Green Schools: All Hat and No Cattle?

When I first heard the phrase “Alligator mouth; bunny rabbit tail” (thank you S.G.), I instantly had my future retort to the countless scenarios that would inevitably come. No doubt, I would use that quick jab when a friend would boast of his team’s prowess, only to get humiliated on the fantasy football field, or when one of my children would claim that she could beat me in arm wrestling, Mario Kart, or holding her breath underwater. Indeed, over the years I have employed the clever saying every chance I could. But not long after I was introduced to the scary/cute creature, I became aware that a whole world of variations existed. For the man’s man, you may observe “all hammer, and no nail”; for your spa loving friend, you may lament, “all wax, and no wick”; your granpa may need the occasional, “all mouth, and no trousers”; and the West Texas rancher that isn’t getting it done may just deserve an “all hat, and no cattle.”

In the energy efficiency and conservation industry, there has been the need for an “all hat and no cattle” synonym for quite some time. As inconvenient as the truth may be, the green wave that has swept the world since before Al Gore’s Nobel Prize has largely been “all sizzle and no steak.” (I’m on a roll here…)

Having been in the industry since 1996, my personal experience has shown me the two distinct sides of “green” very clearly. On one side, there is the PR aspect that involves global catastrophe, slick sounding buzz words, cutting edge gadgets, bold claims, and “quick paybacks”. It is flush with federal subsidy, utility rebates and state grants. Former Presidents make it their mission, cities like to put programs around it, and university presidents band together over it.

The other side of “green” isn’t so sexy. In fact, to the general public it is… yawn… pretty boring. It is behind the walls, above the ceilings, and in the maintenance closets of schools, stores, and skyscrapers. It is comprised of simple, yet very effective engineering and operations practices that fix problems and make buildings work. It is the side that generates real savings, but not a lot of press. In fact, this side has been around much longer, just by a different name and under different pretenses. It is capitalism at its finest, causing people to update their lighting or air conditioning, and set their thermostats back because it saves them money and it is common sense.

Recently, USA Today published an article titled “Green schools: Long on promise, short on delivery” and details a troubling reality of what happens when the hype machine (i.e. the alligator, hammer, hat, etc.) isn’t accompanied by common sense and solid business practices. It is worth reading, but I would caution against throwing the baby out with the bath water. Green schools are a reality, and have been for years. Getting there doesn’t require LEED or the EPA telling you what to do, or reams of paperwork to document how many acres of rain forests you think you can save by implementing a gadget.

Green schools, with the right plan and effective approach, are equal parts “had and herd”. Curious how? Email us and we will show you.

Buy Something!

As an unseasoned, young salesman, I used to spend my windshield time thinking about all the ways I could talk about my company and my offering. I would turn the sentences inside out and upside down, forwards and backwards and everything in between.  My strategy was classic rookie: He who talks best wins.

Over time I moved away from talking and towards listening. I learned about SPIN Selling and how to ask progressively more penetrating questions. Sometimes, my questions were cumbersome and forced; you could tell I was struggling to convert some of my old, well polished statements into probing questions, but wasn't doing a very good job of it.  "Well, Mr. Customer, how has going without my service really put you in a bind?"  Did that really just come out of my mouth???

As time passed, questions became the default, and genuine caring about people's needs took over. But the urge remained to "talk about us" a little bit. When I was with a big company, I somehow had to work in a thing or two about the billions in the bank account, or the office on the west coast.  Surely the client wants to know about how our company is structured and the recent departmental realignment, right?  Just kidding... I never talked about that. But I did feel the need to force some conversation towards us if the Client wasn't going there.

Even the past few years, with a company strategy that builds off of our private ownership and flexibility that allows us to deliver the best services at the lowest cost in the industry, I find myself struggling not to brag. (Get it?)

That is, until recently. In one 45 minute span, I got cured forever. My disease is gone with no trace left. I now confidently pledge to never again talk about myself unless the Client asks. I promise to focus on the Client and to never, ever assume that the Client can't wait for me to deliver my infomercial, no matter how sexy I think it is.  So what happened?  Very simply, we bought something.

I always tried to imagine myself in the Client's shoes, but as a salesman you never really get all the way there. I thought in terms of what the Client might be needing, or thinking, or thinking he is needing. I also focused on how the Client would receive what I would say. But until I sat at a conference table as the customer, and really experience what it was like to be the target of every word spoken, I couldn't know what the Client's shoes felt like.

Then I put them on. I became the Client, and as such, all I cared about was what I cared about. There were things I wanted to know, and thinks that I didn't know I wanted to know, but that I knew I probably needed to know. I wanted the salesman to guide me through that, and help me get where I needed to be. But it was about me, not him. It was about trying to unlock my own thoughts and feelings, not listen to his.  The interesting thing about the experience was how great it felt when he was focusing on me, and how quickly I could become put off by an untimely diversion away from me and towards the merits of his company. I wondered almost out loud how out of touch this guy must be to think I wanted to hear his spiel at that moment. And at the same time, I was so grateful for the lesson he was teaching me. He showed me, quite frankly, me.

There has probably been no greater lesson for me in my career than to have that kind of a mirror exposing a critical flaw in my approach. My suspicion is that what I experienced would help a lot of people take the next step in their sales careers.  It showed me how to better serve, not only my external Clients, but my sales team and other people around me.  Buying opened my eyes and ears to truth, and I will take all of that I can get.  I have taken the lesson to heart, and challenge anyone who has never put the Client's shoes on to do it and get ready to take some notes.  Buy something, and really learn how to sell!

Blessed are the Peace Makers

In Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount, he admonishes His disciples to strive for great character, and promises blessings for achievement. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth...blessed are merciful, for they shall receive mercy..." I remember as a young man committing to attempt to try to make an effort to give it my best shot... to follow Jesus and be all of those things. One in particular, though, I thought I had nailed: "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called Sons of God."  I knew I could do that, because I hated conflict. I would go through life, I thought, and help people get along. And when conflict came my way, I would quickly dispose of it. And that is the way I operated for the better part of my adolescence, through college and on into my career.

Fast forward to 2012, in a taco shop in Addison, when I am sitting with my good buddy Matt Levy from Credera discussing our respective businesses and how to make them better. As lunch rolled on, the topic of office conflict came up, in the context of the sometimes difficult task of giving negative feedback to employees.  I quickly reminded Matt that I was a "peace maker", and proceeded to tell him how I handled conflict in my world.  Without much hesitation, Matt told me, quite frankly, "You aren't a peace maker Brian, you are a "peace faker".  You don't resolve conflict, you avoid it.  You don't make peace, you sweep stuff under the rug and act like there is no problem..."

Pow. Right between the eyes.

He went on to describe a continuum, where peace faking was on one end, peace breaking on the other end, and true peace making was somewhere right in the middle. Rarely, he said, was anyone ever truly a peace maker. He didn't have to say anymore; I knew he was right, but I had just never heard it before.

Instantly, though, I felt a sort of weight lifted off of my shoulders. For my entire life, I assumed that peace making meant that I had to save other people from the pain of conflict, when in reality I was keeping people from getting better. I knew instantly because I was so grateful for my friend Matt to shoot me straight. I wondered how many times I withheld critical feedback from coworkers and employees because of my peace faking.

The application here is obvious and of extreme importance. For business and for life in general, remember these three things:

1. It is appropriate for everyone to strive to be a peace maker;
2. Give yourself an honest look in the mirror and decide what your tendencies are. Do you pick fights and attempt to win? Do you flee conflict and "overlook" offenses that shouldn't be overlooked?
3. Practice peace making. Don't flee and don't fight; listen, learn and don't be afraid to speak the truth in love.

Simple, yet powerful, this life lesson was worth sharing.

Be Blessed!

Pressure, Stress, and Raising the Bar

It is 4th and Goal on the 3 yard line. The Offense is in “I” formation with two tight ends. They are lined up to run it off tackle, “straight up the gut.” The defense is stacked “in the box” to prevent the run. The play clock is ticking, “5…4…3…” The game clock is at 47 seconds. This is the last play of the game; three yards delivers a win, but two and a half yards hands you a loss.

You are down by one stroke walking to the 18th green. You have stormed back from being down by as much as 5 shots, and you now have a putt for birdie to force a playoff. You walk around the hole to line up your putt, which looks to be just inside the right lip. It is a makeable 5 footer, uphill and against the grain. Everybody is watching. You slowly approach the ball and take three practice strokes, just like you do every single time. Then you place the putter behind the ball, set your feet, and take one last look at the hole, imagining the ball traveling the imaginary line to the right side of the cup.

To you or me, both of these situations are not merely pressure situations, they are “stress” situations. Unless you are an NFL quarterback or a seasoned pro golfer that has “been there before”, the outside pressure of two ticking clocks, 11 men averaging 6’ 3” and 250 pounds, and an entire town (or nation) watching, or the internal pressure to keep your muscles loose and your mind from taking your putter off line would be too much to handle. We don’t have the training and tools to cope with those situations.

To the quarterback who is about to execute a naked bootleg, or the golfer that has made 4,000 five-foot putts under various amounts of pressure since he was a junior golfer, these situations are what they live for. So why is a pressure situation stressful for one person, but exhilarating for another? Understanding the difference in pressure and stress, and how each person copes with pressure is a fascinating, and I believe very useful pursuit for a leader.

Pressure is good. It may be external, internal, or both. It takes pressure to pump blood through the body. It takes pressure to fill a tire. Too much pressure can cause the heart to fail, or the tire to blow. Pressure is good; stress is bad.

The relevant question that we need to ask ourselves as business leaders is, “how do we apply the right amount of pressure, and at the same time minimize stress in order to get the best performance?” But why apply pressure at all? According to August Turak at Forbes,

“Maximum pressure combined with minimum stress produces passion, and passionate organizations full of passionate people will accomplish well-nigh anything.”

That is an interesting position, and one that can be easily debated. But think about it another way – think about what happens with a lack of pressure. Other than the obvious flat tire, a lack of pressure can create as much or more stress than too much pressure.

Consider again the football analogy; how many times have you heard it discussed by the analysts that a team is floundering because there is no “vocal leader” in the huddle? They say the team is undisciplined and there is strife in the locker room. They show clips of individual players blaming others for their own lack of production. They show repetitive “false start” penalties, and guys with sour looks on their faces moping back to the huddle. What the analysts are suggesting is that the quarterback isn’t demanding perfection from his offensive line, his receivers, or his running backs. They are suggesting that some of the best athletes in the world will not perform their best unless they have a leader getting in their face and telling them to bring their “A” game. Moreover, they are claiming that pressure can actually mold the individuals into a team and prevent chaos and discord.

But not everybody needs a “vocal leader”. Some guys perform their best whether a quarterback grabs their face mask and jerks their head around or not. In fact, some guys may respond negatively to that style of pressure.

The key is in knowing your team, and what drives each of your players to perform at peak level. Pressure becomes stress when your team member doesn’t have the freedom, authority, or tools to deal effectively with the pressure, or when expectations of performance are unreasonable.

But we need to be careful not to remove pressure as we are attempting to eliminate stress. When we try to avoid pressure or putting pressure on others, we can inadvertently lower the bar and make it OK to be mediocre.

Remember, “A” players are “A” players because they have performed under pressure time and again. If you are worried about putting pressure on your team because they may not be "A" players, then that is another problem entirely and will require many other blog posts to deal with.  However, if you know you have "A" players, and you want the best out of your team, consider the following:

• Know the capabilities of your team members. Remember that pressure becomes stress when the expectations are too high. 
• Clearly define expectations. Unstated expectations can be just as stress inducing as unreachable ones.
• Know what motivates your team. Some guys need a “vocal leader”, while others need to be left alone.
• Minimize stress. Make sure your team has the authority, tools, and freedom to manage the pressure situation.
• Give grace. Everyone makes mistakes and even “A” players jump off-sides from time to time.
• Encourage and reward. Everyone works for something, whether it be praise or prize. Know what your team members need and don’t be stingy.

So what happened? Did the quarterback successfully execute the naked bootleg and take his team to victory? Did the golfer drain the 5 foot putt to force the playoff? The more important question is how will you lead in your version of the NFL or the PGA? Harness the pressure, remove the stress, and raise the bar.