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.