Maverick Mastery®

Conducting business in the 21st Century requires a different modus operandi as we increasingly move away from the trading norms of the 20th Century and towards a different way of buying. In a society where there are more suppliers than demand, increased scepticism exists and a lack of transparency breeds mistrust – understanding how Community Trust Systems™ (CTS™) work is becoming a growing necessity for both suppliers and consumers.

Community Trust Systems™ are where products and services are exchanged on the basis of trust that has been conceived and conferred within a trusted community. Peer review and approval becomes the basis that services are bought and reputation is the determinant for selection. Many examples of Community Trust Systems™ already exist to buy and sell products, such as Ebay and Amazon. Social Networking sites, as an example of a thriving Services Community Trust System™, are now becoming essential places to establish your reputation and credibility. You cannot be active on these systems as a ‘broadcaster’, constantly talking about yourself or trying to sell your wares. To survive you will need to be having conversations with individuals (not push marketing), providing good quality content and aiming to help those that you are able.

Networking on these places requires a different and perhaps more consistent, networking strategy. I have long believed that when you go networking you go to be remembered and that you shouldn’t confuse your network with multiple messages of who you are or what you do. Keep the message simple especially as most of the people you meet (especially online) will be in your Outer Circle.

Designing an online networking strategy to leverage your reputation and credibility

For businesses providing services it is particularly pertinent to be active on social networking sites where businesses are able to integrate into the community, develop a reputation and establish credibility. If your business (and/or yourself) has a good reputation and credibility it is more likely to be trusted by your potential clients, therefore increasing your revenue and sustainability. Community Trust Systems™ require transparency, and the ability of the business to be clear in what they deliver and have an understandable niche. The community members need to be able to trust the networker and be able to advocate their services to others.

A good networking strategy has the following points:
 A holistic strategy designed around business objectives
 Clarity of what the business owner wants to be remembered for – what’s their expertise?
 A clear niche and ability to articulate what the business does
 An offline and online strategy – which networks should you be participating in
 A well structured network
 An understanding of your current reputation and credibility standing in the marketplace
 An ability to leverage time and assess results

Having an effective networking strategy can make the difference in how quickly you can establish yourself as an expert, attract and retain loyal ‘followers’ and impact on your bottom line. When I have worked with clients in designing their networking strategy we have found that their ability to attract advocates and gain results from their networking have exceeded their expectations and has delivered bottom line results. One client saved £7k after one meeting by understanding how to use networking as an attraction strategy rather than using traditional print media.

The greatest results have come from those that have structured their networking contacts as part of their networking strategy. This allows them to leverage their time and seek a better return on the investment that they have made in the relationships that they have garnered. Referrals are when a contact has made a recommendation that one party meets or does business with another. This is often prompted by a specific request. Advocacy is where an individual, usually unprompted, recommends another with so much detail and influence that the advocated person is not required to sell their services. A good networking strategy enables a business to have many advocates therefore significantly reducing advertising spend.

Structuring your network

Most business owners are unaware of the types of people that reside in their network. To be an effective networker you need to understand who is in your network and what relationship they are to you. For example I have over 12,000 business contacts although I do not know them all individually, I am aware of a vast number of them, refer a great many and advocate a few. Belonging to good social networking sites enables me to manage and maintain conversations with my network, therefore enabling me to extend my reach and help many businesses by making the appropriate connections and providing support where ever possible.

Below is a representation of my network split into three areas:

 Inner Circle – these are my advocates and close contacts. This is a relatively small number
 Middle Circle – these are my main referrers and people that I have conversations with. This number extends into the hundreds.
 Outer Circle – there are people that are aware of my business and what I do personally. Introductions and some referrals take place with these individuals. This number extends into the thousands.

Figure 1 Division of networking contacts

Understanding who is in your network and where – helps to develop how the conversation takes place. ‘Conversation’ in this context means how you interact with them. This includes online messaging, blogs, newsletters, and face to face meetings to name a few.

Structuring your network and how it relates to your networking strategy becomes more pertinent when you consider the following representation of your network.

When designing your networking strategy you need to be aware of how you are remembered by your contacts to ensure that you are not confusing them and they take away the message that you want them to.

My Outer Circle are aware that I specialise with working with Mavericks – the wilfully independent. It is important that when networking your message is clear and easy to remember. This is particularly true online where you may be networking within a Community Trust System.

My Middle Circle understands a number of my business propositions, for example I’m a CEO mentor and Leadership trainer/speaker.

My Inner Circle knows a lot more about me, for example that I come from a strategic senior operations background; I have a solid HR knowledge base and regularly provide expert opinion to the national and trade press.

As people get to know me – I aim to turn my Outer Circle into my Inner Circle etc therefore increasing my reach and ability to have advocates. A more intimate knowledge of their business enables me to help and assist them better also. By understanding my network I am able to engage with them more effectively – perhaps using some automated tools or by regular meetings. This enables me to achieve the other aspects of my networking strategy.

Leveraging your time

It is extremely easy to spend a lot of time on social networks and yet receive very little results. This is because it can be difficult to understand how to leverage the network and your time spent on it. It is also possible to be on the wrong network for the type of business that you run and therefore your results will be variable. When you decide to spend significant time on a social network, it is best to understand the etiquette of the network and remember that whatever you do on the network will be visible to your advocates and potential customers. Consistency is the key when networking.

You need to work out how much time you have available to network and the best way to utilise the time. For example the Business Social Network Ecademy (www.ecademy.com) allows members to receive email notifications of their activity on the site. This means that by using your email system effectively you can remain up to speed with what is happening within your network without expending much time and energy. This enables you to spend your valuable time on doing the right things rather than searching on what to do, or meet next.

Another common error is to spend a lot of time offline networking and coming home dissatisfied and out of pocket. This is often because when networking your message is unclear and your 121s are ineffective. There is an art to holding a 121! Our advice to our clients is to ensure that they spend the appropriate amount of time with their network dependent on their business objectives and their relationship with their network. (For example you should spend more time with those in your Inner Circle than those in your Outer Network).

In a saturated and depressed marketplace – where there appears to be many competitors selling the same service or product, having an effective networking strategy enables all businesses’ (but particularly small businesses and consultants) services or products to be advocated, for them to secure more referrals and for the business to cut their marketing costs, increasing their chances of survival.

As the debate surrounding economic green shots of recovery on the horizon continues, organisations are being reminded by talent management expert Judith Germain to not lose sight of nurturing their most troublesome talent® in preparation for the upturn.

Despite the fact that they often do not utilise their talents effectively, Judith Germain, MD of leadership development company Dynamic Transitions is keen to remind organisations of the importance of their mavericks in helping the business to recover from the recession and why it is so important to recognise and manage the traits of their most troublesome talent®.

“The recession means that organisations need troublesome talent® more than ever to survive, and these individuals need understanding because they are different from the rest of the talent pool. Unfortunately the huge focus on redundancies and managing ’survivor syndrome’ of recent months could mean that many managers have taken their eye off these hugely valuable but high-maintenance team members,” says Germain.

According to Germain, mavericks tend to be the top performers in companies and within business but often displaying common traits such as low boredom and impatience, meaning that they often have trouble articulating what they want or what they mean.

“A more holistic approach to talent management is more likely to enable the manager to nurture and develop their troublesome talent® who are often ignored or excluded from management development programmes due to their personalities or ability to cause disruption within a structured organisation. Whilst your maverick at work is very articulate, they may have problems communicating with others in a way that their audience can understand and accept. If you ask your troublesome talent® whether you are doing a good job, and they feel that you are not, expect to receive blunt, to the point feedback on your shortcomings,” reveals Germain.

Germain is also concerned that senior management may have lost sight of their role in nurturing talent and could end up switching back to the old ways of talent management where HR carried all the responsibility for talent management initiatives.

“Historically, there has been a general lack of accountability for leadership development by senior management and many organisations had realised this was an outdated approach, just as the recession hit. Managers need to be aware that it is no longer just HR’s responsibility alone to develop talented individuals – troublesome or not – they must be nurtured by senior management. Mavericks should not be ignored and companies that do, run the risk of slipping behind global competitors who recognise their part to play in piecing the business back together as the economy improves,” says Germain.

Ends

A good training course delivers its objectives, is interesting and interactive and allows for the differing learning styles of the attendees. The success of the course will require an effective trainer who can impart their knowledge whilst retaining the attention of the learners. Understanding human behaviour is often a requisite to being able to deliver a course that can exceed the expectations put upon it.

First things first

When you are delivering training it’s important to understand not only what your required outcomes are, but also what the organisational goals are, the prevailing context and what the attendees were told about the course before they arrived. You are more likely to have a higher proportion of difficult people on your course if attendance was mandatory and not seen as necessary by them, and/or an organisational environment where major change is happening (eg redundancy).

Understanding the expectations of the attendees and whether they are likely to be hostile to your training intervention is therefore vital. If this is a possibility then it’s important to design the content of the course accordingly and deal with their potential hostility upfront and immediately that the course starts. A ‘safe’ way to do this is when you ask the attendees what their objectives are for the training course. Our experience shows that at this stage the attendees often articulate any resentment to being on the course and how they feel about the organisation. This is a fantastic opportunity to discover their objections, listen to their issues and calibrate them to the need for attending the course. This is why knowledge of the organisational context is important. It is imperative that this section on understanding their objections and you addressing them should be kept very short. The last thing that you want to do is spend significant time discussing their objections as it will have a destabilising effect of the morale of the group and your ability to deliver the course well and on time.

It is very common (and to be expected) that there will be at least one member of the course who will feel the need to demonstrate their expertise and challenge your authority or credibility in running the course. A good trainer would have used the five minute introduction phase of the course to establish they credibility and to flush out the individuals who are likely to be ‘lively’.

Delivering a lively, interesting course – mindful of the attendees behaviour

Some trainers mistakenly believe that delivering training in environments where some hostility is shown means they are entering a battle zone! The problem with this theory is that within every training environment there will be some hostility! The actions of the trainer can therefore make it substantially worse.

A good trainer does the following subconsciously:

• Analyse the attendees behaviour to discover which ones fall into the subsequent categories

• The ‘know it all’

• The ‘sceptic’

• The ‘been there done it’

• The ‘enthusiastic puppy’

• The ‘maverick’

• The ‘follower’

• The ‘academic’

• The ‘life long learner’

• The ‘demotivator’

• Adjust the course delivery and perhaps content to suit the training characteristics of the attendees

• Seek interaction and ensure that all learning styles are catered for

• Deal with each attendee according to their ‘training characteristic’ (for example the ‘maverick’ needs to be treated differently to the ‘follower’

• Are able to smoothly and flexibly shift their own style to meet the needs of the group

• Deliver a course that meets the objectives of the learner and the organisation

An example of dealing with a difficult training characteristic – the ‘maverick’

I define ‘maverick’ to mean wilful independence and it is this training characteristic which is probably the one that causes trainers the most difficulty. Mavericks have a high sense of self confidence and self esteem and believe that they are more intelligent than others. This can be a heady mix when they are faced with a trainer that has not established their credibility or is delivering a course that they consider to be boring or inappropriate for them.

The following are likely indicators that you are facing a maverick:

• You are asked a number of questions that are disrupting and show that they believe they know more than you do on the subject

• You are shown disrespect by the attendee (this can be on a continuum from mild to extreme)

• They show their displeasure through body language and audio clues (eg heavy sighs and rolling of the eyes)

• You are challenged constantly and other attendees or yourself are undermined

• They refuse to participate in the course or the exercises

Interventions to use with the maverick training characteristic

• Establish credibility upfront and immediately

• Discover their objectives/objections for being on the course (and build into the course)

• Find a way to avoid making them look stupid (if you fail you are likely to make running the training course extremely difficult)

• Ensure that you do not lose control or appear uneasy

• Provide boundaries and structure (when you need to enforce your control, do it quickly and do not dwell on it – avoid trying to make the maverick lose face in front of their peers)

• Be clear on the objectives of the course, and how the course will run. What are the components of the course?

• Give them something to do – eg ensure they lead on some of the exercises

• Recognise them (whilst ensuring that they do not dominate the course) and appeal to their intellectual ability

Training courses present the trainer with an opportunity to engage with all members of team, even those who seem to be resistant to whatever you are trying to teach them. Remember that a one size fits all approach is unlikely to be successful as is approaching resistance from a defensive position! It can be easy to spend the majority of the course then fighting your corner, but by using some of the techniques mentioned above, you can be better placed to deliver a lively and interesting course which has benefit for all those in attendance.

A good training course delivers its objectives, is interesting and interactive and allows for the differing learning styles of the attendees. The success of the course will require an effective trainer who can impart their knowledge whilst retaining the attention of the learners. Understanding human behaviour is often a requisite to being able to deliver a course that can exceed the expectations put upon it.

First things first

When you are delivering training it’s important to understand not only what your required outcomes are, but also what the organisational goals are, the prevailing context and what the attendees were told about the course before they arrived. You are more likely to have a higher proportion of difficult people on your course if attendance was mandatory and not seen as necessary by them, and/or an organisational environment where major change is happening (eg redundancy).

Understanding the expectations of the attendees and whether they are likely to be hostile to your training intervention is therefore vital. If this is a possibility then it’s important to design the content of the course accordingly and deal with their potential hostility upfront and immediately that the course starts. A ‘safe’ way to do this is when you ask the attendees what their objectives are for the training course. Our experience shows that at this stage the attendees often articulate any resentment to being on the course and how they feel about the organisation. This is a fantastic opportunity to discover their objections, listen to their issues and calibrate them to the need for attending the course. This is why knowledge of the organisational context is important. It is imperative that this section on understanding their objections and you addressing them should be kept very short. The last thing that you want to do is spend significant time discussing their objections as it will have a destabilising effect of the morale of the group and your ability to deliver the course well and on time.

It is very common (and to be expected) that there will be at least one member of the course who will feel the need to demonstrate their expertise and challenge your authority or credibility in running the course. A good trainer would have used the five minute introduction phase of the course to establish they credibility and to flush out the individuals who are likely to be ‘lively’.

Delivering a lively, interesting course – mindful of the attendees behaviour

Some trainers mistakenly believe that delivering training in environments where some hostility is shown means they are entering a battle zone! The problem with this theory is that within every training environment there will be some hostility! The actions of the trainer can therefore make it substantially worse.

A good trainer does the following subconsciously:

• Analyse the attendees behaviour to discover which ones fall into the subsequent categories

• The ‘know it all’

• The ‘sceptic’

• The ‘been there done it’

• The ‘enthusiastic puppy’

• The ‘maverick’

• The ‘follower’

• The ‘academic’

• The ‘life long learner’

• The ‘demotivator’

• Adjust the course delivery and perhaps content to suit the training characteristics of the attendees

• Seek interaction and ensure that all learning styles are catered for

• Deal with each attendee according to their ‘training characteristic’ (for example the ‘maverick’ needs to be treated differently to the ‘follower’

• Are able to smoothly and flexibly shift their own style to meet the needs of the group

• Deliver a course that meets the objectives of the learner and the organisation

An example of dealing with a difficult training characteristic – the ‘maverick’

I define ‘maverick’ to mean wilful independence and it is this training characteristic which is probably the one that causes trainers the most difficulty. Mavericks have a high sense of self confidence and self esteem and believe that they are more intelligent than others. This can be a heady mix when they are faced with a trainer that has not established their credibility or is delivering a course that they consider to be boring or inappropriate for them.

The following are likely indicators that you are facing a maverick:

• You are asked a number of questions that are disrupting and show that they believe they know more than you do on the subject

• You are shown disrespect by the attendee (this can be on a continuum from mild to extreme)

• They show their displeasure through body language and audio clues (eg heavy sighs and rolling of the eyes)

• You are challenged constantly and other attendees or yourself are undermined

• They refuse to participate in the course or the exercises

Interventions to use with the maverick training characteristic

• Establish credibility upfront and immediately

• Discover their objectives/objections for being on the course (and build into the course)

• Find a way to avoid making them look stupid (if you fail you are likely to make running the training course extremely difficult)

• Ensure that you do not lose control or appear uneasy

• Provide boundaries and structure (when you need to enforce your control, do it quickly and do not dwell on it – avoid trying to make the maverick lose face in front of their peers)

• Be clear on the objectives of the course, and how the course will run. What are the components of the course?

• Give them something to do – eg ensure they lead on some of the exercises

• Recognise them (whilst ensuring that they do not dominate the course) and appeal to their intellectual ability

Training courses present the trainer with an opportunity to engage with all members of team, even those who seem to be resistant to whatever you are trying to teach them. Remember that a one size fits all approach is unlikely to be successful as is approaching resistance from a defensive position! It can be easy to spend the majority of the course then fighting your corner, but by using some of the techniques mentioned above, you can be better placed to deliver a lively and interesting course which has benefit for all those in attendance.

For centuries successful leaders have utilised the services of a mentor, who they see as their trusted advisor and sounding board. When there are important decisions to be made or opportunities to assess or realise they often turn to their mentor for guidance, support and expert knowledge.

When others are struggling, accomplished leaders seize the opportunity to access the resources of their mentor. The ability to seek advice is a key strength and differentiator from their competition and is often the real secret of their success.

Business leaders seek a mentor for the following reasons:

• Having the ability to confide in someone outside of the company

• Having an objective sounding board

• Receiving support and advice on team dynamics

• Staying ahead of the game by receiving knowledge from other industries

• Continuous CEO development

• A more successful and sustainable company

Seeking and learning from your mentor

There are a number of ways to seek a mentor; first you could approach a leadership company like Dynamic Transitions, you could ask for recommendations or you could search on the internet. Whichever method you choose it is important that the following criteria are considered as an absolute minimum:

• Your proposed mentor has the expertise that you need

• You like and trust your proposed mentor

• Your mentor ‘walks their talk’

• There is mutual respect

• Your mentor is appropriate to your style and can provide the right advice for you

• They are inspirational and motivational

Choosing the right mentor can be key to your success, which is why finding that special person is imperative. Often business owners can be seduced into picking a mentor based on superficial measures such as a good flashy website, a brochure with great pictures and flowing words and a great marketing sales page. I believe that it is vital that you spend time talking to your potential mentor, understanding their background and where their expertise and credibility lies. An appreciation of their style and preferred ways of working is essential. When choosing your mentor it’s important that you consider someone who will role model change for you. Someone that you can rely on to demonstrate the correct paths for you to take.

Mentors must be able to challenge you especially if you have a strong personality. They should be unafraid to hold you to account and question your decisions or thought process. They should compliment your skills and be able to help you strengthen your weaknesses. A business mentor should understand how to utilise social media especially if you have a service business. They should be able to help you demonstrate your reputation and expertise both online and offline. In service related businesses people buy from experts not generalists, therefore you need to ensure that your mentor can help you demonstrate your expertise.

If your marketing strategy includes networking as an important component then it’s essential that not only does your mentor understand how to help you build an effective networking strategy, but that they can demonstrate how they use their networking expertise. You will be spending significant amounts of time with your mentor so it’s important that you are compatible and that you respect and trust them. A mentoring relationship is a developmental one and it is key that your mentor can flex their own style to suit your preferred method of learning. To be able to learn from your mentor in addition to the above criteria needing to take place, you need to be:

• open to the guidance of your mentor

• willing to take risk

• prepared to be accountable

• open to change

• willing to change the status quo

When you are good at what you do it can be very difficult to take advice from someone else. When you are working with your mentor it is important to remember that you are NOT handing over executive decision making. No mentor would advocate that their mentee abdicates decision making responsibility, but that they listen to advice and base their decisions on all the available facts. We have found that a significant proportion of business owners are impulsive and therefore do not consider all their options when making major decisions for their business. This can have an adverse effect unless this impulsiveness is harnessed and utilised effectively.

Main models of mentoring

There are a number of different ways that business leaders can access mentoring from their mentors. We have found that the most effective methods are either a) Mentoring on a one to one basis or b) Peer Mentoring.

Mentoring on a one to one basis allows a developmental relationship which is quite focused and structured. The mentor can enable their mentee to achieve their objectives, be challenged in a safe environment and be held accountable. This type of mentorship facilitates a direct knowledge transfer and can significantly reduce the learning curve of the mentee.

Peer Mentoring suits business leaders that prefer to be surrounded by their peers to share learning and experiences. The advantage of this method of mentoring is that whilst the mentor facilitates interaction within the group, the mentee has access to a group of likeminded individuals with differing levels of experience and wisdom. The mentee can leverage the wisdom of this confidential group.

Should a business leader have more than one mentor?

A resourceful and ambitious business leader will ensure that he surrounds himself with the right people to develop and support him through his own growth and the success of the company. It can be beneficial to have more than one mentor as long as it is clear exactly what it is that they are mentoring you in. It is important that for one subject you only have one expert providing you with advice. This ensures that you are not overloaded or being provided with conflicting information. For example a business leader may be mentored on how he gets on with his team and improving team dynamics as well as being mentored on how to deliver a successful business strategy.

Mentoring should continue for as long as the task that the mentor was hired to help the leader achieve is incomplete. This could mean the mentoring may last from one month to a number of years. The frequency of interaction may alter depending on the task.

Does mentoring always work?

There are only two main reasons why mentoring doesn’t work. If there is a bad fit between the mentor and mentee or if the business leader is not ready to be open and honest with his mentor and be willing to move out of his comfort zone.

For example, I was working with an established business leader who had recently moved to a new company. The company was very dysfunctional; his top team was inefficient beset with personality and competency issues, poor morale issues amongst the employees and severe union issues. To add to his problems they were losing key customers, haemorrhaging money and the shareholders were not happy. They gave him a very tight timescale in which to achieve turnaround results.

The business leader was unable to confide in his team and was unclear as to where the true starting point was and whether there was a common root to the company’s issued.

By working closely together he was able to see clearly the issues that were faced by the company. To segregate the problems caused by his top team and the consequences of devalued and de-motivated employees. By tackling these key areas, he understood that these were the causes of customer dissatisfaction and poor bottom line results.

He learnt that his own leadership style was adding to the problem and how best to interact with others to ensure that he got the results that he wanted. He understood how to get the best out of his team and how to implement the best processes to deal with the technical deficiencies.

Under his tenure the company improved its fortunes, his team increased their competence and the union difficulties improved as they saw the employees being better treated. This had a positive effect on the bottom line. The business leader benefited from having a trusted advisor who was removed from the company, who could provide objective guidance and advice.

Mentoring is often much more beneficial to business leaders than traditional coaching practices as it provides senior management with an external sounding bound, someone who can practically assess and advise on the problematic issues within the organisation as a whole, and will not just sit back and wait for the answers to ‘come from within’. Mentoring works when the mentee understands the needs to be challenged and to continue his personal development to realise his achievements and to ensure the likelihood of his company’s success.