Practice Your Practice!!

I had always heard the old axiom “practice makes perfect.” It sounded good, but then a wise man told me that “perfect practice makes perfect.” If we practice a bad habit or method we will never be as good as we could be. Either way, to become and remain good at what we do we must practice. Whether we are I sales, education, medicine, or any other field we must put to work the fundamentals of our chosen field. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard or overheard someone say “I wish I could ………as well as you can.

I remember thinking that about someone with great skill at the piano. I proved unwilling to put the time in to build a the skill. It seems like we think there should be a magic pill to take. There is! The magic pill is hard work and staying with the task of developing, then with the task of maintaining. Several years ago my manager accompanied me on some sales calls and interviews. At the end of the day, when I had wandered aimlessly from idea to idea, he simply said, “adlibs are for amateurs.” At that moment, I committed to never entering any project without being prepared.

People that commit to practicing the fundamentals tend to win. I heard a member of the 1983 Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins say that Coach Joe Gibbs was fanatical about execution of the fundamentals. Blocking and tackling drills over and over until the techniques were mastered. We all have practices, repeated often, that lead to high skill levels. As we see teams succeed and others fail there is often only a small difference, just a small margin. Three years ago the Southwestern men’s basketball team had an 18-12 record, losing five games by 1-3 points, while making about 60% of their free throws. A 67% success spread out over those games would have yielded 3-5 more victories. Free throws are just a small fundamental, but a very important one when the game is close. It’s easy to focus on sensational looking dunks or three point shots, but many games are won or lost at the one point line.

In sports, or business, or life in general it all comes down to a famous saying, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” In his classic book “Think and Grow Rich” author Napoleon Hill talks about the three tenets of what he called The Law of Compensation. According to Hill we are ultimately compensated based upon the need for the work we do, our ability to perform the work, and the difficulty the employer would have in replacing us. Two of those three tenets are directly affected by our commitment to “practicing our practice.”

A Strong and Quiet Man

Almost from the time my family moved to Winfield we have been friends with Pat and Gene Snell. With his passing the memories of all the good times came flooding into my mind. Gene was not a public person, but a quiet and gentle man. Even with that he was a strong man, a man of faith, and a man of loyalty and commitment to those people and causes he loved. Long before I knew him Gene served his country honorably in the Army during the Korean War. He faithfully attended the Veteran’s Week in Branson to renew old friendships and his service. Upon returning home he worked at various jobs before starting forty year printing career with the Winfield Daily Courier.

Gene was not a complicated person. He loved his God, his family, his church, his friends, and sports of many kinds. Wildcat Nation is weaker with Gene’s passing. I’m not sure I ever met a bigger sports fan than Gene and especially K-State basketball and football. I seldom saw him without his purple hat with the Power Cat. Still Gene’s biggest loves were his wife Pat and their family and his church. Gene had been a member for several years when I came to MSBC and served on the Missions Committee, Trustees and taught for years in the Toddler Department. Even when his illness began Gene faithfully attended his church.

We played some basketball and softball together in the early days of our friendship. The last few years we’ve visited about sports, went out to dinner, and played cards on Friday nights with other friends. Church was still our greatest contact and many times Pat and Gene sat just behind us as we worshipped. Gene is in a far better place today, far from the pain and suffering of his last days in this life. Whenever I see a K-State article or play cards again I’ll think of Gene. And smile!!

K.I.S.S. and a Consistent Message

One of the most important issues for a new business (or a new product/service) is the task of building awareness. Potential customers must be made aware of the company or its offering in order to encourage product trial. Without high levels of awareness sales potential cannot be realized. Promotion is important to any effort in bringing about awareness. A key component of promotion is the development and building of a consistent message.

Companies accomplish a consistent message by using slogans, jingles, or a catchy brand name or symbol. “Just do it” (Nike) and “When you care enough to send the very best” (Hallmark) are just a couple slogan examples that helped build 95%+ brand recognition for their companies. The “Morton Salt girl” and the “Prudential rock” yield a high level of recognition through years of repetitive use. Seeing the Morton symbol reminds us “when it rains, it pours.” Prudential’s symbol reinforces that the company “has the strength of the Rock of Gibraltar.” These messages have remained consistent over several decades and have been proven effective.

The old K.I.S.S adage- keep it simple stupid, or more nicely put, keep it short and simple- is really true in promotion. Fast, hard-hitting, and memorable lines are important. After all, we only have seconds to make an impression that will achieve a favorable customer response. We must make sure we covey a desired message on that first contact. For high name recognition in our local market the simple, consistent message starts to answer three key concerns. What do we have to offer? How will it fulfill their wants or needs? How are we different from others offering similar services? In the final analysis WIIFM prevails. We all want to know “What’s in it for me?”

Mentoring: A Key to Success

Insurance executive Alfred E.N. Gray wrote and delivered an excellent speech he called “The Common Denominator of Success.” Mr. Gray stated that successful people “form the habit of doing the things failures won’t do.” It isn’t that they wanted to do the things either, they just did them. I agree with Mr. Gray’s proposition, but think success can be further enhanced by the use of mentors. Mentors put the practical touch on a task at hand by giving directions, demonstrating method, observing, and giving prompt feedback.

I was fortunate to have several mentors in my business and personal life. These individuals took time and spent much energy in enhancing my opportunity for success. My first sales manager, Jim Cinotto, took me to my agency in Northwest Wichita and modeled the behavior he expected from an agent. He showed me how to sell, but taught me a far more important life lesson. During an interview a lady asked a question, and Jim without hesitating said, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” As a 23 year veteran I thought he knew everything, but he showed the maturity to not bluff his way, but get a correct answer.

Years later, when I wrote a book one of the chapters was titled “I Don’t Know, but I’ll Find Out.” I sent Jim a copy of the book and he called me one evening. He didn’t remember the incident, but told me he was,” just doing his job.” He said I had repaid him. When I asked how I had repaid him, he said by doing the same thing for other young people. I was now aware that it is not only important to have a mentor, but also to be one. Life has many cycles and I believe one of them is helping and being helped. Our organizations, small or large, become strong and remain strong by the use of mentors. Mentors shorten the time needed for a task and increase the human resource value of our companies.

Attitude: The Magic Word

The late, great radio commentator Earl Nightengale called attitude “The magic Word” in his “Lead the Field” audio series. Nightengale was correct because our attitude sets the course for life’s journey. Years ago, in a presentation, I compared attitude to altitude. In an airplane we rise to certain altitudes for a safe and comfortable flight. Our attitude also sets a safe and comfortable voyage that determines what we are able to accomplish in life. We’ve all heard “he has a bad attitude” or “she has a great outlook on life.”

It’s often stated that someone needs “an attitude adjustment.” Changing an attitude or an outlook on life is easy to talk about, but much more difficult to accomplish. Our attitude is comprised of all our thoughts, feelings, and ultimately, our actions. In order to change our results (attitude) we must change those thoughts, feelings, and actions which have been ingrained in our being over many years. Our thoughts are the key to beginning the change that will result in an attitude change.

Our conscious mind takes in our various thoughts through our senses of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. The conscious mind works as a judge and can freely accept or reject the thoughts. Once a thought is accepted it is passed on to the subconscious mind, which can only accept the idea and turn it into a feeling or perception. These feelings then control our actions which govern our body, leading to results. It becomes an important task in changing our attitude and thus our results to take in only those thoughts that will result in moving us towards desired outcomes. As the output of a computer is determined by its input, so our attitude is determined by focusing on those thoughts that move us in a positive direction (or in some cases focusing on the negative and getting exactly what we don’t want).

World War II concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankyl stated in his classic book “Man’s Search for Meaning” that “the last of the human freedoms is man’s ability to choose his attitude of mind.” Attitude then; like where we live, or who we love, is a choice. By choosing our thoughts we choose our attitude. The old Bing Crosby favorite was correct: You have to ACCENTUATE the positive, ELIMINATE the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mister In-between.

Failing In Order to Succeed

It seems to me our culture is youth-centered, technology-based, and success-oriented. Most of the time this works well for us, but it can cause high levels of frustration. In our fast-paced, microwave society we can leave the impression with our children, students, and employees that they must succeed at everything and that success must come immediately. We only need look at our history and our culture to see that success seldom comes the first time and often only after many failures. We’ll use a few examples of those who achieved high level of success after countless encounters with failure.

Our 16th President, Abe Lincoln, ran for office at least thirteen times, winning only three of the offices he attempted to gain. In fact, he lost more than one of the offices to fellow Illinoisan, Stephen Douglas; the man he defeated for President in the election of 1860. How much different might our country have been if Lincoln had given up after election number twelve. Almost any poll or selection of great presidents places Lincoln in the top two or three, usually at the very top.

As a young cartoonist Walt Disney’s Laugh-o-gram animation company in Kansas City, failed and he was burdened by indebtedness. Disney moved to California and with his brother Roy started a new company. Their first two films were not successful, and film rights were lost due to bad business decisions. After observing a family of mice, Disney came up with a new cartoon idea. Mickey Mouse was born and scores of films and several theme parks were the result of his pressing on. In his later years Disney used to laugh that,”It all started from a mouse.”

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach, Don Shula, left the Baltimore Colts to start a new team in Miami. After early losing seasons, he developed the mantra “Failure isn’t fatal… and success isn’t final.” Shula encouraged being aggressive and trying new ideas, even with the possibility of failing. He also knew that once success was attained work would have to continue in order to stay on top. In reality we only become a failure when we quit and stop trying. Failing is a natural part of the success process. Maybe this was best stated by the late Chicago insurance millionaire W. Clement Stone in his book “The Success System That Never Fails” when he stated “Success is achieved by those who try and keep trying.”

Procrastination: The Bane of Accomplishment

Throughout the ages more has been written and less has been resolved about procrastination than most other topics. In “Man’s Search for Meaning” Viktor Frankyl wrote “after all is said and done, there is more said than done.” We all know when we SHOULD do something and yet we often don’t get to action. Why is it that we so often put off what we know we should do? Fear of failure, lack of time, enormity of task, and many other excuses are offered for our inaction.

The truth is those most proficient at avoiding procrastination accomplish more, have more spare time, are under less pressure, and generally seem happier. Nothing is more frustrating than to try to enjoy an activity with a nagging thought of what we should be doing. The fruit of procrastination is poor productivity, broken promises, incomplete projects, and ever- lengthening to do lists. Often tasks accumulated, though small in individual nature, become mountains that require large blocks of time feeding our tendency to do nothing. How then do we overcome the urge to put off until tomorrow what we should have done today? Deciding to take on the task NOW is the starting point.

Identifying that unattractive task and doing it or starting it gives the momentum and impetus to complete. During these latter years of my career I have enjoyed teaching various business classes. The interaction with students has been fantastic, but I hate grading papers. My students have one solution, don’t assign the papers. My solution is to come home and get started grading the papers. Most of the time once the grading starts it becomes an enjoyable process. When finished there is a sense of achievement that makes the next task easier. Complex, time consuming tasks are often the ones we put off, waiting for a block of time sufficient to complete the project. An old manager of mine often said “by the yard it’s hard, by the inch it’s a cinch.” Using little blocks of time to eliminate parts of the task is an important way to get things done and make good use of our time. A wise man once was asked when was a good time to get started and responded, “Do it now.” That’s a great way to overcome procrastination, “Do it NOW!”