Getting credit without TAKING credit

Recently I was helping someone at work with a dilemma.  He had done something really innovative and wanted to share the information with a wider audience, mostly executives above him on the org chart, who genuinely want to know about this kind of thing.  But, I wanted it to come from him instead of me sending it on his behalf.  He wrote a nice email, but still thought that he was too self-serving.  I re-wrote the intro paragraph for him and will paste it below (with names changed), then I will make a few observations.

Got some great community feedback that may be of interest to you and your teams as we continue to find low-cost ways to connect with our audience.  I’ve been working with John Smith and Mary Jones on a lot of community stuff, and we’ll continue to share all of this info to make sure we’re executing best of breed practices across the domains.  Together, I feel like we are making huge progress.  In the note below, you’ll see the results of doing something called syndicated blogging, where we basically stream other people’s blogs.  Turning out to be more successful than we or the bloggers thought it would be.  See some guy’s comments below as an example.  Will run this by the other PMM’s, and Joel, we’ll start looping in your group too.  Feel free to pass this along to whomever you think would be interested in learning more and send them my way.

Here are a few closing points…

1. Even though he didn’t work with anyone else on this particular thing, you are immediately given the impression that it is a team effort just by mentioning other colleagues’ names.  And, it’s not a lie at all.  He really does work with them on a regular basis and they share all kinds of info.
2. It makes the point that this is an innovative thing that’s worth taking a look, but reiterates the fact that it will be immediately shared to make the whole team better.
3. The last sentence answers the “why am I getting this?” email and avoids any possibility that it is just a self-serving attempt at taking credit for something.

Thinking about small things like this can make a very big difference in a career over the long haul.

second-mover negotiation

Got a resume from a friend’s husband the other day.  He’s been in sales for over 20 years, but in only one industry (not technology).  Right on the cover letter of his resume he had published some numbers around salary expectations.  Something to the effect of “I’ve worked for as little as $X in the past, and have made as much as $Y in good years” but “X” and “Y” were actual salary amounts.  I thought this was really odd and not a particularly good idea.   When I asked him about it, he said he put it there because many had asked him for that information in the past.  Wow.

What really surprised me is that this is a seasoned sales professional.  It reminded me that negotiations are so uncomfortable for the vast majority of the people out there.  Yet, it’s something we do nearly every day of our lives in some form or fashion.  I was left with two takeaways from helping him with his resume.  (1) Ask.  Many people will grant your request even if you think they won’t.  (2) Negotiation skills are invaluable.

Blogging is tough

A couple of weeks ago, a coworker of mine asked me why I quit blogging.  Honestly, I hadn’t thought a lot about it until he asked.  It’s weird with me… for a guy who loves the spotlight as much as I do, there are certain things about which I remain very self-conscious.  One of them is coming across as a know-it-all and I got to thinking, “who the heck really cares what I think about this stuff?”  Not wanting to come across as some guru on the mountain with the scratchy white beard, I just quit blogging.

Literally one day after the conversation with my coworker I received an email from an industry leading CEO whom I really respect.  It was just a couple sentence note asking what happened to the blog entries.  Weird timing.

I thought about it and realized that unless you’re in a VERY small minority of people in the world, it’s very little about the Thinker and more about the Thought.  Meaning, I don’t think anyone really cares about something I say because I say it.  But they may care very much about what I say because the topic and perspective is of interest to them for one reason or another.  Onward we go.

pulling together

In the movie “Miracle” about the 1980 US Hockey Team’s unlikely winning of the gold medal, a scene takes place where head coach Herb Brooks is picking his players during tryouts.  Assistant coach Craig Patrick is watching with some confusion based on the picks.  The scene’s dialog is as follows:

Craig Patrick: You’re missing the best players.

Herb Brooks: I’m not looking for the best players, Craig, I’m lookin’ for the right ones.

I recalled this scene as I’ve been thinking a lot about teams in the face of this economy.  Good ones, bad ones, the kind of people we need on them, etc.  And I was reminded of something I did many years ago in my first “real” job as a co-op (intern) student.  I needed the co-op to complete my degree and I was bound and determine to make a good impression.  Technically, I did.  In spades.  But then I still vividly can recall a day I’d love to take back.  It was 1992.  Times were tough and cuts were on the horizon.  Our team huddled around our manager as he gently prepared folks for what was coming.  Never one to miss an iconoclastic moment back then, I said something to the effect of: “what’s the big deal?  If you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough.  The company’s gotta take someone so step up and get it done, or you get cut.”

I was 22-years-old and fresh out of five years of college football that bred (by design) the exact attitude I just conveyed.  Yet this group of husbands, fathers, mothers, and wives looked at me with disdain and shock.  Several were visibly angry but nobody said anything directly to me about it. (Likely because they thought I was just so ignorant that I wasn’t worth their time.)  I wish someone would have.

As we pull together as teams through this economic crisis, we need to be there for each other.  What a chance to grow!  If we’re more on the conservative side and always hoping for status-quo, this is our time to be pushed out of our comfort zone.  If we’re more on the aggressive, damn the torpedoes side, this is our time to learn some empathy and compassion towards those that aren’t.  Never was there a better time to celebrate the diversity of talents all around us and find out what people have to contribute.  I believe those that push, encourage, and help each other in the true spirit of teamwork will emerge from this incredibly strong and ready to build the future.