Friday, August 31, 2012

Your Word is Your Honor

We live in a consulting/advisory world. My words to clients, within my power of ability, is sacrosanct.

I don't lie to them nor do I promise what I can not in good faith deliver. Many times delays occur, as this past week with the storm called Isaac, some projects and efforts were delayed.

When you go out to visit your customers, if you are in sales, do you feel the need to say yes to anything and everything the customer asks, wants or thinks about? Hopefully not, but if you do, here is something to think about.

23:24 says: Observe and do what is emitted from your lips just as you have pledged to the Lord, your God, as a donation, which you have spoken with your mouth.   כד. מוֹצָא שְׂפָתֶיךָ תִּשְׁמֹר וְעָשִׂיתָ כַּאֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתָּ לַי־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נְדָבָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ בְּפִיךָ:

This is talking about donations, not tzedaka or charity pledges. A nidava in Hebrew is similar to a swearing to do something. As in, I swear to bring a sacrifice. But I have been in many meetings where, especially sales people, will swear to the client everything they want will be done or is in the product.

Your customer is just as important as a promise you make to God and in some ways for you possibly even more so. Think about this the next time you get into the same situation. Your clients may not be as forgiving as God is to to us.
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Parsha Ki Teitzei in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 It is said that the Torah or Bible
could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, August 24, 2012

Is that cab ride a bribe?

We all take it for granted that no one accepts or offers bribes. Yet when it comes to business, where do you draw the line?

Is a lunch meeting or drinks after work a bribe? How about a ride to/from the airport? Money is easy to figure out, everything else is murky. It shouldn't be, but it is in most cases.

We all do it, we ask our boss to have lunch with us, or meet a client after hours at a bar or restaurant, or at a baseball game and few think about it.

In the medical field, drug company sales people take doctors out all the time in an effort to get their product in their hands and prescribed. Does it work? You be the judge, ask your doctor friends how often they get asked taken out by their reps? I guarantee it is more than the IT sales people I know.

I hear from people all the time on the sales rep sides, "we can't spend over (or under in some case) $XXX" on "gifts" be they material, meals or whatever.One could kit out an entire office with the stuff these reps drop off as gifts.

Probably the hardest thing to do, but once again the Torah 3,000 years ago knew what we would face today and probably every day. Doesn't make it any easier, but if you take it to heart, good for you.
16:19 and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words.
Yes it does. Like to think we can not be so easily turned but it is human nature.

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Parsha Shoftim in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 It is said that the Torah or Bible
could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, August 17, 2012

Do you include everyone for your company parties?

I have been to many corporate events. Opening nights for Broadway theater shows, album launches, holiday parties, merger parties, office parties and of course conference parties.

Over the years I saw a noticeable change in who was invited. It seems that budgets were more important than some of the staff. Not the employees of course, but the interns, the peripheral staff maybe even contractors started falling off the list.

Truly a wasted opportunity to improve these fringe players relationships to the organization over a few dollars. I understand it, but do not necessarily agree with it.

In this parsha we find out everyone should be invited for festivals, which is how I am viewing corporate events. See 16:14 below

14. And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities.   יד. וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְּחַגֶּךָ אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ:

Yes it includes everyone in the city but it shows that one must make the effort to include everyone when celebrating. When this happens there is a larger sense of community and family like atmosphere.

Oddly enough the world has been growing more social lately, allowing others to share their happiness and events. The downside, for those who choose not to invite the others, is those non-invitees will see or hear many references through social media thus providing discord potentially.

As part of my day job we work with executives to understand the good and bad side of their social media decisions. Maybe next time I will lean on this idea as a different example.
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Parsha Re'eh in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, August 10, 2012

You Are Not the Only One Responsible For Every Success

Win a new deal? Gain a new customer? Find something that fixed whatever was broken? And you feel great about yourself don't you?

Depending on your personality type you may spread the word any number of ways.
Do you also thank your team? Anyone else who helped you get to this point?

And if you are religous, do you thank God, as so many of the Olympic medalists have done or do you forget about God?

This week's parsha provides the benefits that come from following and respecting God's wishes but also lay out when God would take those benefits away.

8:17. and you will say to yourself, "My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me." יז. וְאָמַרְתָּ בִּלְבָבֶךָ כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת הַחַיִל הַזֶּה

Hubris strikes and it is at that moment when you forget it is not all about you.

This is not to say you will be punished then and there but your efforts need to be swayed to remember unless you are a one person office, it takes an army of people to make a deal come together...and one deity.

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Parsha Eikev in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, August 3, 2012

Training? Continuing Education? LOL

Working with corporations is always interesting. They have the best intentions, but as we know, once money comes into the picture, out goes some intentions.

The number one item that gets purged or at best scaled down is training.

Putting in a new CRM system? Finance package? Shipping system?
No training? You get what you put in.

Time after time companies that continue to invest in their employees get far greater returns than those that do not.

In a recent Training Magazine article (I am a subscriber) the main article, I Want to Work There!
“We have conducted studies on Return on Engagement (ROE) and have found that there is a distinct positive difference in business outcomes (i.e., revenue, operating margin, customer satisfaction, etc.) from higher engaged organizations versus organizations that score lower on engagement,” points out Chris Dustin, senior vice president of Organizational Development at Avatar HR Solutions.
The firm’s research has found that the top three factors critical to employee engagement relate to recognition (see sidebar below), career development, and the direct supervisor’s relationship with employees. “Managers and supervisors are the key enabler of their employees’ commitment to their job, organization, and workgroup,” Dustin says. “And recognition and career development are directly linked to the manager.”

Not to be left out of this discussion is the Torah's original line from this week's parsha:

7. And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.   ז. וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
 This sentence is of course talking about The 10 Commandments and other mitzva's which were just described and the next sentences go on to discuss wearing Tefillin, but also some not so nice rebukes.

It is this sentence which is the key to learning and continued opportunities not just as a parent, but as an employer or an employee as well.

No matter how you work or manage or where you do it, there is always an opportunity to grow and educate. It is not just a once in a while effort or a "go online and take a class". It is also not a daily routine, although one could do something like this, the Daf Yomi (link from my Alma Matter) which is about learning one page, double sided, of the Gemara a day for 7 years. This past week was the Siyum or party to close the completion of the series. Requires great dedication but almost unheard of in corporate life.

Imagine if you could establish a training cycle for the whole company that covered one topic a day and everyone listened to it or liked it/commented about it? Your daily update to the comapny website probably does not get a high click through rate.

But it could

Do you teach your kids or rely on a teacher? Same at work? Do you use internal people to perform training or get outside people? Making that effort, for your kids or your employees may not pay off today or tomorrow but it will and when it does it will have been well worth it.


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Parsha Vaetchanan in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom