Friday, January 20, 2012

The Challenger Sale Review

At first I didn't know exactly what to think of this book.  It's not the best title because I didn't see the value of reading it right away.  However, it did do what it said and challenged the way I thought about sales.  In particular, it made me try and re-assess how I thought about my personal sales skills.  Actually, it gave me a few specific areas where I need to challenge myself to grow, which is exciting in itself.  It also gave me a new way of re-assessing people on my team.  It also gave me a new vocabulary to talk and frame discussions about sales and even sales coaching.

The book did something a bit odd while I was reading it.  I went from disagreeing with it or at least with specific points to incorporating it into my thought process.  I'm unsure of when or how the switch actually occurred along the way.  I could tell that it happened when I started thinking of myself as a challenger, although I wouldn't have said that originally.  I would have really liked to take a test before reading the book to find out where I actually fit along the continuum.

Most valuable insights
We've got to teach our customers that take them outside their comfort zone in order to be successful
We've got to take control of the situation and the engagement in order to be successful
Our message has to be sharp and a bit uncomfortable in order to make an impact
We need to align the entire organization to be successful
Finding something only your company can uniquely deliver is much more difficult than it appears

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Personal Goals for 2012

Here are the goals that I'm outlining for myself for 2012.  I realize that there are quite a few on this list.  I've never really made goals like this before, so I'm unsure of how many of these I'll actually accomplish.  I'm not too worried about it because I'm treating it very much as a learning experience.  Even if I achieve non of the goals on here, I'm betting that this process is going to be useful non the less.  However, I won't know that for sure until somewhere further down the road.  We'll find out then.  Notice that even this post is pushing me along on goal #4


Prioritized list - in order
1.  Brainstorm ideas for a passive income
2.  Create my 5, 10, and 20 year goals
3.  Read a book a week for a year
4.  Start and maintain a journal
5.  Create a steady stream of dates that I can go on around here to find people that I would be happy with in my network of friends
6.  Loose 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle

All Goals for 2012 - Grouped by area
Physical
Loose 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle
6 pack abs
Try 10 new things - Here is a partial list of things I may try
     Yoga, fasting, acccupuncture, regular massages, meditation, detox retreat, Vegatarianism, Veganism, odd food I woudln't normally eat, attending a conference on my dime

Financial
Brainstorm new investment strategy based on the black swan
Create a passive income stream of $300/month
     Brainstorm ideas for a passive income stream

Mental
Create my 5, 10, and 20 year goals
Decide if I'm going to business school and actively start pursuing that end if I am
Read a book a week for a year
Maintain my list of goals and update it throughout the year.  Also keep track of what I would like to achieve
Find ways that create more energy in my every day life and write them down
Start and maintain a journal
Learn how to do visualization in order to achieve goals and stay motivated

Spiritual
Understand buddhism and decide if I want to practice it

Social
Build up my EQ
Take a listening course on becoming a better listener
Bring back old relationships that have fallen off because of time and distance
Create a steady stream of dates that I can go on around here to find people that I would be happy with in my network of friends

Travel
Create my travel list and maintain it
Go to a new place on my travel list

Fun
Learn to Kite Surf

Business goals for 2012

Here are the goals that I've created that I would like to hit in 2012 for work.  Again, this is pasted from Evernote, so apologies for the poor formatting.  Some goals deleted because of the non-public nature of them.

Surpass quota by 10%
     Double the number of opps over 100k that are create
     Grow OEM business by 30%

     Grow Academic Business by 30%
     Have account plans complete for Strategic, Key, and Focus accounts by H1
     Explore 40 prospect accounts
     4 HLS engagements in 2012
     Have opps reviews for all opps over 100k
Create a feedback loop that can feedback and adjust the goals of the area regularly
Define the area where I can make the most difference as a manager and focus on those area
Become a good, competent manager
     Get more work done by indirect team members
          Involve the complete team      
     Complete a 360 review or something similar
Participate in book clubs based on sales during the year and read lots of books
I'm going to a business coach in a few days.  One of the important things that has already come out of this appiontment (which was free as a new year's give away) was a forcing function for me to create a list of my goals for 2012.  From some of the books I've read, I decided the easiest way to create this list was to brainstorm a list of possible goals, and then to organize them.  The easiest way I could think of brainstorming a list was to go around and hijack parts of others peoples lists.  It didn't take much googling before I found lots of lists of lists of 100 things people wanted to accomplish in their life time.  That made it pretty easy to create a fairly extensive list of possible goals.  The emphasis here is certainly on possible.  I didn't know if any of these goals would appeal to me even 60 seconds after I wrote them down.  However, I know that judging during brainstorming never leads to good things.  Therefore, it was a very unfiltered list.  Here is that list.  (Sorry about the formatting, this is pasted out of evernote, which doesn't always have the best formatting).

Physical Marathon, triathalon, or iron man, or ultramarathon
Single digit body fat percentage

     Loose 5 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle - 2012
     6 pack abs
Land a backflip wake boarding or snowboarding
     Do a standing back flip
     Repeatedly land back and front flips on trampoline
Learn a martial art
     Try several martial arts
I will ride a unicycle and juggle
I will ride a bicycle with no hands
Decide if I want to play golf
Learn to play guitar
Start drinking green tea
Try yoga  - 2012
Try fasting
Learn to be a better dresser
Learn good posture
Whiten my teeth
Avoid McDonalds for 6 months
Eat something I wouldn't normally eat
Try acupuncture
Try a detox retreat

FinancialCreate Financial freedom
     Create a passive income stream of 10k/month
          Create a passive income stream of 3k/month
               Create a passive income stream of 1k/month
                    Create a passive income stream of $300/month
                         Brainstorm ideas for possible passive income streams     Own property
     Save 500,000
          Save 100,000
Create a new investment strategy based on the black swan
Invest in a startup company

CareerSell beer I've brewed
Build a profitable company that helps the world
     Build a profitable company
     Create a list of a dozen companies that would make me happy to be a part of

MentalCreate my 5, 10, and 20 year goals
Get an MBA from a top school
Get a PhD
     Figure out an area where I would be interested in having a PhD and teaching
     Decide what my motives for getting a PhD would be
Teach a course with over 100 people
     Teach 1 lecture of a college class
Fluent in Spanish and Mandarin
     Learn another language to become passable with that language
          Learn Spanish and use it when I visit Dan in Columbia
Have a public speaking engagement internationally
Commit to 1 year of monthly blog writing
Publish a book on spreading happiness
     Write a book on spreading happiness
          Write a book on anything
Read a book a week for a year
Learn to play the piano or violin & the guitar
Learn to sing
Speak at a TED conference
     Attend a TED Conference
Read the top 100 novels of all time
Take a meditation class
Learn sign language
Solve a rubik's cube
Spend 1 day in silence

SpiritualBuild a non profit organization
     Have an event that raises at least 5k for a non-profit
          Be part of an event that raises at least 5k for a non-profit
Volunteer in a third world country
     Volunteer
Donate monthly to some organization
Change someone's life completely
Learn enough about other religions to actually wisely pick a religion
     Understand buddhism and decide if I want to practice it
Leave my money to people who need it when I die
Donate blood

Social
Become competent at putting myself in other's shoes
     Build up my EQ
1 year of doing something every weekend
Raise my kids to be better for the world than I was
     Have kids
          Get married
               Find a loving relationship
                    Be able to pick up anyone anywhere
                         Make friends easily anywhere I go
                         Create a steady stream of dates that I can go on around here to find people that I would be happy with in my network of friends
60 nights out in 60 days
Travel with great friends
Challenge others to become better
Build close friendships with at least 100 people
     Bring back old relationships that have fallen off because of time and distance
Build a network of people that challenge me regularly to be better than I am currently
Help at least 100 people achieve goals of their own
Do a photoshoot with a swimsuit model
Learn skills that are always valuable in a social situation
Call friends on their birthdays
Have 10 dinner parties
Send out Christmas cards
Say hello to 10 strangers in a day
Learn 5 magic tricks
Ask a stranger for a date, and actually go on that date
Take a listening course
Become a mentor
Learn about Feng Shui

TravelGo to a new place on my travel list every year
Write a travel book
Go on a trip around the world
Visit all 50 states
See the aurora borealis
Live in another country
Go to an airport and buy a same day ticket somewhere
Fly first class
     Without paying for it
Create a travel list and maintain it
Travel to Brazil for their big festival
Float in the dead sea
Visit Ayers Rock
Visit the Pyramids

FunLearn to sail
Learn to mountain climb
Learn to surf
Learn to kite surf
Experience weightlessness
Go to space
Go swimming with sharks
Ride a camel
Drive a Lamborghini
Perform as a DJ
Fly a a jet
Learn to do a J-Turn
Win a poker tournament
Drive a race car on a track
     Take a racing course
     Learn to do a J-Turn
Try wing walking

Other
Have a good concept on how my brain works
Natural wake ups with no alarms
     Become an early riser
Stop drinking for 60 days
Try vegetarianism for 30 days
I will not rule out things until I've tried them
Have a beer with the president
Perform comedy on stage
Get better at acting on my goals 
     Create more energy in my normal every day life
          Find ways that create more energy in my every day life
          Find ways where I don't need as much sleep to function as well
          Find ways that I can perform better
          Learn how to do visualization in order to achieve goals
Build a cohesive, solid online representations of myself
     Write reviews online
     Get a comprehensive view of how I appear on-line
Create a list of what I have accomplished from all of these types of lists
Create a mind map of my goals and maintain it
Participate in couch surfing
Check out Thoern tree forum
Look back each week on what I've accomplished and what I want to accomplish the next week
Review the list of goals once/month
Keep a journal for a year
Be an extra in a movie
Patent an invention
Learn to cook
Rate the areas of intelligence where I would like to improve the most
     Keep track of my IQ & EQ and other areas
          Learn about different areas of intelligence
Write a will
Buy a piece of art with an intersting story
Compete in a FlugTag
Decide if I'm taking an unnatural risk in San Fran based on the Black Swan
Create an earthquake emergency preparedness set
Learn what to do for an earthquake and practice at irregular intervals
Find a meaningful way of posting this information online