Skills

Moe Berg died  today in 1972. Do you know who he was?

Quite possibly the smartest man to ever put on a baseball uniform, he was rumored to speak 7 diofferent languages. He also served as a spy during WWII.

"Moe (Berg), I don't care how many of them college degrees you got. They ain't learned you to hit that curveball no better than me." - White Sox Catcher Buck Crouse in Baseball Digest

 

Interesting to see what skills translate where. Valuable as a baseball player to the federal government to spy, and just good enough to play baseball. What an interesting skill set....the quintessential "Good field, no hit."

Be yourself

"Connie Marrero had a windup that looked like a cross between a windmill gone berserk and a mallard duck trying to fly backwards." - Felipe Alou

Everyone is an individual. Don't let anyone try to change who you are. Your style is yours, stick with the genuine you and you will be more effective.

Do you love what you do?

"I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball." Pete Rose

Say what you will about Pete Rose, he has many faults and his troubles have kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame. But the man loved to play baseball. Few, if any, have ever loved to play the game as hard as he did. Through good days and bad, good teams and bad, the ups and downs of the seasons must have worn on him. But he always played the same way. Every hit counted. Every ground ball he ran as hard as he could to first base.

Do you play your game the same way?

Taking Chances...

"If he's played in that many games without an error, he isn’t going after the hard ones. The fellow who never makes a mistake is the fellow who never does anything." Tigers Manager Hugh Jennings upon being told a minor-league prospect had played 87 straight errorless games.

So what chances do you take? Go out on a limb? Play it safe? Talk about subjects or ask questions that make you uncomfortable? Do you dive into your customers budgets without fear? Are you afraid to go places in the conversation? Do you not make a call because you don't want to deal with the rejection? Or is it because you are unsure of yourself and what to say, so you don't put yourself out there for any risk?

Remember, if someone is not buying from you, they are not suddenly likely to buy from you if you don't call them. Being silent means being overlooked. Don’t blend into the woodwork of all the other vendors. Take a risk, put yourself out there, say some statement that may cause a sudden reaction, push their buttons, test the waters, try some new different shocking approach if you can’t get anywhere with someone.

You won't know until you try. Do you have the balls?

Vision...one eye or two

"Lord, help this poor son-of-a-bitch (Umpire Ed Hurley). I got two good eyes. Give him one of mine." - Red Murray, died today, 12/4/1958.

What we see, what other people see. Not always the same is it?

How many times at a baseball game do you hear the crowd moaning and groaning over a strike or ball called, while they are sitting roughly 200 feet away compared to the man who made the call? Perspective, distance, vantage point. It affects our ability to see clearly, to judge a position.

Sometimes though, when too close, we see what we want to see, what we assume we should see. Like the umpire who emphatically calls the runner out, despite the fact that the tag was never applied, or the foot slid in under. The ball beat the runner though, so he should be out, no matter what the truth or the instant replay shows, that is the way the umpire sees it.

In our lives, do you see the similarities? In your actions? In others? In decisions you may make daily?

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail." Thoreau, Henry David

I wonder how many people have ever heard this. How many have wished it, even without knowing it. The ideal of simplifying our lives seems a dream in today's age. With life, kids, spouses, work, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, email, texting, Facebook, various other social medias and technological "advances" that are supposed to make our lives easier, multiple accounts for this that and the other....

"See the ball, hit the ball." Pete Rose

Some people have a knack, a way with words, the ability to boil an act or process down to it's simplest terms. And to make people understand.

"I would have written that shorter, but I didn't have the time." Mark Twain

The simplest form of expression is a smile. The simplest delivery of your message will put the smile on your customer's face. No need to make any conversation complex or confusing, no advantage in being long winded. Deliver the important message and sit back and wait for the response. Watch the smiles.

Anticipation...and VISUALIZATION

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby

How do you spend your time? Daydreaming? Thinking about what you will do better the next time, picture your next call, your next weeks worth of work?

Visualization. Rehearsing situations mentally. Imagery. Mental preparation. Prepare yourself with mental exercises for all possible challenges to be faced. Your inner eye to see the future, prepare for the upcoming events, rehearse your actions. Your ability to internally role play through hundreds of conversational tangents, and how you will address each.

Athletes do it. Salespeople do it. For presentations. For difficult calls. For day to day routines, for setting yourself up for success. Imagine your perfect response, your most likely avenue for your desired outcome. Over and over again, the images of your activities played in your mind, repeated to hone the skills you wish to have.

Set a routine, daily, to prepare yourself for what you will be doing and visualize your success. The words you will use. the clothes you will wear. Every detail imagine it to be exactly how you want it to be. Prepare yourself for the different reactions, the different questions, the comments you may or may not hear. If you have heard them all once in your mind, you will not be shocked when they come but instead you will be prepared.

Mental. Visualize. Imagine. Rehearse. Prepare. Repeat.

What do you bring to your game?

"The difference between those who win and those who lose is mental. It is the effort winners give, and their mental alertness, that keeps them from making mental mistakes....Dedication and concentration are the deciding factors between who wins and who loses." - Tom Seaver, HOF pitcher.

Are you consistently dedicated? Do you maintain concentration, or does it wane, riding up and down on the day? Are you mentally alert on every call, every contact, every activity?

There is a difference in those who succeed and those who don't. What are you doing? What are you bringing to the call? Half the attention you should? Every single contact you make deserves the respect of your full attention. If you cannot or will not, your results will reflect the level of effort you put forth.

Reaction is not a response

"How can I hit and think at the same time?" Yogi Berra

True right? Not enough time for both. The hours of practice and your natural abilities come together to instinctually respond to the little white ball coming in at you at sometimes triple digit speeds.

When a customer or prospect makes some outlandish statement or asks a difficult question, we have more time to answer than a baseball player reacting to a 100 mph fastball.

Still, your preparation, training, product knowledge, practice and experience all come together instinctively to respond. This response is your wisdom, your value, your reason for being. This is why you have this job, why you are the one to communicate with clients and prospects. The ability to be witty, think quickly, answer honestly, project confidence and integrity, this is why you are successful. You do no react, you do not answer off the cuff, you do not fly by the seat of your pants but you use all your skills to proeject the response needed.

To assume or not to assume

"Just when you think you know baseball, you don't." Yogi Berra

Some people never learn. Some people don't want to learn. Some people don't care to learn. Some people think they know everything. And some people just wing it.

There are different viewpoints on the advanced preparation you should do with a client. Most will tell you to get as much information as you can, knowledge is power, be prepared, know all you are able to know about them, their business, their industry, their problems, their competition...so you appear as a resource and a subject matter expert. All to gain trust.

Is this the right way to approach a client?

Certainly Uncertainty

"There's a two-hopper to Eddie Leon, who catches it on the first bounce." Herb Score, broadcaster.

We all have those moments of uncertainty, where what we say does not quite match up, where we even contradict ourselves within our own words. Clarify, laugh, move on, you are only human. We make mistakes, we sometimes pay for them, but most times it is just not that important. Forget about it, brush it off, no one is paying that close attention. Feel fortunate if someone does realize your mistake, at least someone is listening.

Regret

"I wish I had started my slide earlier," Matt Holliday said.

If you saw it, you probably have an opinion. NLCS game 2 between the Giants and the Cardinals, Matt Holiday slid into second base, taking out second baseman Marco Scutaro in the process.

It was an aggressive slide to break up the double play. People are talking about retribution. Calling it a dirty play. Questions of judgement. What is the rule by the book? What is standard practice? All fair questions, a debate that can go on. One belief I do have is the regret is sincere, and Holliday is not a dirty player who was intentionally trying to hurt Scutaro.

But what about you in your life, your business practices, your calls, conversations, interactions? How often do you regret saying or doing? How often are you overly aggressive to where you regret your actions? If you say never....are you playing it safe? Maybe need to push the envelope just a bit? Obviousy it is a fine line to draw, but maybe, just maybe, expand that comfort zone a little. You may have a few more regrets, maybe not, but being aggressive can be just the ticket to take you to the next level. Non aggressive just does not get you very far.

"Keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they ain't." Wee Willie Keeler, Baltimore Orioles outfielder, 1898.

This statement comes from 114 years ago. Still as accurate as it ever was, baseball is a timeless sport that blends the centuries together. Watching the hard slide of Matt Holiday into Marco Scutaro in last night's NL Championship series, reminds you of just how little the game has changed. The rules, the players, the uniforms, the teams...allso very much the same as they were in the late 1800's. See ball, hit ball. Of course, 100 years ago there were no TV interviews where analysts and managers and "experts" debated endlessly on the legality and morality of Hollidays takeout slide. Instead, it probably would have been handled under the bleachers after the game, or the first pitch to Holliday in the next game. Somewhere around his ear I would imagine that ball would be directed.

As your day unfolds before you, as the twists and turns of the week or the month distract you, remember Wee Willie Keeler. See the ball, hit the ball. Hit 'em where they ain't.

Count Your Blessings

"The first thing I do in the morning is breathe on a mirror and hope it fogs up." Early Wynn, HOF Pitcher 1982.

Appreciate every day.

"If you don't live to get old, you die young."James "Cool Papa" Bell, 84 year HOF 1985.

We only have so much time here, don;t waste it on anger and hate, jealousy or spite, revenge or retribution. Justice is in living your life with joy.

Keep your eye on the ball

"It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra

Who has thought they lost an opportunity, only to discover it was not as lost as previously thought? Who has won a deal, only to have it pulled back before it is done?

Our day to day lives rotate around opportunities at our finger tips, in our hands, sliding through our fingers like so much sand.....The difficulty in much of this can be in our age of information, doing business via text, email, phone calls and on the phone, 1000's of miles away. Communication to maintain a level of understanding necessary is essential. You must know what is important, what processes are in place, what people are involved, what is happening and what needs to happen to drive to completion. The biggest challenge we have is a customer or prospect who has some conception or miconception about us, our deliverables or capabilities.

Simply Unpredictable

"My favorite word in English is "youneverknow." Joaquin Andujar, Houston Astros Pitcher

Surprises come in many packages. The coworker who unexpectedly quits. The person fired or let go for mysterious reasons. The deal you lose when everything was in place. The deal you get when you thought the competition had it. Sometimes these suprises come despite everything we do, all we can do, all the homework, the questions, the digging, the understanding. But most often, if you do your homework, if you truy understand your situation, if you dig, uncover, talk, find out all the angles and the players, even the biggest surprises are not all that surprising.

Value

"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." Yogi Berra

How do you define value? Do you dictate your vale proposition, or customize it to your customers? Do you preach and push your features, or listen and help, adjust your presentations to what they are telling you is important to them. Do you discount their opinions on what is important, to tell them what they should be thinking? What is your marketing doing? How do you speak to your customers, with an open mind, a thoughtful ear? Or is it the same spiel to everyone, as if all your customers are identical? Listen, learn, think, respond.

Laugh - Don't Cry

"A sense of humor is a saving grace. It saves people from the sin of pride because humor involves a sense of proportion and the power of seeing yourself from outside." George F. Will, columnist

The agony of difficulties, the unbearable dreadful emotions stirred up within you because of what you cannot control, the sleepless nights spent worrying. The ability to wake up in the morning and laugh at yesterday is impossible for some. To laugh at yourself, your predicament, your challenges...to smile at the world and know that despite everything it has thrown at you you are still alive and kicking. The resiliency to muster on and go forth, continue to put one foot in front of the other, knowing it is all part of the same comedy. Cynicism or satire, slapstick or gallows - the laughter within can fuel your heart and your attitude. Your relative happiness can be tempered with the absurdity of our day to day existence, and remind you of what is truly important.

Back to the Basics

"We've been working on the basics because, basically, we've been having trouble with the basics." Bob Ojeda, LA Dodgers pitcher, during the season. The Dodgers finished in last place at 63-99.

Ever feel like you get knocked back to square one, at the beginning, starting all over, looking up at the mountain? Remember all you have been taught, all the basic fundamental skills of your job and start there. The confidence will reappear after you begin processing the way you know you can.

Good luck.

Traveling Road Show...

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

I have heard this quote many times - one of Yogi's most infamous. I wonder what context it was said in....what he was referring to. I suppose I will have to read his biography again to see if he elaborates on the meaning and how it came to be, or if he even said these words. Still, the truth here exists. I was simply looking for a travel quote today, as I leave for Vancouver WA this afternoon, but came across this.

Do you know where you are going? Do you know how you will get there? Will you know if you are there when you do? Good questions for us to ponder and discuss.