Revenue Journal®

I have a psychic can opener in my briefcase. I use it every day to figure out what's motivating people - customers, partners, managers, business owners, and employees. I figure out what they need and want; what drives them; what drives them crazy; what they love to do and what they avoid doing whenever they can; what freaks them out and what makes them tick. It's the "people" part of the work I do on systems, processes, and people to increase revenue for my clients.

Every now and then, I run across someone who has an emotional problem that is seriously affecting their work performance. My first step is to make absolutely sure that the emotional problem really exists - because it may not. Someone else may be misjudging the situation, slandering the person, or provoking the person.

If the individual does have a legitimate problem, the second step is to sit the person down and kindly explain how their behavior is counterproductive, then see what happens. If the person takes it well, and is actually willing to work on the problem, progress can be made. If the person goes into denial or gets upset in the "lay it on the table" meeting, I'll still do what I can, but the writing will be on the wall. Sooner or later the person and the company will part.

As part of my work helping CEOs to re-engineer and rejuvenate their revenue-generation efforts, I help them with their employee issues. We always start by trying to bring their current staff up to a new standard or, if needed, we find a new person for a particular job. I help them recruit, screen, train and manage people in marketing, selling, web, and product management positions. I've been doing this a long time.

Here are a few key lessons I've learned about the difference between people who are a drag on revenues and people whose contribution is exceptional.