.

• A lot of good stuff on EMOTIONS which can be applied to what we do. This scientifically backs up master motivator Zig Ziglar’s “People buy on EMOTION and justify with LOGIC.”

Finally, there’s just a bunch of great stuff on CHANGE! One fascinating story was about John McAdam, the Scottish engineer in the early 1800’s. He looked at the difficulty people had trying to move goods and supplies over muddy, frequently impassable dirt roads; and came up with the idea of raising the level of the road using layers of rock and gravel. Now called Macadamization, this idea literally CHANGED everything, as it gave dependable access to people’s goods and services… trade grew… etc. By CHANGING the way things moved, McAdam changed the way we lived.

Medina’s book is filled with really interesting stories like this. It also comes with a terrific DVD that worth’s watching.

 Email This Nugget | Comment

‘Focus On Your Strengths’ Reinforced

October 21, 2008 | Tom Suddes

Nick went to see Marcus Buckingham last week. This morning I was looking at my October Issue of Success Magazine and came across a great article about Buckingham called Play to Your Strengths.

Buckingham’s mentor at the Gallup Organization was Don Clifton, whose book back in the early ‘80’s SOAR WITH STRENGTHS had a profound effect on me, my life and my coaching.

Here’s a quote from Buckingham that should help you understand this whole “Soar With Your Strengths”, “Now Discover Your Strengths, Go Put Your Strengths to Work” thing.

“The most successful people are incredibly clear about what invigorates them and what doesn’t.”

My translation of that has been a CONTROLLING INSIGHT (another great Buckingham concept) for me.

Find the thing that you really, really, really LOVE to do… and then figure out how to make a life or a business or work around that passion.

In Bob & Melissa Blanchard’s words: “LIVE WHAT YOU LOVE!”

(I’m Tom Suddes, and I approve this message.)

 Email This Nugget | Comment

Encore Effect

October 20, 2008 | Tom Suddes

Mark Sanborn just wrote a little book called The Encore Effect: How to Achieve a Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do.

It caught my attention for two reasons. One, I heard Mark Sanborn speak many, many years ago at an Inc. Conference. I remember talking about his Harley and Colorado and much more.

Second, I am pretty big on the whole “PERFORMANCE” thing right now. Mark talks about the traits of extraordinary performers:

• PERFORMANCE
• PASSION
• PREPARATION
• PRACTICE
• PRESENCE
• POLISH

Just looking at this wonderful alliteration gives you 6 pretty big P’s to think about.

 Email This Nugget | Comment

“We Become What We Think About”

October 14, 2008 | Tom Suddes

“YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT.”

—Earl Nightingale

This is one of the most profound ‘THOUGHTS’ (pun intended) ever recorded.
Earl Nightingale is the father of personal development. Written in 1956, his
book, THE STRANGEST SECRET, was the seed from which the personal
development industry grew.

When Earl was 35 years old, he recorded this short message for a small
group of salesmen one Saturday morning. The message had such a positive
IMPACT that everyone wanted copies to share with their friends and family.
Earl arranged with Columbia Records to duplicate this record and ultimately
received a Gold Record for sale of a million copies. (This is in
the 1950’s!)

Here is THE STRANGEST SECRET:

“YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT.”

I want to summarize this message, but it’s only 19 small pages and takes
only 30 minutes to read or to listen to the audio. Just order your own copy.

Remember: “We BECOME what we THINK about.”

 Email This Nugget | Comment

The Return on Investment, Energy and Relationships

April 12, 2007 | Tom Suddes

Here are some thoughts on this concept of RETURN… RETURN ON INVESTMENT… RETURN ON ENERGY… RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS…

If you’ve been following the For Impact MESSAGE in any way, you should be familiar with the VOCABULARY CHANGE of ‘donor’ and ‘donation’ to ‘investor’ and ‘investment.’

And, obviously, you would know what every INVESTOR wants from their investment: A RETURN!

And, as a For Impact Leader or Social Entrepreneur, you know that you can DELIVER on that RETURN.

There is another ‘RETURN’ that Nick and I use quite often that seems to really grab people’s attention: RETURN ON ENERGY.

This particular nugget should be pretty self-explanatory. What (exactly) is your RETURN on ENERGY? (In this case, ‘ENERGY’ means both physical and mental TIME and FOCUS.) Is the end result worth the ENERGY? Are you working on your Top 3% or still expending a lot of (wasted) energy at the bottom?

*This concept is explained and expanded wonderfully in a great book by Jim Loehr called The Power of Full Engagement.

Loehr’s premise is very simple: It’s all about MANAGING YOUR ENERGY… NOT YOUR TIME.

Special Note: I believe this RETURN ON ENERGY concept applies both to YOU and your INVESTORS / CHAMPIONS. (They are also expecting a return on ENERGY, not just a return on INVESTMENT.)

As I was pulling this together, it hit me that the first return may be the RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS. I never really heard anyone talk about it this way, but if you think about it, the RETURN on a RELATIONSHIP could be a way to talk about both RETURN ON IVNESTMENT and the RETURN ON ENERGY.

Again, I believe this RETURN ON RELATIONSHIP applies to both YOU and your FOR IMPACT ORGANIZATION, and your STAKEHOLDERS, INVESTORS and CHAMPIONS.

Are you actually maximizing the RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS? Are your top prospects and potential investors clear about their RETURN ON THE RELATIONSHIP? And, finally, can you use this whole concept of ‘RETURN’… on the RELATIONSHIP… on the INVESTMENT… on ENERGY… as a way for you to get TRULY FOCUSED???

 Email This Nugget | Comment

Good to Great: Another View

March 24, 2006 | Tom Suddes

Special Offer: I’ve never done this before, but I will personally guarantee the ‘IMPACT’ of this book.

Not only will I buy it back from you if you don’t find the VALUE; I’ll send you a $100 ‘CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION’ (if you get my meaning) if you send me back this book and tell me it didn’t have an ‘IMPACT’ on your FOR IMPACT ORGANIZATION.

Since I’ve spent my entire life in this sector, I would like to respectfully offer another view of some of Jim Collins’ thoughts and comments. (It’s certainly not because he is ‘WRONG’, but rather, I think, because his primary FOCUS has been in the world of BUSINESS.)

• ‘18‘: Any GOOD TO GREAT measurement that is primarily based on 18 LARGE PUBLICLY HELD COMPANIES does not always produce the results that can be of value to smaller entrepreneurial organizations.In our world, if I were to use the COUNCIL OF 18 (interesting that they’re both 18!) as the model for a GREAT FOR IMPACT ORGANIZATION … it would be a joke. Most of these ‘18′ are huge bureaucratic, command and control, impact-less organizations. They can’t CHANGE. They can’t let go of sacred cows or baggage. And, they’re getting their lunch handed to them by smaller, nimbler mavericks and social entrepreneurs.
• The term ‘SOCIAL SECTOR’ is too narrow a term. It doesn’t imply education, healthcare, art, etc. Obviously, I’d love to call this entire sector the FOR IMPACT SECTOR. At the very least, we ought to go with the ‘3rd SECTOR’, which acknowledges that there is a PUBLIC and a PRIVATE and a NON-PUBLIC/NON-PRIVATE/’NONPROFIT’.
• SOCIAL SECTOR ‘CONSTRAINTS’. I really think these are more about ‘BAGGAGE’ and ‘BOXES’ and ‘SACRED COWS’ than they are true CONSTRAINTS.This is particularly important relative to (TALENT) STAFFING CONSTRAINTS’. Getting the ‘right people on the bus‘ is still paramount, as is ‘getting the wrong people off the bus‘ and the ‘right people in the right seats‘.I have never found ‘SALARIES’ at great ‘NONPROFITS’ as any kind of true CONSTRAINT. In fact, the CAUSE usually allows for an offset. My take on this is summarized in TALENT SPECTRUM, and supported by just about everybody who writes about ‘BOOMERS’, ‘GEEZERS’, and moving from ‘SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE’.
• 3 CIRCLES/ECONOMIC ENGINE/MONEY. Of everything that Collins wrote, I found this to be the most disheartening.His 3 CIRCLES (Passion, Best in the World, Economic Engine) are perhaps the most powerful visual, framework and guiding principle for ANYONE and ANY ORGANIZATION.Anybody who ‘rebelled’ against the ‘3rd Circle’ (Economic Engine) terribly misunderstood Collins’ point (and my point).

  In my world, it’s all about IMPACT DRIVES INCOME. Which is also translated into Covey’s “No Money. No Mission.” And my corollary, which is “No Mission. No Money.”

  Pastor Morgan was way off base when he talked about the ‘root of all evil‘.

  I have never been with any For Impact Leader, Social Entrepreneur or Board Member or Volunteer Leader who doesn’t understand the concept of:

  FUNDING A VISION
• SUSTAINABILITY. This section also brought up the ‘SUSTAINABILITY’ word. (This goes back to one of the premises/basic concepts in BUILT TO LAST.)A big, big part of me tries to help For Impact Organizations come up with a great SOLUTION … delivered with great DISCIPLINE … and then, basically try to put itself OUT OF BUSINESS! The organization may disappear but the SOLUTION remains. (A great example of this is Rotary and its incredible impact upon POLIO.)

 Email This Nugget | Comment