My “right-hand man” Brandon attended the Berkshire Hathaway Annual meeting on May 5^th.  He had some interesting thoughts and I asked if I could post them here…

ENTER BRANDON

I’d long heard about the legendary shareholder meetings of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Dubbed the “Woodstock of Capitalism,” the event attracts 30,000 people to Omaha, Nebraska, every year. For five hours during the meeting, Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger answer questions from reporters, analysts, and shareholders on a wide range of subjects. No audio or video recording is allowed.

Despite the high cachet of the event (I walked past Bill Gates without realizing it until I heard a commotion behind me), any shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway can attend by filling out a form in the annual proxy statement. I’m only four hours from Omaha, so I decided to make the trip.

I’m sure glad I did. The event is a one-of-a-kind networking opportunity. More importantly, Buffet and Munger’s willingness to answer questions is priceless. I was fascinated by their emphasis on people and relationships and took away three key lessons.

1. People skills are critical and take a lifetime to master.

Buffett learned how to invest at 19 from his mentor Benjamin Graham. His method hasn’t changed since. Any one of us can learn Buffett’s method by going to the library and picking up Benjamin Graham’s seminal classic The Intelligent Investor. What has taken Buffett a lifetime to figure out is how to understand people. When Buffett first started out, he placed a heavy emphasis on quantitative data. Despite being the third richest man in the world, Buffett feels he would be richer today if he started paying attention to the people side of investing sooner.

2. Much of investing is figuring out whom you want to create business relationships with.

Because Buffett only invests in uncomplicated companies, figuring out if a business is statistically undervalued is relatively simple for him. The problem is that some companies that seem statistically cheap will never appreciate in value because they have bad management. Before investing in a company, Buffett has to know that management will run the company in the interest of owners—instead of in the interest of management. Often, he literally has to trust management with billions.

Buffett figures out if he wants to be in business with a company’s management by looking at their track record over several years. Are they always candid? Do they admit weaknesses and mistakes? Do they set clear standards of accountability?

3. Motivate subordinates with trust and accountability, not money and control.

When Buffett acquires whole companies, he doesn’t get involved in day-to-day management. Instead, his main job is to keep the company’s management motivated. Because the heads of Buffett’s businesses are almost all millionaires in their own right, Buffett doesn’t focus on money. He pays people fairly so they don’t feel ripped off, but he thinks real motivation comes from trusting managers and setting them free. He wants his managers to act like owners; therefore, he treats them like owners. He gives them broad, multi-year objectives and then lets them reach those objectives however they please. For instance, he owns a carpet company and a company that builds houses. Most conglomerates would make their house company buy carpet from their carpet company in the name of “integration,” “efficiency” or “collaboration.” He doesn’t because he can’t hold his managers accountable if he places extraneous demands on them. He says his managers excel because he allows them to “paint their picture” as they see fit. The moment he starts standing behind them and starts telling them to “use more red” or “use more green” in their painting, he will lose their artistic genius.

Last week we asked you to try your hand at creating a SMART goal statement.  This week let’s go through a checklist to make sure your statement meets the SMART criteria.

Is your goal Specific?

• Does your statement identify what you’re concretely trying to do?
• Does your statement identify everyone who is involved?
• Does your statement explain the precise reason you are trying to achieve your goal?

Is your goal Measurable?

• If two independent observers had to judge whether you achieved your goal, would they easily be able to agree based on objective criteria?
• Are you able to identify how close you are to achieving your goal at any given point?
• Does your statement include hard numbers?

Is your goal Actionable?

• Is your goal a stretch but still attainable?
• Do you know how to start working towards your goal?
• Do you have the tools needed to achieve your goal?

Is your goal Relevant?

• Is your goal something you really want to achieve, or just something you think you should want to achieve?
• Is your goal something relevant to the people around you?  Will they see a benefit in helping you?
• Is this the right time to focus on this goal?

Is your goal Time-bound?

• Does your statement create a sense of urgency?
• Will you be able to overcome day-to-day annoyances to work towards your goal?
• Does your statement have a definite time limit?

The first step in building your people strategy is to create a clear and concise statement of what success means. While defining success may seem like a no-brainer, most people and teams rarely take the time to spell out what they hope to achieve.  Instead, they assume that success metrics (whether quotas or body weight) are a given.  But with the complexities and interdependencies of our families, communities and organizations, it’s rarely that simple. So let’s consider the benefits of writing a FOCUS statement.

1.    Defines Success. Your FOCUS statement is proof you’ve done what you set out to accomplish. There’s power in writing down your goal. As a former University educator, the first thing I’d tell my incoming business students was, “If you don’t define success before you begin, someone else will define it for you after the fact and rarely, if ever, in your favor.”

2.    Guides the Journey! Part of the FOCUS step is identifying the milestones associated with your FOCUS goal. Milestones are guideposts along the way that confirm you are on the right path. As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

3.    Creates the Social Contract. You’ve been around long enough to know that “life happens”—what we believe today may be entirely different tomorrow. The FOCUS statement creates a social contract between you and your team, organization and most importantly yourself. How often have you committed to making a change, losing weight, running a marathon, stopping this or that, only to let that commitment go by the wayside because you let you out of the deal?

4.    Empowers your Team. Remember, your people plan is all about generating a virtuous cycle of mutual support and developing a rich pool of people and resources you can leverage to ensure you obtain your goals. To capitalize on your network, to engage others to help you succeed, you need to TELL THEM what you are trying to achieve and how they can help. A clear and concise goal statement is absolutely essential!

This week’s challenge?

Try your hand at a creating a S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time-bound) goal statement. You don’t have to do anything elaborate.  Just write a few paragraphs the specifically detail what you WILL achieve. We’ll work to revise your statement in the coming weeks as we conduct a thorough review of the entire People Planning process. So, no pressure to create a perfect statement, just get some words on paper. Feel free to send me a draft if you’d like some guidance. Next week we’ll link our goal statements to the people that can help us achieve our goals.

Until then, this is Jeff Kaplan saying, “I’ll see you around the website!”

Have you ever noticed how “BIGWIGS” invariably greet one another? Whether at a meeting, a cocktail reception or a late night talk show – the ritual is standard, as fascinating as it is predictable:

A robust handshake (sometimes accompanied by a Clinton-like upper-arm-grasp) followed by the lean in and whisper…

So what’s the secret?

What is the secret conversation everybody “in the know” seems to be taking part in, while the rest of us watch and wonder?

What are powerbrokers sharing that’s so valuable they can only speak in hushed tones? Are they all Harry Potter fans talking about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?

Michael Douglas, in arguably his most memorable role as Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko (the first movie, not the weak sequel), gave us a clue when he admonished protagonist Bud Fox: “You had what it took to get into my office, kid. The question is do you have what it takes to stay here?”  Gecko made the assignment clear:  “come back and tell me something I don’t know!”

I’m not suggesting your pathway to personal and professional success must be littered with financial carnage and human debris like Gecko – in fact, quite the opposite. But the point still stands.

Rapid acceleration of relationships is highly dependent on information. It may not be illegal insider information BUT we must arm ourselves with value.

If you know you are going to meet someone, prepare by understanding what’s important to them and then dig, dig, dig until you find a valuable nugget to offer. It doesn’t have to be BIG but it DOES have to be PERSONAL—information the recipient would value: knowledge about a competitor move, impending legislation, a lead on a potential contributor to the recipient’s favorite charity, the latest golf tip or a simple compliment on some recent accomplishment.

Having the insight to offer such information shows you’ve done your homework and is value in it’s own right. Offering something of real value demands the recipient take notice. And even if you fall flat on your face, remember others are watching you…

Don’t underestimate the value of being seen shaking hands and leaning in with the BIGWIGS.

Others will certainly wonder, “What could they be talking about?”

Now try to watch a talk show without noticing the shake and lean…

Never before have you mattered more. The LEVELING OF AMERICA is upon us and with it comes possibilities and perils unimagined even a generation ago. What is happening right outside your door, on every street corner, corner office and Starbucks is changing the world as you know it and, more importantly, changing your place in it.

What is happening today traces back to the Magna Carta, the works of Machiavelli, Locke, Hobbes, the Declaration of Independence, Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham and Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique. The consequences of these visionaries’ message and actions are all converging on your doorstep. And what they offer will change your life forever. HOW they affect your life – for better or worse – is largely up to you.

Since the time of the Magna Carta we’ve seen a steady decrease in the power of leaders – from absolute to resolute to dissolute. Our leaders are no longer iconic demigods with unquestioned authority, nor are they capable of resolutely holding course without the insight, input and acceptance of others. Instead, today we are almost as likely to watch news stories of our leaders facing some moral or ethical crisis, as we are to laud them for some social or political good.

Similarly, the power base within traditional marriages has gone from the absolute power of the husband to equality to optional. In 1782, the man’s right to exert his physical dominance was challenged when a law was passed that forbade a husband from beating his wife with a stick wider than his thumb, according to Barbara Kellerman in her latest book.  Emerging statistics suggest that traditional marriages among young people have become not just a union of equals but optional – no longer an expected social norm.

It’s the same everywhere you look. The playing field is changing and so are the rules. Now for the first time, the individual matters – I mean really matters. Everywhere the towers of power are falling.

So the question is: if no one is there to tell you what to do, what are you going to do about it?

Now’s the time to get a plan (of course, I suggest a people plan), craft a vision, and build a foundation for your own personal and professional growth.

Your move…

Note: My comments this week were inspired by the publication of Barbara Kellerman’s newest work, THE END OF LEADERSHIP. For those of you that don’t know, Barbara is the GODDESS of leadership, spending the last three decades involved in or editing most of the major research and texts examining the subject of leadership. Insight from one of the most insightful people of our time, definitely worth your time…

Want approval for a project?  Want to get a job?  Want to make a sale?

Whether the executive we are trying to convince is our boss, our client or our peer, most people understand the need to frame the choice in ways that offer clear benefits to the person making the decision.

My project will enhance the importance of your department.

Hiring me will make you look good.

Buying my widget will save you time, money and resources.

Ten years ago this approach would have been cutting edge.  Today, it is a basic block and tackle tactic.

Organizational decision makers exist in an ecosystem of interconnected self-interest.  Their success is inextricably tied to the success of their superiors, their direct reports, their peers and their clients.

It is no longer enough to show how what you’re peddling will make the decision maker successful.  Today, you must show how what you’re offering will make the people connected to your decision maker successful.

It is your job to understand the success connections within the organization.  It’s your job to illustrate how accepting your offer will start a chain reaction of success for the decision maker.

When things happen at companies, it is not always because you have the best solution (sometimes, but less often than we care to admit).  It is not because you did the best sales job (think again, there is so much more to selling than selling).  It isn’t even always because the decision maker simply liked you best (ok, closer to reality, but not there yet).

Whether serendipitous or strategic intent, most often decisions are the result of the domino effect—a chain reaction of success where each link in the chain moves in favor of their own self-interest (and once in a blue moon, the common good), causing each domino to fall, one-after-another.

Executives say “yes” because their direct reports are telling them they NEED the project to achieve their goals.

Executives say “yes” because they want to be able to show their boss how the project will make the boss look good.

Executives say “yes” because it is something their client will appreciate them doing.

And those are only a few of the dominos to consider.

Understanding how success will cascade throughout the organization with the adoption of your project, your promotion, your solution, is a must.  A guess, even a bad guess, is a great platform, a touchstone to evaluate new information (that will either support the accuracy of your guess or help you realign your assumptions)

Done correctly, you’ll dramatically increase the chance you’ll win, even before you have ever met the decision maker.  You’ll know because you’ve framed your offer such that a win for you is a win for the decision maker, the decision maker’s boss, staff, peers, customers, etc.

Then people will say, “It had to be you!”

It works because business is human and relationships power growth.

Several weeks ago, we embarked on a 3-part series on how to live a 3-dimensional life.

In post #1 we talked about the 10,000 hour investment needed to develop your first dimension by becoming world-class at something.  The first dimension makes you a mile deep.

In post #2 we talked about how to develop your second dimension by achieving well-rounded, functional literacy in several areas.  We learned that 95% of what you need to reach literacy can be obtained by mastering 5% of the topic or skill—making you 20X more efficient in your learning.  The second dimension makes you a mile wide.

What’s next?

Continuing with our practice of looking for clues from other great writers (Gladwell for the first dimension and Ferriss for the second dimension); I would argue that Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and Tribes, offers an excellent roadmap to the third dimension of you!

Godin’s works revolve around the idea that you have to engage (get involved), you have to get messy (try things out) and you have to care (stay passionate) if you are going to do something great.  It isn’t just enough to be the best in the world at something.  It isn’t enough to have functional literacy in many other things.  To live an audaciously successful life—a life in 3 dimensions—you need to get up every day and tackle problems for which there is no clear cut answer.  If you are a world-class expert in something, the only way to grow and make breakthroughs is to go places no one has ever gone before, to stretch the limits of your knowledge and competencies.

To create a 3-dimensional life, you need to have expertise (1^st dimension), broad competence (2^nd dimension) and the courage to face things that are new and complicated—things that no one has developed expertise or even competence in yet (3^rd dimension).

Facing the unknown is uncomfortable and scary, but you can practice it like anything else.

So here’s your challenge for the week:

1.  Identify a problem that you don’t know how to solve.

2.  Engage others—tell people what you are trying to achieve, and brainstorm some possible ways you might be able to tackle the problem.

3.  Get messy—create a plan and see what works and what doesn’t.  Repeat steps 2 and 3 as needed.

It will be your first step into a 3-dimensional life.

Two weeks ago we started a 3-part series focused on what you need to be truly successful – not the things you need to promote your success (like networking) but what’s in the package of knowledge and skills that underlay the personal brands of massively successful individuals. We interrupted the series to bring you a special message and return to part 2 of our series this week.

3D U!: The Second Dimension

The first dimension is what most people will reflectively view as their life’s work – the thought, process or skill that dominated the thinking of an individual’s lifetime (for me its relationship-center organizational design). To gain the knowledge or skill necessary to become world-class at something requires an investment of about 10,000 hours of dedicated effort. However, being in the top-of-the-class at something won’t make you successful if no one knows who you are or what you have to offer. You have to be able to engage with others. To effectively engage with others you have to relate with them on many levels.

So the question becomes, “What is the most effective and efficient way to compliment the mastery I’ve earned with functional literacy in other areas?” I may know off-shore derivative tax shelters better than anyone on the planet but can I engage with people on other topics or interest?”

Enter Tim Ferriss.  The guy who rocketed to global thought leader status with his two bestselling books The 4 Hour Work Week and The 4 Hour Body.

Tim provides us with a clue, suggesting that “skills literacy” (my phrase, not his), one’s ability to effectively leverage a skill doesn’t come at the level of mastery but at the level of practical use.  For instance, you can reach conversational fluency with a language with just 1,200 of the most common words.

Taken together, Gladwell provides the formula for greatness in some field or skill and Ferriss shows us how to ensure that we don’t arrive at greatness as one-dimensional beings—knowing only one thing better than anyone on the face of the planet at the expense of everything else that makes us well-rounded people—the things that provide joy and variety in our lives.

So here’s your challenge for the week:

1.  What are you spending your 10,000 hours on?  What are you working on to become THE BEST ON THE PLANET?

2.  What 3 other interests are you working to gain proficiency in?  Want to learn to play the guitar (there’s one in my office that hasn’t been used in a year)?  Want to learn a foreign language (check out The 4 Hour Body for tips here—it isn’t just about working out)?

The result?

A mile deep:  Deep knowledge about one thing that interests you most and that you do the best.

A mile wide:  Well rounded proficiencies in other areas that will keep your mind and spirit fresh and give you the kind of personality that will draw people to you.

Note:  We are interrupting our planned blog post schedule to deliver a hopefully useful analysis of a current event

Beneath its emotional logic, the heart of the fastest growing social action campaign in history rests squarely on the creation and execution of a people plan. Our consulting firm has been teaching this method for decades, but Kony 2012 is one of the best case studies we have seen on how individuals can harness relational strategy and leverage to breath the rarified air of true, unquestioned success.

The approach is elegantly simple: adopt the MINDSET of success, FOCUS on specific goals, TARGET the small group of people critical to your success, DEFINE how you are going to make each person responsive to your efforts, ALIGN others to help you achieve your goal and set a specific OUTREACH plan to coordinate your engagement with the people you need on your side.

Let’s take a look at how the filmmakers utilized these six steps to building people plans.

1.  MINDSET: The filmmakers first imagined the headline announcing Kony’s capture, creating a mock newspaper as it would appear on the day of his arrest.

2. FOCUS: Starting with the end in mind, the filmmakers focused on a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goal.

Capture Kony by December 31, 2012

Next, the social activists worked backward to fill the gap from success in the future to today’s reality.

In order to capture Kony, they needed to find him.

In order to find Kony, they needed certain resources.

In order to get those resources, they needed American military advisors.

In order to get and keep American military advisors in central Africa, they needed American policy makers to take on an issue that wasn’t immediately relevant to American national security or economic interests.

3. TARGET: The filmmakers then EXPLICITLY TARGETED the 12 most important policy makers to their cause.

4. DEFINE: They then defined how they were going to ensure that taking supportive action was in the best interest of each and every target.

5. ALIGN: Realizing that massive goals require massive support, they ALIGNED 20 of the most important cultural leaders in America to help create public awareness, raise money and galvanize voters to pressure policy makers into action. The filmmakers weren’t depending on the goodwill of bureaucracies, institutions or political actors. Instead, they were leveraging others to change the game and make action in the self-interest of each and every policy maker.

6. OUTREACH: Finally, the groundbreaking activists put together an OUTREACH plan to coordinate all the action, allowing everyone to engage. By the end of the video, every one of the 84,000,000 viewers understood how they could  get involved – understood the simple and easy PERSONAL ACTION they could take to create major impact in the aggregate.

At the beginning of Kony 2012, the creators stated their guiding philosophical thesis:

“Humanity’s greatest desire is to belong and connect.”

This has always been our firm’s first principle as well. It is no accident we teach the same tools used by the visionary strategists behind Kony 2012. Regardless of your stance on the video, its policies or the people involved, one thing is for sure: in today’s interconnected world, the best way to achieve game-changing success (whether in business or politics) is through the creation and execution of a well-crafted PEOPLE PLAN.

Every Olympian jump is less about one “giant leap for mankind” and more about the “one small step” of someone DEDICATED to a carefully planned series of small, simple steps.

Author Malcolm Gladwell teaches us that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.  Another way to say this is that it takes 10,000 small steps.

Gladwell modeled quantitatively what we know intuitively.  But to ensure you have what it takes to capitalize on your hard earned knowledge and skills, you need something more.

I can’t tell you how many lawyers, doctors, engineers and business executives I’ve worked with who put in their 10,000 hours and become leading experts in their field only to end up miserable because their dedication and commitment came at the price of exploring and developing other interests.

In short, they found themselves armed for greatness with no one willing to listen or help.  They became one-dimensional.

So how can you avoid this trap?  How can you become three-dimensional?  I have some ideas, and I’ll share them with you next week.  In the meantime, I’d love to hear your ideas on the subject.