A couple of years ago, I was indulging in one of my favorite pastimes: looking at luxury homes for sale in the 30A Florida area where my beach house is.
One of the realtors I booked a meeting with greeted me by saying, “Robin Robins! The Queen of MSP marketing! So nice to meet someone as successful as you!”
I froze in my tracks. “Um…have we met before?” I stuttered.
“No,” he said, “I just did a little research on you after you called to book the meeting.”
I was shocked.
He then proceeded to walk me through the house, pointing out sections he knew I’d be interested in. “And here is a room that would make an ideal office for you… And here’s a place you could host guests for a podcast that would have a beautiful backdrop.” He also asked me questions about the various celebrities I’ve interviewed: “Tell me what Peyton Manning was really like?”
I was amazed at what should not be amazing at all – a salesperson taking the time to research his prospect and prepare and customize his presentation. These days, it’s so ridiculously easy to do but so rarely done. A true sales PROFESSIONAL, not just a salesPERSON.
Anyone can easily do this, but it was the first and last time I had anyone actually do it. This is not SKILL. This is 100% ATTITUDE.
So much success in business is based on the chosen, enduring belief they have about their prospects, their situation, the opportunities they have available. Most realtors’ attitudes are that the market it tough right now, interest rates are high, the market is full of looky-loos and cheapskates who can’t get credit. A BAD attitude…so they don’t make any extra effort. Why bother?
Ask any entrepreneur who their poorest performers are on the team, and I guarantee the poorest employees come with a bad attitude. Top people? Top attitudes.
I break down people into three “attitude” buckets.
First, and sadly fastest-growing: the Entitled and Resentful. This group is NOT *just* the young and misguided. These are people who walk around with a boulder of righteous indignation on their shoulders, offended by everyone and everything. They cling to the notion that life is generally UNFAIR, and those with more than them (you, their boss) got there entirely by stepping on the heads of everyone below them, cheating, stealing and lying. They will actively work to destroy your company and bitterly resent you, even if they are highly paid and well taken care of. And if this definition just made you mad, you IS one.
Second, there is the Mediocre Middle. These folks show up and do a good job – essentially just enough to not get fired. They’re not bad people and they do earn their keep – but nothing more. They never come in early or stay late unless it’s unavoidable and mandated. Even then, they won’t tolerate being driven hard for long. They do the job but never really think about how to improve their productivity or the systems. They’re the kind of folks who see trash lying on the floor and either ignore it or go tell someone else it’s there so THEY can pick it up – and if they DO pick it up themselves, they want a trophy and a bonus for making a marginal improvement. They never take the initiative because 1) they’re “not getting paid to do that,” or 2) they might get asked to keep doing it, or 3) they’re simply not wired that way. They’ve been mediocre their entire life and honestly don’t know how to be exceptional, or choose not to be.
The last group are the A Players. This is the smallest group and the ones every single CEO is fighting over when recruiting. They’re highly competent. They take the initiative, take responsibility and instantly make a big, positive impact. TRUE hustlers.
So much of your profit and sanity as a CEO is based on the team you assemble, so this is extremely important for you to understand.
The first group is extremely dangerous, and you need to do everything possible to avoid hiring them. If you accidentally let one slip through, it’s CRITICAL you get ’em out quick, fast and in a hurry. Pay them to go away if you have to. The damage they can do is exponential. It is where anarchists arise from.
You can’t avoid hiring the second group, nor should you. They make up the majority of your team. Someone told me once that Walt Disney called these people “lawn mowers.” They plod along at a moderate pace, doing the work pretty much the same way they do every day. No real experimentation or imagination. They’re the 9-to-5’ers. Nothing wrong with that. They want to be home in time for supper because they have other things they’d rather do.
This is the majority of your workforce. You can’t expect them all to be hard-driving, goal-oriented, highly ambitious people. You just need them to at least have integrity and ethics, plugged into a good culture and system where they are productive. They won’t embrace an “owner’s mentality,” and trying to get them to will only make them mad and you endlessly frustrated.
The last group – the hustlers – are the ones I love working with. This is where you find the people who make themselves into something of their choosing entirely on their own initiative and determination. They aren’t all entrepreneurs by definition, but they ARE captains of their life and entrepreneurial in their thoughts and actions.
Your leadership team needs to be made up of THESE people. You cannot have one of the other two types owning or leading a critical part of your organization. It’s FAR too risky and expensive. When I was running TMT, I had those people with me and beside me. I could trust them to do the right thing – no micromanaging, no second-guessing. I could point them in a general direction and they’d figure out the rest.
A practical exercise: Take everyone on your team and put them each in one of the three buckets. Next, FIRE the first group today. Second, flag any leaders who are not true A Players, then work on finding someone who is to replace them or supplement them. They are leading the majority and will make or break the team.
Now, a very tactical but life-saving tip: One of the only ways you can know who you have before you in an interview is by using the Topgrading TORC process, or “threat of reference check.” Don’t just take any reference they give you. Insist on speaking to at least two or more of their previous bosses or managers. Ask about their attitude. Were they part of the come-in-early-and-work-late crowd? Were they respectful and appreciative? Did they own their mistakes or blame others? How did they handle failures, mistakes and setbacks?
ALL of this is attitude. Hire for it and train the rest.
Want ME to do a major “attitude adjustment” on your sales and marketing team? Click here, but be ready for the surge…
