Do You Want to Launch a Leadership Revolution?

February 10, 2008 MYORBITX

There are many terrific books that offer information on leadership as both an art and a science. They are books that every manager, in any capacity, should invest their money and time into studying and applying in their work situation. Reading such books to keep abreast of the times will help you launch a leadership revolution that will enable you to make your work environment run smoothly.

Reading books that help you become a better manager is information that deserves deeper study than just a casual reading. These types of books are driven by the intelligent analysis of leadership provided within the book. They provide many of the guiding principles that make leadership a science. Leadership books that teach are balanced with the emotional intelligence that makes leadership an art.

The principles learned in books about management are given in explanations we are sure to hear repeated as better management practices are taught and discussed in the future. This is especially true of concepts like: “the art and science of leadership”; “five levels of leadership”; and, “the tri-lateral leadership ledger.”

What’s in a word?

Before you start gleaning insights from reading leadership books, I want to suggest you take a moment to consider the titles and what they mean. As you do so, why not apply the concepts to your own life and leadership scenario? Why not look at how they impact your life?

It always helps to pause a moment to challenge our own assumptions. I am always an advocate of the analysis process. (After all I paid a lot of graduate tuition to learn analysis processes and it would be a shame to let those thousands go to waste.)

I suggest that you take a moment and consider three words that are key to management applications, and that you learn from reading books that teach leadership skills. These are words that if you never even pick up a book, just pausing to consider their definitions and applying them with what you already know can be a mini refresher course in leadership. These words are “launch,” “leadership,” and “revolution.”

It will often expand your thinking to look at the different definitions of a word in a dictionary. That is the expansion of thinking you will find here. You will find definitions of the words: launch, leadership, and revolution. With the exception of “leadership, the definitions are correlated to personality types.

The four personality types are: Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic. Cholerics lead through assertiveness and strength of will; Sanguines through charm; Melancholies through rules and systems; and Phlegmatics lead by consensus or mentoring.

Leadership definitions were not correlated with any specific type since all types can be leaders. As you read them, keep in mind you are probably a combination of two or more personality types. Don’t try to understand yourself using one personality type only. There are numerous web articles about personality types if you want to learn more.

What is leadership?

To lead is to direct or control the movement of something. It is often associated with authority. Another meaning is to influence the action of others by example. A definition which brings in the concept of future vision is “to guide on a way by going in advance”. Using these definitions you are you are ready to define “leadership”.

Definition 1: Leadership is an office or position according to Merriam-Webster. You may have a position in a corporation, a church, a business to which has been given to you. You may also have obtained it by virtue of being a founder.

Definition 2: Leadership is a capacity to lead. People may have said to you, “You have leadership”. They mean that they see in you something that they often attribute to a natural talent for leadership.

Definition 3: Leadership was also defined as the act or moment of leadership. It makes me think of you as stepping forward and rising to show leadership because the moment called for it.

Definition 4: Leadership is also given a collective definition. It is a select group of people at a high level in the hierarchy of an organization, movement, or institution who collective have the power to control direction and activities. In politics you might talk about party leadership in this sense.

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Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – 9 Mistakes That Will Cause You to Fail

February 6, 2008 Husnal Kaur

I work with and am friends with a number of financial advisors. In a recent conversation with a veteran in the business we discussed the main reasons new advisors don’t make it. Truthfully your odds of making it in the business are pretty slim if you just do what they tell you do to, but your actions determine your results and your future.

Lots of people enter the industry and only are rare few are still in the business after five years, and even fewer are successful. As we spoke we shared our experiences as to why so many people with so much potential fail from the perspective of the veteran who has seen people come and go like a revolving door, and the coach who works with the elite few who are committed to making it. By the end of our conversation we had a list of 9 mistakes those new to the business make that lead to their failure:

you still have a wage earner mind-set and lack the entrepreneurial drive to make it work no matter what
you think you’re selling products
you don’t understand that it’s all about the relationships you’re able to start and build
you lack focus, direction, and commitment causing you to get off track going in the wrong direction changing directions to chase the next great idea
you think you’re different that you’re a super star, but you’re actions don’t back up your bravado
you have a scarcity mentality and you’re afraid to invest in yourself to develop the skills you need to succeed
you think you know what to do, but you don’t know how to do it
you don’t know what you don’t know and you aren’t trying to figure out what you don’t know or how to know it
you confuse activity with results and burn out with little to show for your tremendous efforts.

Did you recognize any of those fatal mistakes in yourself, or are you thinking you aren’t making those mistakes but you know others who are? I know the list is pretty harsh, but review it again and be harshly honest with yourself. If you aren’t headed where you want to be it’s pretty likely that one or more of those mistakes are getting in your way.

So what do you do if you confess that one of those mistakes is making things difficult for you? Congratulate yourself because the first step to removing any challenge or obstacle is recognizing it exists. You have the opportunity to both strengthen your sales skills and your sales results.

If you were sitting with a potential client and they identified a problem how would you proceed? Would you get them to identify all the problems or challenges they face, and then help them to prioritize the top three? After you agreed on the most important problems wouldn’t you help them to choose one of perhaps three solutions? Then wouldn’t you help them to take action(s) based on the selected solution? Hmmm, do you suppose that would work for you too?

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cheryl_Clausen/56791

Business Strategy, Market News, MyOrbit Blogs, New Media, Online Marketing

Analysis of Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo

February 4, 2008 MyOrbit-Team

Microsoft is dealing from a position of strength, with an offer that most Yahoo shareholders see very good to let pass.
Meanwhile, Google is trying what it can to see how to counter this deal, and has also been talking to Yahoo to see if Yahoo can outsource the search to Google, which is expected to improve Yahoo’s net income by 25% according to some analysts.

Business Strategy, Capital Markets, Internet, Market News, MyOrbit Blogs, New Media, Online Marketing, Software

Microsoft bids for Yahoo at $44bn

February 1, 2008 MyOrbit-Team 1 Comment

A jumbo deal has been proposed in the Internet space. Here’s some quick analysis:

1. Deal Makes Sense To Microsoft and Yahoo shareholders – exact price point can change a bit on negotiation. This is like a lifeline for Yahoo shareholders who have not been seeing much good news.

2. The real question: can two B+ guys together beat one A+ guy? It is here that I am not sure. Microsoft (a B+ in search only, not talking about their A+ in Windows OS)…is betting a lot that Yahoo’s search and traffic will help its online search business, but what if the key employees bail out selling their stock, and search customers don’t care anyway unless there is a strong difference in search results. Over the last 7 years, Yahoo has slowly but steadily become less relevant in search. Is this is the best use of $44 billion that Microsoft can make today? (Warren Buffet may have recommended only the stock-for-stock option in this case, rather than also giving the cash option).

3. Google won’t have to worry much about this deal. We think the market is overestimating the threat to Google, and that the 7.4% drop in its share price presents an sudden investment opportunity. If anything, Google might want to attract/ recruit some star engineers that fall-out from Yahoo, more proactively now than before. Google just has to watch out for the next generation of search, which must be in the making somewhere, we’ll know about it in a couple of years.

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Here is the stock price movement of Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google after the announcement.

microsoft yahoo bid stock price movement

And here is Microsoft’s letter to Yahoo Board yesterday.

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January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft’s closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use – EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices – this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!’s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft’s share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that “now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction.” According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board’s confidence in the “potential upside” if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

* Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
* Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
* Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
* Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Steven A. Ballmer
Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft

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Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – 7 Mistakes That Are Screwing Up Your Sales

January 31, 2008 Husnal Kaur

You don’t know what you want to be when you grow up, or at least you’re acting like you don’t. You’re like a frustrated employee who hates their job, but doesn’t see how to get a better one. You lack focus, but you don’t know what to focus on so you’re running around looking under every rock trying to find someone you can sell to.

This stinks. It’s ugly, painful, and disheartening but it doesn’t have to be that way. You see, there are logical reasons it’s like this and those reasons include:

You don’t know who you want to work with.
You don’t know what they want.
You don’t know why they want it.
You don’t know what not having it is costing them, emotionally or financially.
You’re unsure what you’re trying to accomplish.
You don’t make yourself unique or special to anyone.
You don’t know how to communicate who you are and what you do in a way that gets others to self-select themselves for you.

Part of your confusion and misdirection stems from fear. You aren’t making enough sales now, so you’re afraid if you narrow your target that you’ll starve to death. Just the opposite is true.

When you focus on a market and then make a commitment to dominate that market you’ll make more sales with less work and open more doors to places you could never enter now. You may wonder why or how this could be true? It’s true because we all like to feel special, we all like things that are just for us, and the more special you can be to a certain group of people the more sales you’ll earn.

When you aren’t perceived as special or unique you’re perceived as a disposable commodity. And you don’t want to be in the position of just being another sales smuck. Think through those 7 mistakes and develop your plan for becoming a top sales professional.