Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

You might recall that I picked this book up recently and was reminded of the Gallup Organisation’s prognosis of what my underlying “strengths” are.

As noted already, I could not remember much about what this book actually said – so (because we’re about to begin the recruitment of our GM for Sales and downstream Marketing) I took some time to peruse the book again.

Unfortunately I was disappointed.

The Book	What we thought
“Develop your Sales Strengths – How the world’s greatest salespeople develop winning careers” by Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano	Maybe I missed something, but it seemed a bit shallow and repetitive?

I’ve posted separately about why we read, and review, so many books (and about the links above)… .

In general terms, my disappointment with this book boils down to two factors – one which might not apply to other readers (depending on what they have read beforehand):

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Given that we’re gearing up to recruit our Chief Revenue Officer shortly, I picked up the book “Discover your Sales Strengths” again, to see what notes I might have made when I read it a year ago.

A few loose pages fell out and surprised me – printed results from when I used the code in the book to take the “Strengths Finder” test online.

Reviewing the results now, it seemed that it might be useful to post about the five signature themes the test ascribed to me – as it would be one more data point that potential applicants might consider.

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My twelve year journey with this company – seeing it grow its customer base, and product range, from nothing to be quite substantial – has been one of great learning for me.

Of my greatest areas of learning has been with respect to others within in the company.  I have struggled, at times, due to my lack of prior experience and preparation.

For some time I’ve been pondering the apparent paradoxes across a variety of books and other materials I’ve read – with respect to the concept of Strengths and Weaknesses.

Where I have read this, it has been with respect to an individual’s own strengths and weaknesses – however I believe that the pointers that I’ve learnt are also applicable at an organisational level (where a strength is more commonly termed “competitive advantage”).

After quite a bit of reflection, it currently* seems that to be truly strong, an individual (or a company) needs to have the right combination of all three of the following factors:

* I say “currently”, as it seems that the learning journey I am on almost guarantees that my view will become even more nuanced in future.

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Early in reading “Self-Theories” by Carol Dweck, I came across the following passage (p37-38) which explains the dichotomy of views that influences what each person achieves in life:

“Once students adopt a theory of intelligence, it affects what they value, how they approach intellectual tasks, and how they interpret and respond to what happens to them.

A belief in Fixed Intelligence raises student’s concerns about how smart they are, it creates anxiety about challenges, and it makes failures into a measure of their fixed intelligence.  It can therefore create disorganised, defensive and helpless behaviour.

A belief in Malleable Intelligence creates a desire for challenge and learning.  In fact, some incremental theorists tell us that they worry a task will be too easy for them and, essentially, not worth their while.  Setbacks in this framework become an expected part of long-term learning and mastery and are therefore not really failures.  Instead they are cues for renewed effort and new strategies.”

For anyone who’s been following our company as we grow and mature, you’ll appreciate that I’ve been grappling with really understanding both: read more »

As a brief PS to this recent post about people who are right for our bus, I saw this HBR interview with Heidi Grant Halvorson pop up on my iGoogle page.

Heidi references this earlier post about “Nine things successful people do differently” and promotes her new ebook of the same title.

These nine behaviours/beliefs are food for thought – both for us, as possible selection criteria for new recruits, and also as focal points for anyone interested in achieving better performance, over time.

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As a further note to Heidi’s point #5, have started reading Carol Dweck’s “Self Theories”, which expands on this concept.

Another pause for thought last week with respect to Jim Collin’s classic statement.

For those who have known us for a number of years, you might recognise that we’ve come a long way from our “wilderness years”  – we’ve taken some big steps in getting the right people on the bus, and (just as importantly) in the right seats.

However this year we’ve still made a couple mistakes – which has been costly and painful for all involved – and has not helped us in our goal of putting customers first:

In meeting these challenges, I found Jim’s “five things to consider” useful – along with the other materials on the site.

In more general terms, I have also found that there are sections in “Execution – the discipline of getting things done” (part-way through reading) that have been useful.

Looking forward, there are a number of things that we will be looking to do over the coming 12 months or so:

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Picked up “Little Bets” [since reviewed here] by Peter Sims this week, as the underlying theme of the book is something we’ve been striving to base our business around (we’re getting closer every month).

As some background to the main message of the book, the author provides a chapter on the “Growth Mindset”.

I’ve heard a similar dichotomy of views expressed in other contexts before (such as with respect to two conflicting views of wealth creation, and in terms of negotiation) but have not seen it explained in relation to personal development before.

Given where we’ve come from, and where we’re headed, I have included some excerpts here (from p36):

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In some ways, I believe that it is.

I’ll spoil the punch-line -  eighteen months ago I posted about how 10,000 hours of “dedicated practice” are required to reach true mastery of any discipline.

This book is one of several that take up this theme, and which were referenced in the news articles linked in the post above.  Other books include “Outliers”, plus many others we have not read.

The Book	What we thought
“Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin	Well worth reading for greater depth than the articles quoted in the post above

I’ve posted separately about why we read, and review, so many books (and about the links above)…

read more »

Had almost reached the end of this book and was thinking that (whilst it did contain some worthwhile information), it did not totally do it for me….

The Book	What we thought
“Know-How: the 8 skills that separate people who perform from those who don’t” by Ram Charan	Solid, not stellar – but the letter’s worth reading!

I’ve posted separately about why we read, and review, so many books (and about the links above)…

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…and then I reached his “Letter to a Future Leader”, included at the end of the book (p265) …

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