Avoid the intersection of ignorance and arrogance

The rules are simple: Tell the world what is so important to you at this moment in 140 characters or less. That’s it.

Welcome to the vastly growing universe of Twitter.

If you’re like me, you might scoff at this notion and question the relevance of such communication. Why would anyone want to tell the world such things? And, more importantly, who would care what I have to say?

To begin answering these questions, follow me at www.twitter.com/d_j_allen.

Being a part of the Twitter world is not about the way I want to communicate with others. It’s about the way other people want to be communicated with. We must resist the urge to stay ignorant to the way technology has changed communication.

Former NBA player and current UNLV assistant basketball coach Steve Henson tells the story about Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek at a recent workshop. Sendek told the group of coaches that if you are that guy who brags about not knowing how to turn on a computer, you are already way behind in the profession.

We all know someone like that, or, worse off, we might actually be that person. Many of us like to mask our incompetence with something new by devaluing its relevance. Often, we do this without taking the time to actually learn the details.

The intersection of ignorance and arrogance is a dangerous place to dwell. We all must seek to avoid it in the many areas of our lives.

Communicating with others is not about what we say – it’s about what other people hear. Without the ability to communicate with others at a high level, great ideas or institutional knowledge are limited in their usefulness. (In our decade of assisting businesses and organizations, we’ve found that 95% of problems in organizations occur from poor internal communication. And, generally, it begins with a poor communicator at the top.)

It all starts with understanding your audience. In the college basketball world, coaches are looking to reach out to teenage athletes and persuade them to play for their respective programs.

Coaches are kidding themselves if they think these young men are going to sit down and read full-length letters that adequately describe the benefits of attending a particular institution.

And it’s not just the younger generations. In fact, how many of us actually sit down and read all of the full-length letters we get? Give me bullet points. Text me. Shoot me a quick e-mail.

This is not to say it is right. In my perfect world, everyone would love to take three minutes to read columns such as this. And everyone would love to listen to me make 45-60-minute presentations. However, that world is not reality.

We must know our audiences and talk to them. Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari (www.twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari) and USC football coach Pete Carroll (www.twitter.com/PeteCarroll) have mastered this. If you did not know who they were, you might think some of their posts were from teenagers themselves. But this is not about what you and I think, this is about what their potential recruits think. And that is the lifeline of their respective careers.

My co-author of “The Xs & Os of Success” and UNLV head basketball coach Lon Kruger (www.twitter.com/LonKruger) joined the Twitter world just this past week, and this is what he had to say to Steve Guiremand of RebelNation: “It’s the way young people are communicating,” the 56-year-old Kruger said.

Period. It’s that simple. It’s not about him, it’s about his audience.

Twitter, Facebook, texting, e-mails, etc. They are all valuable tools in today’s world of communicating – just like good old fashioned letters, telephone calls and (the granddaddy of them all) the face-to-face conversation. Each one of them is valuable in their own way with different sets of audiences.

When preparing to communicate with others, think about the ways your audience wants to best receive the message. Then proceed.

Make it less about you and more about them. That is how we succeed as communicators – and, ultimately, as people.

The sport of Motown?

Between writing the book with Coach Kruger and preparing entries for this blog, I have spent much of the past two years examining the parallels between teamwork in business, life and sports.

Today, we are calling an audible. Let’s talk about the teamwork needed in producing a live, Motown musical experience. After all, it’s the same type of teamwork needed in any sport, business or family.

Had the opportunity recently to take in the new Las Vegas show featuring the amazingly talented Australian vocal group, Human Nature, at the Imperial Palace. Presented by Smokey Robinson, the show is appropriately subtitled, “The Ultimate Celebration of Motown.”

The four-man group’s a cappella versions of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” as well as Robinson’s own “Ooh Baby Baby” were nothing short of spectacular. Forget emotional, the performances were spiritual.

But what also captivated me throughout the evening was watching the team work together. There is a formula to the success of such groups. It requires all four members of the team to be humble enough to understand and honor their own ever-changing roles throughout the entire performance.

In the premier Motown-style groups, three of the four vocalists are strong enough singers to be the front man at any given time. They are each talented enough to be in the spotlight and lead the entire show. However, those same three performers must also be willing to fall back to simply being a back-up singer and supporting one of his teammates at various times throughout the performance.

Noticing this, I found myself intrigued watching the “back-up” singers during the last half of the show. They always played their roles, never trying to do too much (sometimes even seconds after being the center of attention). It was time for their teammate to shine, not them.

While this was happening, two things about teamwork in this industry became very apparent. First, the simplicity of the dance steps caught my attention. Imagine one person doing the Motown-style dance steps by himself. (You might chuckle.) The moves are rather basic and, in fact, can be a bit hokey. But performed together with two or three other members in unison, the simple dance steps create magic. The same thing can be said about our lives at work, in the community and at home. If we keep doing the simple things that we are supposed to do every day – in unison with and in support of those around us – magic can happen.

Second, my admiration grew for the fourth member of the group – the bass. While he may have his special moment or two during the show – designed specifically for him to show off his deep voice – his job is to provide a foundation for the rest of the vocals to build upon. The bass is basically out of the spotlight for 95% of the show. However, without a talented bass, any such vocal group will fail. The performer in this position must be humble enough to understand his role is to make his teammates look better – much like an offensive lineman in football or a pass-first point guard in basketball.

For Motown-style groups, there needs to be as much harmony in their actions as they have in their voices. These are lessons all of us can use in our lives with all of our different teammates.

Hopefully, we are strong enough to be lead singers when called upon. But it takes even stronger individuals to also be able to serve as great back-up singers when that is what is required.

Are you making plays for teammates?

LeBron gets it.

In the March 25, 2009 edition of Sports Illustrated, Dan Patrick’s “Just My Type” column featured a Q&A with NBA MVP LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Here is one of Patrick’s questions with James’ answer:

Dan Patrick: Which would mean more: making a game-winning shot or dishing off for a game-winning shot?

LeBron James: Passing to a teammate and him hitting the game-winner. That means I’ve drawn the defense or drawn a double team and gotten a guy open. And to see a teammate succeed is the ultimate for me.

The other best player on the planet – Kobe Bryant – displayed this same type of philosophy last night in the Lakers’ vital game five win over Denver. Bryant took just 13 shots while adding eight assists in a must-win game for Los Angeles.

No play was more crucial than Bryant’s highlight assist to Lamar Odom with a minute left in the fourth quarter which all but put the game away. With the shot clock winding down, Bryant rose for an apparent three-point attempt which drew defenders. However, at the last moment, Bryant zipped the ball to Odom under the basket for an easy bucket plus a foul.

LeBron and Kobe. Kobe and LeBron. However you stack it, they are the two best players in the world. But neither player can win on his own. Yes, there are times they both must carry their respective teams and more often than not, they will be the guys who take the shot at the buzzer. (If you were the coach, that’s who you would want shooting the ball too, right?)

But the best leaders – in sports, in business, in our communities, in our homes – understand the better they make their teammates look, the more they will succeed.

Do you live your life wanting to make those around you look good? Do you consciously make an effort to put those around you in a position to succeed? Or, do you focus on getting credit for everything good that happens?

Successful individuals come from successful teams.

Successful teams are not made up of individuals who are concentrating on individual success and accolades. Instead, these teams are made up of strong and secure individuals who are striving to make their teammates look good.

And in the end, these individuals will receive the due accolades.

Just like James said, “To see a teammate succeed is the ultimate for me.”

Can you say the same thing?

One Loss Cannot Lead to Another

Watching the Los Angeles Dodgers without suspended superstar Manny Ramirez is intriguing right now. Despite holding the best record in baseball, the young team is extremely fragile at the moment.

Immediately following news of Manny’s positive drug test – which will sideline him for 50 games – the Dodgers lost four of their next five games and it was evident the team’s confidence had been shaken. However, with two victories over the World Series champion Phillies in Philadelphia this week, the Dodgers captured a key series victory on the road.

The team will struggle at times without Manny – there is no doubt about that. But the series victory over the Phillies may have kept the Dodgers from falling into a deep tailspin caused by the difficult and embarrassing loss of their best player.

As Lesson #29 from The Xs & Os of Success addresses, “One Loss Cannot Lead to Another.” Many of our organizations have suffered losses recently. We have to make sure we are not allowing those losses to have bigger impacts than they should. Here are a few words from this lesson:

We have all had our bad days at work.

Lost a client. Failed to close a deal. Did not meet expectations on a project. Missed sales numbers.

Business is like sports. You will not win every game. The key to being successful, however, is how you react to failure.

As a leader, your responsibility is to help your team and team members recover from failure as quickly as possible and grow from the experience. Many of us tend to spend a great portion of our time after a failure rationalizing why we failed and harping upon variables that were out of our control. While there are times external variables do play major roles in our failure, it does not benefit us to focus on them and it definitely does not help us “play the next play.”

The first step in moving forward from failure is admitting fault and taking ownership of the unsuccessful results. Only from this point will you be able to identify which variables — those you do have control of — led to the negative situation. Once these have been identified, you can then create a plan that will allow you to positively address those areas and make improvement…

The biggest winners in sports and business all lose at times. What separates them from the rest is how quickly and proactively they move on from their losses. They never allow one loss to be the cause of another loss.

Not Always Right

The New Economy has forced many of us to make decisions we never thought we would have to make. And, unfortunately, most of those are decisions we never wanted to make.

There has been a lot of positive feedback from Lesson #23 in the book, The Xs & Os of Success. It’s called “Not Always Right.” The philosophy of “Not always right, but always motivated by the right reasons” is helping many decision-makers during this time. (I know. I am one of them.)

Here's a little taste of the lesson. Hope there is a message in it you can use.

Decisions made by leaders impact numerous people. Many times one decision will impact certain team members positively while that same decision will impact another group of team members negatively.

These are the moments that make or break leaders.

Often times “being right” is subjective. Because of this, making such crucial decisions can be hazardous for leaders. Thus, the decision-making process then becomes the most important factor in this entire situation.

As a leader, you must ask yourself, “What is motivating me to make this decision?” Ultimately, your decision-making process should be consistent and should always come back to what is best for the overall good of the team and its objectives.

If your decision-making process is grounded in this philosophy, you will maintain the trust of your team members, even when a decision may negatively impact them.

Like parents who want the best for their children, successful leaders want what is best for the people they are leading. However, with their team members’ best interests at heart, there is a time to say “no” and there are times to hold team members accountable.

Leaders will always have their decisions questioned. That is part of the job. Effective leaders, however, never give people a reason to question their motives for making such decisions.

An Underdog's Margin of Error

“So, D.J., what’s your favorite lesson from the book?”

It’s a simple question I have been asked time and time again since The Xs & Os of Success: A Playbook for Leaders in Business and Life was released last November. The question is fair, but difficult. (I may be a little biased, but I tend to like all 40 of the lessons.) However, there are certain lessons which stand out to me for different reasons and at different times.

As I am preparing for a number of presentations over the next couple of months, there is one lesson seemingly taking center-stage during these tough economic times – Lesson #7, “An Underdog’s Margin of Error.”

Think any of these words below from the lesson describe us as a nation?

The most successful teams are the teams who have the top talent available, the confidence of a champion and the focus of an underdog.

For many reasons, however, these teams rarely exist.

It is obvious that not every team will have the top talent available — in fact, most teams will not. And, of course, without producing any results, having the confidence of a champion can be difficult.

However, there is one thing all teams should work to obtain — performing with the focus of an underdog. Unmatched focus can overcome many obstacles, including a lack of talent, and allow performance at the highest level possible.

The top leaders have a knack for keeping their teams hungry, keeping their teams focused on what needs to be done each and every day to achieve overall success. They focus on every possession, every detail and give nothing away.

When you are the underdog in sports or in business, there is no margin for error. To win, you must take advantage of every opportunity which presents itself to you. Without focus, this is not possible.

Eventually, however, this increased focus will help to produce results, which will lead to the opportunity for your team to have the confidence of a champion. And, finally, it will help lead your team to attracting the best talent available.

It is important at this point not to forget about where you and your team started — as the underdog. No matter what talent you have or what confidence you have, compete as though you are the underdog. Compete as though you have no margin for error. This type of focus is unmatched.

It’s fair to say we – as a nation – stopped embracing our role as the underdog. After all, being the favorite is so much easier on our egos.

Unfortunately, look where it took us.

The question that never gets answered

One of the most-intriguing happenings in sports this past week took place in the NBA’s Developmental League.

On Sunday – the day after the regular season ended – the top teams in the league actually got to select which opponents they wanted to play in the first round of the playoffs (an elimination game). The Colorado 14ers had the D-League’s best record so they picked their opponent from the bottom four playoff teams – Idaho, Erie, Dakota and Bakersfield. The second seeded Utah Flash was then allowed to choose its opponent.

The experimental new rule was used because rosters fluctuate so much in the D-League that those running the league feel teams’ win-loss records are not the best way to determine who should face off in the playoffs. Not sure if the rule is right or wrong, but it is certainly intriguing.

It does, however, remind me of one of the most useless questions asked to coaches and players in nearly every sport, almost every season. Here’s the scene:

Team A has already reached the playoffs or advanced in the playoffs and is awaiting the outcome of a game or series to see whether they will be playing Team B or Team C.

Broadcaster to Coach or Player on Team A: So do you have a preference of which team you would rather face – Team B or Team C?

Coach or Player on Team A: You know, we’re just happy to be here. Whether we play Team B or Team C, we just need to concentrate on what we do. They are both good teams and no matter who we play, it’s going to be a battle.

Sounds familiar, right? Unfortunately, it’s a waste of time – for the interviewer, the interviewee and the audience. The same question getting asked over and over with the same substance-lacking results. There is just no advantage for the coach or player to answer the question directly.

As humans, however, we are creatures of habit. In this instance, sports journalists – many of them qualified and capable – are so conditioned to the norms of the industry that they ask the question without even thinking twice about it. If they did give it some thought, they might put a different twist on it. They might ask the player or coach to match up Team B and Team C against one another or ask pointed questions about Team B and then Team C. Of course the coach or player will still be protective in his answers, but at least there is a chance for a bit of substance.

As children, we are told to think before we speak. But as adults, many of us seem to forget this simple rule. Actually, much of that has to do with the brilliance of the human mind. We become conditioned to shortcuts – relying on reacting without thinking because it saves us time and effort. Most of the time, we do this unconsciously.

Here’s a test. Over the next week, what do you find yourself conditioned to say?

- Do you find yourself wanting to speak in a meeting or conversation just because you feel you should say something – even though it won’t offer substance?

- Do you find yourself agreeing strongly with a statement even though you don’t actually feel that strongly about the subject or statement at all?

- Do you find yourself exaggerating the truth or gossiping about something you don’t know for a fact?

- Finally, do you find yourself saying “good bye,” “hello” or even “I love you” to a loved one without feeling it – or more importantly, showing him or her that you truly feel what you are saying?

These are all examples of us speaking before we think. As humans, we have become conditioned to do such. It is upon us to make a conscience decision to be different from the norm – to give those around us something better than the norm.

There is power in saying less. When you do, your words have more meaning. Think about it. No, seriously, think about it.

Checking your alignment

One of the most important elements of playing golf is alignment.

You may strike a ball perfectly sending it long and straight, but if you are not aligned with your target correctly prior to hitting the ball, it might not matter. The outcome may be detrimental despite striking the ball as well as you possibly can.

It’s easy for a lot of golfers to skip right to the part where we focus on our swings and try to make good contact with the ball. Many times we do this without giving our alignment the attention it needs. We “think” or “feel” as though we are aligned perfectly with our targets. However, sometimes a simple three-to-six inch adjustment in alignment on the tee box can mean the difference between landing a drive in the middle of the fairway – or landing it in the middle of the Andersons’ backyard.

The same can be said for us in life and business.

In today’s world, we are addicted to doing. We "feel" as if we need to be getting things done and moving forward at all times.

The problem with moving forward all of the time, however, is simple. If we were not aligned to be moving in the right direction initially, the more we move ahead on the wrong path the further away we are moving from where we really want to be.

Most of us “think” or “feel” we are going exactly where we want to go. This is dangerous. Like in golf, something may “feel” right to us simply because we have conditioned ourselves to become comfortable with our own bad habits. Just because we perceive we are aligned correctly does not mean we actually are.

Every once in a while it’s healthy for all of us to slow down, step back and take time to readjust our alignments.

This is important both professionally and, of course, personally. Have a blessed weekend.

The lost art of the jump shot – and basic writing

ESPN high school basketball recruiting expert Paul Biancardi made a simple – yet telling – statement during this past weekend’s ESPN RISE National High School Invitational. The inaugural tournament featured eight of the top high school boys’ basketball teams in the nation.

When asked about the evolution of high school basketball players, Biancardi talked about how today’s players are better athletes than ever before. He also discussed their increased skill sets because they play throughout the year.

Then he made the comment many veteran coaches around basketball echo. He just wished the players would work more on their shooting.

Pure shooting is becoming a lost art in the game of basketball. The ability to continually knock down the open jumper from 10-to-17 feet is rare to find.

Instead, today’s basketball players grow up wanting to emulate what they see on highlights. Three-point shots, dunks and acrobatic drives. Unfortunately, there is not much flashiness in being able to consistently nail a 15-foot baseline jumper.

But think about it. Shooting is the core fundamental skill needed to achieve success in the game of basketball. It is the crux of everything in the game offensively. If your team consists of good shooters, it opens up the options of driving, having a strong inside game and providing great spacing on the court. All of this leads to the highlights we discussed – but more importantly, it leads to offensive success on the court and winning as a team.

The lost art of shooting in basketball parallels the lost art of writing in today’s world.

Being able to communicate is paramount to succeed in life – both personally and professionally. Writing is the fundamental skill set needed to communicate at the highest levels. Strong writers are generally able to prioritize their thoughts and deliver compelling messages to their audiences – both formally and informally. Show me a good writer and I will show you someone who has the opportunity to become a brilliant communicator and, thus, an all-star in business and life.

Unfortunately, many of us in today’s world are poor writers. We struggle with condensing messages or conveying the proper tone. Also, many of us struggle with grammar or vocabulary. (The minute we use the wrong “there/their,” “its/it’s” or “defiantly/definitely,” readers begin to question the validity of our message.)

Writing is simply a chain of small details coming together to form important messages. Truth is revealed in the details.

Like the 12-foot jumper, basic writing is not the most glamorous of skill sets to hone. However, it does separate the best communicators from the rest.

Just the New Economy being the New Economy

With the pains of our New Economy come opportunities. Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Last season's trade that sent Manny Ramirez from Boston to Los Angeles changed the entire landscape of the National League. Overnight, the Dodgers went from being just another average member of the average National League West to being one of the best teams in the Majors over the final two months of the season.

In fact, the Dodgers captured the division title and went on to sweep the Cubs in the playoffs – the Dodgers' first playoff series win since 1988. Mannywood had changed baseball in Hollywood. But not for long. At the end of the season, Ramirez became a free agent. With super-agent Scott Boras calling the shots, Ramirez was reportedly looking for a five-year deal worth $125 million.

And he was still looking four months later. Why? Despite being arguably the best hitter in baseball, a long-term deal would have come with two major concerns - 1) he'll be 37 this May; and 2) there are concerns about Manny's long-term impact in the clubhouse. Throw in the variable of a collapsing market and Manny was still looking for a job come March. Advantage: Dodgers. Their original two-year, $45-million proposal - which Boras and Ramirez initially scoffed at - was agreed to. Mannywood II went into production in Los Angeles.

Had the market not tanked, odds are someone would have thrown the $125 million or so at Manny, despite all the risk involved. The Dodgers decided early on that would not be them and stuck to the plan. (A plan that would have included them sinking back into the world of also-rans this season without Manny's bat in the lineup.) But ultimately, the Dodgers took advantage of the opportunity the New Economy presented to them. They resigned Manny for a minimal-risk deal and are now one of the favorites in the National League. If the Manny experiment does not work the second time around, they can get out quick. However, if it does work out anything like last season, their ROI will be incredible.

So what advantages are being presented to you by the New Economy? Most of us are so focused on the challenges being presented to us that we are not taking time to recognize the advantages.

A couple of months ago I had breakfast with one of the brightest financial minds in the Southwest. His message of hope was simple - those who will thrive in the New Economy will be leaner than ever before. Those organizations may not look or feel the same as they did pre-New Economy, but that will be a good thing. Both our private and public sectors will be more efficient. We - as a nation - will evolve into a finely-tuned machine for survival's sake.

Since that conversation, our team has embraced this way of thinking as we have searched for our opportunities brought on by the New Economy? Surprisingly, we have found many of them. The opportunities do not take the current challenges away from us, but they have given us a new focus and certainty for a better tomorrow.

Simply trying to survive the economic downturn is no longer an option. Find the opportunities the New Economy is presenting to you and embrace them. They are out there – in fact, there are “manny” more than you might think.

Tiger's comeback win a "small" thing

Tiger Woods is the most-dominating sports figure in the world. He reminded us of this with his come-from-behind victory on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

The victory for Woods at Bay Hill marked his first win - in just three tries - since returning from reconstructive knee surgery he underwent nearly 300 days ago.

But what was so big about Tiger's return is actually the smallest of things - his putting. Not the 12-foot birdie on the 18th hole he rolled in at dusk for the win or even the 25-foot birdie he drained on the 15th to finally catch Sean O'Hair (who started the day leading Woods by five strokes). Those are the putts that are replayed over and over on highlight shows.

Instead, it was the 50-plus putts Wood had during the four days of the tournament of six feet or less. He never missed one of them - not one. That is why Tiger is Tiger. He takes care of the small things - the short putts - better than anyone in the game.

More than any other athlete in the world, Tiger has a flair for the dramatic. But he puts himself in that position time after time because he takes care of the small details on a routine basis. If Tiger would have missed just one of those short putts throughout the tournament, his 12-foot birdie on the 18th would not have won him the tournament. However, we never see those small things on highlight reels, thus, we don't value them as much as we should.

When it comes to business, all-stars become all-stars by taking care of what they need to take care of on a daily basis. They do what they say they are going to do. By making sure all of the details are handled, they put themselves in position to succeed - with clients, employees, bosses, co-workers, vendors, etc.

It takes great commitment and discipline to be great everyday - great when it comes to handling the small things. But if we aren't taking care of the small things with precision, we are just kidding ourselves that we will be successful when we get a big opportunity.

Be great everyday by taking care of the small details. Tiger does.

Hating to lose

In our new economy, a lot of us have been losing lately. However, we can't become immune to the pain losing should bring us.

Yes, the economy is brutal. Many of us have lost large amounts of business because of it. It is a different world than it was just six months ago. But if you think you can do absolutely nothing about it, you may have already given up.

I love the Lon Kruger quote in a recent article by the LVSun.com's Rob Miech: "Wanting to win is a good quality. Hating to lose is, maybe, a better one. Everyone wants to win. Sometimes, you don’t have enough people who hate to lose."

I have never been around anyone who has higher standards - and higher expectations of those around him (including off the basketball court) - than Coach. He absolutely hates to lose, although he remains a true and sincere gentleman when he suffers a defeat.

To me, there is a great lesson we can take out of this quote.

The most important characteristic of the "hating to lose" quality is that the person who lost takes responsibility for the loss. He takes ownership in the reality that he could have done something better to prevent the defeat. This realization drives him to improve in the future, to avoid further losses.

Everyone loves to win. It's easy to take ownership of that. However, not everyone is secure enough to take ownership of losses or failures (both big and small). Thus, it's safer for many people to do things such as place the blame elsewhere and/or claim the loss was unavoidable.

Have you done that anytime over the past six months in your business? "Well, we lost that client because of the economy." "Well, people aren't spending right now, thus, we didn't close that deal." Sound familiar?

Those sound like the old break-up line, "It's not you, it's me." Uh, no it's not. It does have at least a little something to do with you.

I am not crazy, most of us are losing business because of the economy. But, if we are providing a value to our clients, it's much more difficult for them to leave us. Begin to take ownership of losing these economic causalities and try to do something about it besides simply saying, "Well, there was nothing we could do."

For example, be proactive in addressing clients' needs. Offer to reduce rates or contracts before clients/customers come to you wanting to completely stop spending with you. Or, better yet, offer them more services or bonus product for the current financial arrangement. (This protects your revenues.) When they think of you, have them thinking they have already improved their relationship with you during these tough economic times. It's about value.

On the new business development front, many of us did not have to be great closers during the booming economic periods. The business was there if we generated the leads. Today, we need to close. If you are getting in front of people during this period, that is a legitimate opportunity. Take ownership in closing them. If you don't close them, it's not simply the economy - you had something to do with it. Fix it. Become a better salesperson, a better sales organization. Give potential clients a reason to spend money - offer them value and show them their potential return on investment.

Too many professionals right now don't want to take ownership of the business we are losing - or not gaining. In fact, too many professionals are starting to become immune to the pain of losing.

Don't let you - or your teammates - fall into the trap of simply accepting failure. That is the easy way out (of business). Take ownership in each loss and hate every single one of them. You may still face losses - just not as many.

Kruger's book proceeds to benefit CCSD School-Community Partnership

Coach is always thinking about others. So when he told me he wanted all of his proceeds from the book to be donated to a non-profit organization, I was not surprised. In fact, I knew it was coming.

We determined to have the proceeds benefit the Clark County School District's School-Community Partnership. Both of us serve on the advisory board for the Partnership, which is designed to connect business and community resources with school resources to enrich the educational experience and increase student achievement. (Bridget Bilbray-Phillips and her entire team at the Partnership do a fantastic job!)

The Partnership uses its money wisely as it enhances the educational experience for students and brings the community into the educational process. Coach's hope is that other business leaders might think of creative ways their business endeavors can benefit education as well.

So when you buy a copy of the book, not only are you hopefully enjoying lessons and learning philosophies that can help you in your day-to-day life as well as your professional career, but you are also benefiting students in Southern Nevada.

If you haven't bought a copy of The Xs & Os of Success: A Playbook for Leaders in Business and Life yet, the best way is to order it at http://www.coachkruger.com/. From there, more proceeds are delivered to the CCSD's School-Community Partnership. The book is also available at select bookstores as well as amazon.com.

For full disclosure, my proceeds from the book will be benefiting education as well - Bailey and Daniel's college funds.

Don't Hire Employees - Recruit Them

Imagine if major college sports programs simply took out ads in Sports Illustrated or USA Today stating, “Players wanted.” Then they chose their team members strictly from the pool of people who showed an interest over a period of a couple weeks.

Sounds absurd, right? Of course it does. Recruiting is the lifeline of college athletics.

But why – when it comes to our businesses – do we think the right person is magically going to show up at our door if we just advertise that we need help?

One of the most important traits for being a top-performing leader is having the ability to build a team made up of talented people and then putting them in a position to succeed. However, too many times organizations simply rush to fill a position for the sake of getting it filled without taking into account if that particular person has the right skill sets for the job and the right personality to fit into a culture.

Many people think the hiring process is a headache. This is understandable as the process does take time and being understaffed for any amount of time is a burden for any company. But at least that is a temporary headache. Hiring the wrong person is a headache that keeps on giving! (And taking, as it costs your organization money in the long run.)

Don’t be a hirer. Be a recruiter. Court people in your life (business and personal) you believe might be a good fit for your company – even if you are not hiring at the moment. Have a pipeline of people in mind that you would love to surround yourself with. Ask co-workers, vendors and customers for leads. (These leads may be vendors, competitors and, sometimes, completely out of your industry.) Don’t make promises to anyone, but take suggestions and build relationships.

Another opportunity is to have an aggressive internship program. When people are working for free – or nearly free – you see their true colors. (Think of it as your own minor league system… We had an intern five years ago we could not afford to hire when her internship ended. But not hiring her – and letting her go to a competitor – would have been more costly to us as she was a budding superstar. Thus, we hired her and today she is a staple in our organization.)

If you are constantly on the recruiting trail, when it’s time to grow – or replace someone who has left – you now have a great opportunity to improve as a company rather than just fill a void. You have targeted quality people and will be able to put someone in a position to succeed.

As a leader, you may be an amazing developer of talent. But if you are not recruiting the top talent to begin with, your potential is already limited before you even begin to do your magic.

Being a great leader starts by being an aggressive recruiter. Don’t hire employees. Recruit them. There are All Stars to be found, particularly in our new economy.