Although I have had hundreds of hours of sales training, he taught me something I had never heard before:

“The confused mind always says no.”

He is exactly right.  And the corollary for leaders is, “The confused organization always shifts into neutral.”

This is why we place so much emphasis on the clarity and precision of executive communications.  Too often, executives send mixed messages.  Too often, their actions don’t match their words.  Too often, the members of the executive team contradict each other.

So, if you want to shift your organization’s performance into top gear, pay extra attention to the clarity and consistency of your executive communications.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

“The defining trait of a successful entrepreneur is irrational perseverance.”

After 2011, I now fully understand the meaning of that statement. It means that you keep going after clients renege on contracts.  It means that you keep going after partners renege on agreements.  It means you keep going after hundreds of failures.  It means you simply keep going and going, even after the people closest to you give up on you.

In addition, I’ve come to see that irrational perseverance is also the defining trait of all successful people:

• Successful leaders must have irrational perseverance to drive performance
• Successful salespeople must have irrational perseverance to overcome objections
• Successful change agents must have irrational perseverance to overcome organizational resistance
• Successful athletes must have irrational perseverance to train beyond their limits

So, as we start a new year, full of hopes and dreams and ideas, remember the lesson of irrational perseverance.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking…Accelerate Your Results.

Arie Luyendyk saw the green flag and hit the gas, but Scott Goodyear saw the yellow-lights and hesitated.  Mixed signals cost Scott the Indy 500.

Unfortunately, organizations send these kinds of mixed signals all the time.

• They say that people are their most important asset, but whack them unmercifully at the first downturn.

• They declare that integrity is one of their core values, but tolerate people who shade the truth.

• Their mission statement talks about teamwork, but the comp plan rewards only individual performance.

I could go on.  I’ve seen hundreds of examples of these kinds of mixed signals.  And just like they caused Scott Goodyear to lose the Indy 500, they cause organizations to dramatically underperform their potential.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

In 1992, Scott Goodyear started the race in 33^rd position.  Otherwise known as last.

500 miles later, Scott crossed the finish line just .043 of a second behind the winner Al Unser Jr.  The race is a great testimony to Scott’s persistence and tenacity.

Persistence and tenacity.  Characteristics of high-performance race car drivers … and high-performance organizations.

Jim Collins confirms this idea in Good to Great, which talks about the long build-up phase which preceded the breakthrough.

So, if you are on the journey to building a high-performance organization, be persistent.  Make progress every day.  Be tenacious.  Overcome obstacles (and competitors).  Don’t let the naysayers get you off track.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

Dan Wheldon won after rookie JR Hildebrand crashed – in sight of the checkered flag – on the very last turn.

A 500 mile race translates into 2,640,000 feet.  Dan Wheldon led just 1000 of them.  It just happened to be the 1000 feet that mattered.

Winning in the marketplace is about closing sales.  Many organizations do hundreds of things right, only to crash in the last turn and lose the sale.

So, perhaps the story of the 100^th running of the Indy 500 is a good reminder about winning.  33 teams started the race.  All had hopes of winning.  All worked extremely hard.  Many had real chances.  But in the end, it was Wheldon who made that famous “fifth left turn.”

Take time this week to review your pipeline, and get focused on the last few steps required to close the sale.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

And customers make purchase decisions based on these heightened promises.  

Too often, what customers actually experience is a far cry from what the organization promised.  We call this the “Customer Experience Gap,” and believe that it is a root cause of slow growth, poor profitability, and low morale.

Closing the Customer Experience Gap takes an incredible amount of organizational discipline and will.  The Dashboard Group Deliver Every Time process helps show the way.

This is where the rubber meets the road. 

Building this kind of organization requires incredible discipline. It takes a systematic process.  It takes an investment of both time and money.  But the upside is phenomenal.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust. 

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

I am a huge Apple fan.  (Full disclosure:  I stood in line for an iPad on day one, but still have my Dell XPS laptop with MS Office and my Blackberry.)

Recently, I read a great article on Fast Company.com by Cliff Kuang about Apple’s product design and branding discipline, what the author called “cohesion.”

Some of the key concepts outlined by Kuang are:

• All (the new products) share a coherent design language:  Subtle cues link the devices, making each one feel like it’s part of something greater — namely, the Apple brand.

• The discipline is back (though it’s a process that’s gone on quietly). The central point of reference, you’ll recall, was the MacBook Air, a brilliant design that introduced the shiny black accents and matte aluminum that you see all over Apple today.

• The new line-up almost fully incorporates that DNA. And the overall consistency of that vision reveals itself in the details.

• They feel like part of the family — and even something as tiny as the new iPod nano shares buttons, curves, finishes, and proportions with the mighty iPhone 4.

Kuang argues, quite correctly, that building this kind of brand cohesion takes incredible discipline.  Just like building a high-performance organization.

Read the entire article here:  http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662229/apples-new-products-reveal-stunning-brand-discipline

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

They have a vision, but struggle to find the right plan.  They know where they want to be, but are unwilling to accept where they really are.  They want to go, but aren’t sure the team can get them there.  They ask for directions, but everyone points a different way.

While it is important to know where you are going, the place to start is with a realistic assessment of where you are.

The Dashboard Group’s High-Performance Organization Survey helps leaders take a hard look at their organizations benchmarked against ten best practices of high-performers.

To start your transformation into a high-performance organization, use the survey below to complete your self-assessment.

High-Performance Organization Survey

Learn more about The Dashboard Way.

The Dashboard Group helps Fast Lane leaders build high-performance organizations.

Fast Lane leaders have unique challenges. They are extremely busy running the day-to-day. They know that they need to address broader strategic issues, but often don’t have the time. They want to take their organizations to the next level, but need help driving the change. They ask for directions, but everyone points a different way.

The Dashboard Group has developed a range of programs designed specifically to address these issues.

• The Pit Stop Program. The Pit Stop program is a high-intensity, 30 – 90 day engagement that provides a comprehensive assessment of organizational performance and identifies the top action items required to improve results.  We help leaders refine their strategy, align their executive teams, fuel growth, leverage strengths, and more.
• The Top Gear Program. The Top Gear program seamlessly integrates the four elements of The Dashboard Way. It utilizes the Dashboard Group’s 40 point high-performance organization methodology to develop a prioritized transformation plan. Each program is customized to the client’s unique situation and will help leaders overhaul their entire organization and shift it into top gear.
• Accelerator Programs. The Dashboard Group also offers a range of highly efficient, high-impact, fixed-price engagements that addresses one specific business challenge. They are designed to be completed in 90 days and deliver accelerated results.

To discuss which of these programs is right for your organization, contact us at start@dashboardgroup.com.