Eagles or Chickens?

To all employees frustrated with the boss that pushes you too hard:

Have you asked yourself yet WHY they might be pushing you to work harder? Maybe to see your potential? Everything used to be all cozy and happy, but now no more! Well, before you complain about this again I want to ask if you're an Eagle or a Chicken?

I know, strange question. Clearly you are human! But think about it: when eggs hatch and these birds are raising their young, two very different approaches are taken. For an eagle, it starts with how they build the nest-they've been planning this from the beginning! The nest is built to be a comfortable place on top. But at a certain age, the young birds are ready to do more. Momma Eagle does ask politely. What she does, is flip the nest. See, the plan at the beginning is to at first make that nest comfortable, but what the young ones don't know is that underneath all of that fluffy stuff are many sharp rocks and more sticks. When this nest is flipped the nest is no longer a cozy place to call home: it's somewhere those eagles want to get out of! So they learn! They learn to fly, to hunt, to be independent.

Chickens. Chickens are very different. They raise their flock, but then take them to the rest of the fowl in the coop, and soon begin to just wonder away and leave the chicks to their own devices. Little by little they push the lines of comfort to get the chicks to be independent. It sounds comfortable...and slow!

So again I ask: are you an Eagle or a Chicken? Will you deal with the rocky nest and learn and grow to your full potential even though it's probably uncomfortable? Or will you complain about the discomfort and wish you were a chicken?

Off to the Races!

The first Saturday in May..does it mean anything to you? Any horse lover out there knows this weekend marks yet another amazing display of speed and talent at the annual Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs!

Horse racing..much like NASCAR everyone is ready to watch them make a few left turns and see who makes it over the finish line first. But, what if your not a horse lover? Then I suppose it's just another weekend in May! But as a learning crowd, lets look at it again.

There's certain enjoyment gleaned from seeing improvements, the underdog be near the front, and many many other things. Though there is most definitely something more that we can see.

At the start of the race everyone is equal; the same distance is set to cover by all horses and jockeys. Some horses trained more, some have better breeding, but each has a fair shake to take home the prize. Such it is with business! In the professional world there are many different degrees and previous jobs held, but each of us can reach that goal we dearly desire-whatever it may be. The goal may be different; some to just finish the race, some to beat another horse in particular, actually win. It simply depends on who is setting the goal.

In the derby, the finish line does not move and it doesn't creep up on an unsuspecting competitor. They run, full speed ahead to reach that goal. A big photo-finish and the race has reached its end! Months and years of training and pushing makes that goal realized.

So in your professional life who is setting the goal? It should be no one other than yourself! So set the goal, but also realize that whatever your finish line looks like, it's not going to creep up on you unexpectedly. You have to learn, grow, gain experience, and remember that the big picture is what you're trying to get to. When you get there you may not have a cheering crowd, but the satisfaction of reaching the goal you've been pushing toward is unlike anything else.

Keep training. Keep pushing. Keep on doing the hard things that may just not feel worth it right now. If you're getting closer to the finish line, don't be the one that tries the win the race while stopping or running backward!

How To Succeed In Business By Really Trying

Originally posted at URL http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2012/05/13/how-to-succeed-in-business-by-really-trying/ 

By Victor Lipman

No sugar coating here.  Unless you’re fortunate enough to be born to take over a thriving family business or to get in on the ground floor of the next Facebook FB +2.51%, the road to business success is seldom a simple one.

In my experience and observation, success is much less the product of one brilliant idea than of a great deal of hard work, well-executed and sustained over a long period of time.

Even in the best of times, no one will just hand you a position of great value for nothing.  If your goal is vice presidency or partner or managing director or the c-suite, or whatever role has captured your imagination, no one can guarantee you’ll attain it.  But if hard work is the currency of success, there are things you can do to make that effort work as hard as possible for your up-and-coming career.  So with a tip of the cap to one the greatest musicals ever (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”), here are five activities that can be worth really trying to put extra time into.

Learn the business – If you work for a sizable organization, and perhaps if you don’t, chances are your business has considerable complexity.  Take time to learn not just your particular role (that’s “table stakes”- you have to know it), but also to gain a broader understanding of the business: the competitive environment, the market forces at play, the company’s value proposition, sales model, pricing model, etc.  No one’s expecting you to become expert in all these fields, but gaining at least a working understanding of the key macro-level issues is always helpful.   Familiarity with these larger issues senior management is grappling with will only enhance your decision-making capabilities in your own role.

Make yourself indispensable – Take time to really understand what your manager needs.  Not just what is needed from you in your current role, but what are the troubling problems that keep him or her up at night?   Is it help with PowerPoints, an upcoming presentation to a hostile audience, delicate personnel problems, or dealing with regulators… to name just a few of a thousand possibilities.  Try to see things through the eyes of others.  The more substantive assistance you can provide, the more gaps you can fill, the more valuable you’ll be to an organization.

Provide solutions, not problems – The normal state of senior management is too much to do in too little time.   When wrestling with difficult issues in your own area, naturally you can’t always solve all the problems yourself.  But it definitely can be worth the extra time to not simply make your problems your manager’s.  Instead, present your manager with a carefully thought out range of viable options – ideally including your recommended solution – rather than just posing a vexing, time-consuming problem.  This approach demonstrates your critical thinking capabilities, and can be an appreciated time saver for a person with little time to spare.

Be a great collaborator – Good team players are valued.  Large complex projects always require people with diverse skills.  Attitude matters; effective collaborators often find themselves in demand.  Consider taking the time to volunteer for a large project that may be understaffed, even in an area outside your core expertise.  This can be a way of broadening your skill set and business knowledge, plus demonstrating your motivation.  Management appreciates self starters who ‘play well with others.’

Come early, stay late – The best point I can offer here is a story of my own.  While I’m an advocate in theory for as much work-life balance as possible, the fact is, if you want to get ahead, there will be periods in a career where there are no substitutes for grindingly long hours.  There was a period in my own career where I was especially motivated by the prospect of advancement and all that went with it, and had great respect for the organization and the work we were doing.  Accordingly, I resolved to myself  that no one in the 20-person department I worked in (including the SVP who managed the operation) would come in earlier or work later than I would.  Did I always achieve that?  No.  But did my diligence catch the attention of senior management and ultimately help my career?  Yes.  (The assumption here of course is that you’re not simply sitting around long hours playing video games or writing to your aunt… but doing real work and adding value!)

In the end of course, occupational success is preordained for no one.  Many talented people compete for relatively few coveted positions.  But you can take certain actions to improve your odds. And if you do, regardless of how things turn out in a particular instance, at the very least you’ll have the benefit of broadening your skills and the satisfaction of knowing you gave your very best effort.

Our Biggest Month Yet!

With the end of our first quarter under wraps we did a little reflecting. Over the last three months we've promoted two Executive Team Leaders, handfuls of Executive Team Trainers and we're about to promote a new Assistant Director in a number of days. These are just the promotions within the next few weeks. We have so many up and coming promotions, it's unreal! On top of that we broke the record for the highest number of sales on our campaign and in our office. We also had a two of our reps break the record for the highest number of sales in a week within our organization.

Tim and Nikki (Team Galaxy) broke the sales record for our organization.

There is so much success around us. We are rolling out some new competitions for prizes in the coming months, we will be attending our Top Performers Retreat in TWO weeks in the Bahamas, and to top it all off we have an organizational conference set for June. From a business aspect we will be announcing  new markets, new campaigns, new clients, expansion plans, and upcoming promotions. It really is an exciting time to be part of this team. 

All companies enjoy success. It's a natural fact of running a business. We're excited to see all of the opportunity and talent we have within the office. I may be biased, but I think we have the best team around. Everyone supports one another and is working toward a common goal, not to mention we're all great looking (that was a joke... but we are). AltairBC is ready to take the business world by storm. Watch out world!

Off to the ATL We Go!

Today marks a bittersweet time for our Altair family. We are saying goodbye to some of our colleagues as they travel down to open an expansion office in Atlanta, GA. We are so happy for them on their new adventure. We will also miss them in their absence.

Elizabeth Brennan has been with Altair since September of 2013. She was promoted to our Executive Team Leader position in October of 2014. She has developed many of her colleagues into the leaders they are now during her time at Altair. We are excited to see what amazing things this new opportunity holds for her.

Ryan Ruiz has been with Altair since September of 2013 as well. He's our resident talker (and by talker I mean it's a GREAT day if he says more than three words). I can see amazing opportunities in his future with this company.

Elicia Johnston started with Altair April 1st, 2014. She has such a lovely personality and an infectious laugh that will be missed in her absence. Her consistent performance has earned her a wildcard spot at our Top Performers Retreat in the Bahamas coming up in April.

Grant Viekman is on of the newest members of our Altair family, starting in August of 2014. It has been amazing fun watching Grant grow into a leader and entrepreneur while he's been with us. He also has the prettiest hair I've ever seen. He will be joining other members of our Altair family in a few weeks aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas for some fun in the sun. Grant has also been proving his potential as a business owner over the last few months.

Jaron Watkins started out in our Ann Arbor office and transferred to our Grand Rapids office back in September. He has recently proven to be a top performer within the office and has been invited on our all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas. Jaron also holds many of the sales records we have standing in the office currently. It only goes to prove Jaron's will to succeed within our business. Because of this, I know we will see great things from him.

In our business, we spend so much time together as a group. We've all built relationships on both a personal and professional level. It's not that we'll never see you again. We will be seeing you in the near future at our Top Performers Retreat in the Bahamas and again at our company conference in June. But we won't see your faces every morning around the office. We won't see your posts to the team in our group text. We won't get to sit down with you and ask you how your weekend went or see you at events outside of the office. We will definitely be visiting you in your new, warm and sunny location in Atlanta.

Take the skills you have learned here and pass them onto others in your new location! You will be greatly missed. But this isn't goodbye, it's see you later.

The Truth About Success

Humans are fickle creatures. There are many "fair-weather friends" of celebrities, businesses, trends, politics, and individuals. While something looks glamorous we are all for it! Winning the lottery? Promises of grandeur? Any random trend is good for a while, but when the hype wears off, that's the end of the fan base.

We hear what we want to hear. Commercials on the TV will say "Call now and get a $500 value for $19.99!!!" Sounds great! Then we look at the fine print or call and buy it and here's what we missed: 19.99 per month for 3 months. Plus S+H. Small fee when paid for with a credit card. Any late payments will result in the end of the promotional price. 
Now it's not near as cool; and for good reason!

So now what happens when there's actually a good thing? People go to college and expect a 60k job right after graduation that they can just swoop into and live their dreams because they want to college! College is a great accomplishment to be sure, though the hard work continues after graduation. From one job to another, barely making ends meet, that was hardly the dream we thought it would be when someone signed us up to be adults!

The road to success is rarely, if ever, the straight arrow we think it will be. It's full of color and life! Ups and downs, wrong turns, huge learning curves, failures, small victories, and so much more!! Lets not make ourselves blind to the fact that no matter what goals we have, there will be a lot to learn on the way to success. We can make it there with patience and endurance of the junk that can make the hardship seem unbearable and not worth the prize at the end of the tunnel.

Just like TV the good thing is good, but it comes with things that could make it difficult, that could ruin the deal if you mess up-and lets be honest, not everything is within our control! So do we give up?

Now that, that is up to you!

Business: According to Settlers of Catan!

Settlers of Catan: a much loved board game. If you've never played or never heard of it, it is a game of development, of building cities and roads with the resources you gain from the land you build on. If you build on the wrong places, there is no way to get resources that you need to develope and (really) to win the game! The game of Catan symbolizes those resources with different cards. You can hold them in your hand for as long as you want, but you eventually can lose them if you keep too many undeveloped.

It is somewhat complicated to explain, but it is a great metaphor for a business or managing a team.

Owning a business requires that you have certain pieces or skills to really sustain that. Build in the right places and you have the correct resources to sustain and develop. A grocery store with no groceries will soon cease to exist! Advertising with no capital is rather impossible! A manager with no people to manage...is quite a laugh.

Without the necessary resources one cannot expect to be successful.

Not "cashing in" our resources can be just as detrimental. If you know the game, holding onto a ton of brick and wood does nothing for you, you have to use those to build roads! In the real business world, we can get so excited about our business that we don't realize that our plans for expansion aren't sustainable. We can be too generous with capital and end up closing the doors for lack of funding. On the other hand, there are some developments that need to be saved for, which means turning down a smaller opportunity for the bigger picture.

Being aware of what needs to be spent and what needs to be saved, what needs to be delegated and what you just need to do yourself, is a great skill that must be learned by any successful business person.