Everyone’s busy and time is money.  We need each other but we’re all swamped.  How do you get your request moved to the top of the stack?  How do you get the door opened?  How do you get your name at the top of the list?

Today I got THE BEST ask for a visit that I’ve ever received.  Not only could I not say no, I couldn’t wait to meet this amazing person.  I immediately asked if I could share her flawless prose on my blog and she graciously agreed:

Dear Rachel,

I am inspired and excited by the work you have chosen to do, from Girlstart to Mothers’ Milk, motherhood to consulting.  Your career, which you have described as a “calling”, is a great example of passion breeding profession.

I am writing to ask if you will grant me 30 minutes of your time for an informal interview on the subject of Calling.  I am an aspiring entrepreneur and an incoming MBA candidate at the Acton School of Business. We have been given the daunting but important challenge of spending 30 Minutes with an Entrepreneurial Hero.  I’d like to spend those 30 minutes with you.

There is no hidden agenda, I’m not job-seeking—I’m just hoping you’ll share some of the lessons you’ve learned about leveraging passion into career, balancing career with motherhood, and living a life of meaning.

If you say “yes” I promise to make good use of your time.  I will ask you only the questions that I’ve been unable to answer from reading your press and blog.  I will send you questions in advance and will end on time.  As a thank you, I’d like to donate ten hours of my time to your favorite Austin charity.

I am moving to Austin this Friday, August 6^th.  I’d be pleased to meet at your convenience as early as this weekend, and would love for my first memories of Austin, Texas to include a meeting with you.  Please let me know how I can make this happen.

Sincerely,

Ariel Julia Nazryan, Acton School of Business Class of 2011

Here’s what Ariel does right:

1) She took the time to know her subject and (just as importantly) let them know she knows them.

2) She asks for a very specific and reasonable amount of time.

3) Just as important as telling me what the meeting IS; she tells me what it ISN’T.

4) She commits to using the time wisely by sending me questions ahead of time.

5) Best part?  She generously gives me the gift of HER TIME, ten hours of it, for MY favorite charity!  What a win-win!  I can feel great about someone this brilliant helping out some of the causes I hold dear.

Want to open the door to your next opportunity?  I would bet money if you followed Ariel’s method you’ll get the meeting.  What are you waiting for?  Go forth and ask!

Stay classy,

Rachel

The other day I was talking to my friend Vicki Flaugher, founder of Smart Woman Guides about one of many Fortune 500 companies whose go to market strategy is price leadership.  That doesn’t leave many options.

You see it all around.  99 cent burgers.  79 cent tacos.  In reality its price prohibitive to make a burger for 99 cents, so those companies take a loss on each one sold in the hopes they’ll up sell you on a non-loss item, perhaps a super size drink.

In my opinion cheap always loses, because you can only go one direction: cheaper.  One of my favorite Fast Company articles was written back in 2006, The Man Who Said No to Walmart.  He walked in to make his pitch and the VP’s office was furnished with plastic folding chairs left behind by another vendor as a demo.  I read that article 4 years ago and I still have this crystal clear image of what he must have looked like awkwardly sitting in a crappy lawnchair in his suit, briefcase resting on his knees, knees positioned somewhere near his ears.  Like a giant in a kids chair.   What kind of an executive of a Fortune 500 company seats guests on plastic folding chairs?  What does that say?  “Dear God we’re cheap.  We are so cheap it literally hurts.  Try it, sit down.  Ouch.  This chair sucks.”

The Man Who Said No to Wal-mart said no because his company (Snapper) stands not for volume, but for quality, reliability, and durability.  His product wasn’t cheap.  It was built to last.  Their value proposition isn’t price, it’s performance and longevity.  Even though he successfully ran his manufacturing operations much like Walmart ran its stores, with fastidious detail on each element of precision and productivity, he wasn’t willing to sacrifice quality for price.

Business is about what you stand for:  Value.  Quality.  Convenience.  A fanatical obsession with customer service.  It’s also about where you are headed.  Short term gains around pricing today can have huge long term consequences.  How do you differentiate yourself in a noisy marketplace?  Where do you want to be in 10 years?  What are you going to doing today to get there?  Who will you say no to?  What will you do to preserve the values you hold dear?  Will you turn down clients?  Will you turn down money?  Most likely you will.  And if you lead your business with a strong moral compass, unwavering commitment to your core values, selfless dedication to your clients, customers, and stakeholders, and complete transparency your difficult decision will be rewarded with great success.

Stay classy,

Rachel

Face it.   Most people are afraid of asking for money.  Others excel at it and love it so much they do it for a living.  I am one of those people.  What are the 5 habits that make fundraisers successful?

1.  They are grateful.

Successful fundrasiers are some of the most grateful people you will ever meet in your life.  First and foremost, they are grateful for the purpose for which they are making asks, be it a for profit product or a non profit mission.  Secondly, they are grateful for every monetary gift they get.  They are quick to openly express this gratitude, which makes the funder feel acknowledged and valued and contributes to the fundraisiers continued success.

2. They have a naturally positive attitude and outlook on life.

You can’t be successful asking others for money if you don’t see the glass half full.  Your positive confident belief in your product or mission is what sells it.  It takes many no’s to get to a yes.  The no’s help you develop a thick skin but you have to be able to bounce back to a state of positivity to stay in the game and go out after your next ask.

3.  They are born extroverts: they have a natural drive to always be creating, building and maintaining strong relationships.

A successful fundraiser is managing a portfolio of potentially hundreds of prospects.  They should visit 50% of those prospects in a year and have 30% of their prospects in active solicitation.   On average they should be making 2-3 asks a month and have a close ratio of 50-75%.   This translates to a lot of phone calls, breakfasts, lunches and networking events.

4.  They are extremely goal driven.

Whether they are building a playground for the visually impaired, a technology center for girls, or a hospital for children successful fundraisers can visualize the dream of their end goal and they dedicate each moment to strategically getting there.  They break it down step by step to tangible, measurable goals they work every week, every month and every year to get there.

5.  They are organized.

You can’t raise millions of dollars or manage hundreds of prospects without being extremely organized.  Fundraising is a big job and every minute of your time is precious.   You have to spend it wisely cultivating relationships, making asks, pursuing new opportunities.   Determine what 3-5 core areas you will focus your time on to get the maximum results to reach your goals, i.e. cultivating existing relationships, making asks, developing new relationships, working with your board, etc and hold yourself accountable.

I have found fundraising to be one of the most profoundly meaningful careers out there.  Being in an intimate conversation with another person about the legacy they want to leave the world is deeply significant.  Having the opportunity to be a catalyst to help one person make a difference in the lives of others is infinitely rewarding.

Go forth and fundraise!

Stay classy,

Rachel

I know some of the brightest entrepreneurs in the business.  Some excel at strategy, others at marketing, or innovation. Their boundless enthusiasm gets everyone around them excited.  Their determination and drive draws others in like moths to a flame.  But there’s a secret they harbor.  Many of them despise managing other people.  They’ve raised millions, they’ve sold millions.  Yet they would rather stride into Pixar’s executive offices to make a pitch than give an employee feedback about their performance.  It makes sense, I mean who WANTS to have a difficult conversation? Here’s the secret: it doesn’t have to be difficult.  If you invest the time and use these tools you can say goodbye to employee performance evaluations as a dreaded workplace ritual.

A note of disclaimer here because let’s face it, there are some toxic broken people in the workplace so hell bent on destruction that they can make everyone’s jobs a living nightmare.  Like these managers whose feud made headlines.  Those people need to be shown the door.  These tools are for the rest of us.  Employee problems are likely to be a direct result of our mismanagement.  Ouch.  Did that feel like a slap in the face?  It isn’t – it’s a growth opportunity.  How can you get better?  Improve your management skills.  Leading teams is a muscle you are always flexing.  Just when you master one challenge, another presents itself.

Here are 3 secrets to have meaningful, rewarding and successful performance evaluations.

1)  Do weekly one on one’s with your direct reports.  Meetings can be as short as 30 minutes.  This time is critical for two reasons; first is is your employees opportunity to check in with you, update you and ask for help if they need it.  Secondly, it’s your time to share feedback with them, redirect them if they are of course or praise them if they are on track.  If you are doing one on one’s consistently and sharing appropriate feedback then NOTHING in your annual employee evaluation will come as a surprise.  Nothing in the annual review should ever be a surprise (unless it’s a big fat raise).

2) Have employees create SMART goals, written goals approved by you, their supervisor that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Framed.  Example:  “Work with sales team to launch monthly open house point of entry events starting in June  attended  by a minimum of 15 prospects monthly”.  SMART goals should be organized based on their job description and/or current strategic plan. Employees should create SMART goals and submit them to their supervisor for changes and approval.  This process is time consuming but worth every penny; it gives your employees have a road map to success and 100% ownership in their work.

3) Evaluate employees performance using objective behavioral specifics.  Separate behavior from attitude and judgment from feedback.  In other words: be specific.  Have someone who shirks responsibility?  Tell them how by rating them against the behavior you want.  i.e.  “Accepts responsibility for tasks or projects. Does not blame others when she makes mistakes or goals are not met. Acknowledges her contribution to mistakes when they happen and makes a plan for correcting or preventing them in the future.”  You must clearly actively describe each manifestation of the behavior you want.

Here’s an area of great complexity: communication.  An employee can be a great writer and a horrible presenter.  They may do well in small groups but horrible in front of large groups.   Get specific in your evaluation criteria.  For example:

Communication: (Internal) Presents information so that it is understood by the listener. Gives information that is useful.  Is able to get to the point in a timely fashion. Summarizes key points in a situation and shares those in a short amount of time. Makes regular, sustained eye contact. Listens actively. Uses both broad and narrow questions to check for understanding and find solutions to problems.  Gives staff the information they need about projects in order to meet deadlines and deliver quality programs and results.   (External) Can speak to both large and small groups and keep the audience engaged.  People respond to her speaking with interest and enthusiasm.  Is well prepared for public speaking opportunities. Creates compelling visual materials and handouts. Tailors her speaking to the needs of her audience; is able to fluctuate the length and depth of a conversation based on the context and the listener’s needs.

Each of these steps will put you on the right path to success.  Do they take time?  Yes, but these are the steps to achieve great success, build successful teams, and groom new leaders.

Go forth and lead!

Stay classy,

Rachel

People don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers.  The number one reason cited in exit interviews is “poor supervisory behavior.” In other words, bad bosses.   Poor leadership can plague any industry, for-profit or not-for profit.  The for profit world is pursuing profit, and the non-profit world is pursuing social change but if you think for one second that a career “doing good” gives you a hall pass from a bad boss, think again.

Here’s the good news what motivates employees isn’t money.   Want to learn more?  Watch this video of a Dan Pink lecture and find out. Want to know what really motivates your employees?  Be brave, ask.  Do a survey.  Ask your employees to rank in order what are the most important to them: compensation, mission, leadership, core values, autonomy, praise/recognition, and future opportunities for growth.  It’s important to ask. Asking makes your employees feel valued and respected.  It’s also important because what motivates each of us is different.  And that includes you!

My recipe for getting your employees excited to come to work everyday is 5 ingredients:

1) Trust them and show it.  Here’s a great example of this: Evaluate your employees by their results, not how many hours they put in.  This means trusting your direct reports to get the job done with the freedom to work from home or take flex time.

2) Give them praise that is specific, prompt and meaningful.  Have a hard time remembering to do this?  Let’s assume you have 5 direct reports.  Start the day with 5 coins in your right pocket.  Every time you praise one of your direct reports, move one coin to the other pocket.

3) Make it fun. Hold staff retreats on a monthly basis and trade off who plans it.  Even on a tiny budget you can have a great time.

4) Communicate!  The fastest way to change a behavior is with immediate feedback (just like your praise).  Be  fast (speak to the employee within hours of the event happening) and be specific and constructive.   Also, meet with your direct reports weekly.   It can be as quick as a 30 minute meeting but never save your frustrations for a quarterly or an annual review.  Those reviews should have NO SURPRISES in them because you should be communicating your constructive feedback weekly to your reports.

5) Take the pieces of your culture that everyone loves and document it.  Share it in your employee orientation so people know right away what kind of culture they are walking into, i.e.  what the rules are, what is rewarded and what’s expected of them.

Leading others an incredible responsibility and opportunity.  It is humbling to be entrusted with someone’s career.  Make it great!

Stay classy,

Rachel

I love watching the you tube video of Jessica, a happy carefree little girl sing about how much she likes her house, her family and her hair. I found out recently from my friend Vicki Flaugher, the genius behind Smartwoman Guides that this video was actually shot 9 years ago by her dad. Follow Vicki, she’s doing an upcoming interview with Jessica! Like everyone, watching this video puts a big fat smile on my face. It makes me want to do a silly dance on my bathroom counter too, why not? The viral success of this video can teach us a lot about creating great content and spreading it but I like it because Jessica’s message is a powerful reminder: are we feeding ourselves the good stuff?

How many times in a day do you say out loud or too yourself “I can’t do that” or “I’d suck at that” or “I don’t have time for that” or “God, I look fat.” STOP. You are hurting yourself. Take a lesson from Jessica; start feeding yourself the good stuff. When you say negative things to yourself, in your head or out loud it’s like giving your self a negative affirmation all day long. Think its just about feeling fat in a dress? Wrong. It spills over into every piece of your life: self-confidence, beauty, health/wellness, relationships and work.

Speaking of work, I’ve had the pleasure of spending most of my professional life as an entrepreneur raising money. What does thinking positive have to do with that? Everything.

I’ve raised over 10 million dollars in my career. I love raising money. One of my favorite books about raising money is The Soul Of Money by Lynne Twist. Lynn spent her career in fundraising and in volunteer work for organizations like The Hunger Project. Her book is all about viewing money as a spiritual agent. According to her, there are 3 toxic myths of scarcity. 1) There’s not enough, hence we on on a shaky foundation of insecurity that drives our every decision 2) More is better, so we’re voraciously seeking more but never feel satiated. 3) That’s just the way it is.  Hello apathy.

My career in fundraising has allowed me to see infinite interpretations of the power of money. For me, making an ask is being in a scared place with another human being I’ve successfully engaged in the mission of the work I am doing and the act of the ask is deeply personal conversation about how that individual wants to be significant. Fear about scarcity is like pouring acid on the conversation. It keeps people from being present, from being positive and from being successful.

What is your relationship with money? Are you chasing it, not feeling fulfilled? The most empowering way to change that is stop, take stock, and figure out what’s enough. Find the things that make you fulfilled and then use the overflow from that to make the world a better place.

Pretty soon you may be like Jessica singing about how much you like your cousins, your house and your hair.

Stay classy,

Rachel

One of the greatest lessons I have learned as a leader is the importance of core values.  Core values are the foundation of how you and everyone in your company conduct themselves.  They are the enduring things that would remain if you took away everything else.  Core values require no external justification.  They are not trendy; they are primary.  They are not strategies or goals; they do not change every quarter.  They are the filter through which you conduct yourself at work.  They determine how you treat others and guide you through difficult decisions.

For some, core values are nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Case in point: Enron.  Enron’s values seem like a cruel joke now:  respect, integrity, communication and excellence.  How about Dell’s?  In a nutshell the ‘Soul of Dell’ is advertised as: customers, teamwork, being direct, global citizenship, and winning.  To me those values translate to hard work, long hours, high expectations, and difficult conversations.  Even though they are called the “soul” they don’t feel soulful.

I’m especially proud of the core values we created at Girlstart, http://www.girlstart.org/values.asp They were the framework through which we treated one another and we made every decision.  One of our core values is “No success at work is worth failure at home.”  How many people ignore this lesson?  How many CEO’s consistently expect their employees to put work over family?  Another one of our core values that I am especially proud of is “Have fun and enjoy the experience.”

When do you need to start creating core values?  As soon as you are ready to take your company to the next level.  When your company is small and starting out, members’ values and behaviors are affected through proximity to the leader. The need for articulating core values becomes increasingly apparent as you grow. Defining core values helps maintain the culture the company holds dear.  Once defined, the values should be prominently displayed for employees and clients and reinforced through both the hiring process and in employee evaluations.

They should be short, enduring and memorable.  More than 5 core values are difficult to memorize.  Companies are wise to stick to 3-5 key values. Every company should reflect on them frequently to make sure they are living by them and check and see if they have changed so much as a company that a revisit is warranted.

The best leaders exhibit their values and ethics everyday in their leadership style and actions. If you don’t identify your values in the workplaces, mistrust follows.  People don’t know what they can expect from their leaders.  If leaders have identified and shared their values and are living those values daily that visibility will create trust.

What does your company stand for?  Are core values given lip service as marketing jargon or does your leadership live and breathe them?

Here’s to keeping it meaningful-

Rachel

An elevator statement is a short concise and compelling statement about you or your business that can be delivered in the time it takes for an imaginary elevator ride.  It’s your one chance to make a first impression, be memorable, open a door and build a relationship.  You have to say what you do in a way that is immediately understood and if you want more business, interests people enough to want to learn more.   It’s the one statement that will close or open a door.  Once that door is closed, it’s hard to recover from it.  First impressions stick.  That’s a lot of pressure for a few words, huh?   Here’s the sniff test any elevator statement should be able to pass with flying colors:

1) Does your mom understand it?

2) Does it prompt questions?

3) Is it generating you leads?

4) One sentence, 20 words or less.

5) 15-30 seconds.

Let’s visit the third one.  I was recently at a leadership breakfast engaged in some introductions between a small group of professionals.  One man introduced himself as a CFO at a well known accounting firm and as a board member of a community group. The other person introduced themselves as a consultant.  The last person said “Yeah, I say that too but we’re all in the same boat just looking for jobs.”    For him, and likely for a lot of folks, consulting was a nice way to say ‘job search’.  The consultant’s elevator statement essentially amounted to using a generic label to describe himself and that label was perceived as a cover up by someone else.   Had he been more specific, i.e. said, “Companies hire me to train their employees how to use software to save them time, be better organized and more productive” he probably would not have gotten that response.  You can pick an elevator statement that cuts right to the chase, i.e. “I am a graphic designer specializing in logos” or you can stand out and use a statement that projects confidence and provokes interest in your product or service, i.e. “I’m hired to help employees be happier, more efficient, productive and get 5 hours of free time each week.”

Whatever you choose, be clear, concise and memorable.  Now go forth and mingle!

Keep it classy,

Rachel

Earl Maxwell, founder of Maxwell, Locke and Ritter and CEO of St.David’s Foundation, is one of my heroes and mentors. He introduced me to core values when I was just starting out and the greatest lesson of all: no success at work is worth failure at home.  He also gave me a profound compliment to live up to my whole life when he called me a level 5 leader.

So what’s a Level 5 leader?  Jim Collins, in his bestseller Good to Great researched hundreds of companies to understand what separates the good from the great.  To benchmark, he defined “great” as having average cumulative stock return of at least 3 times the market over a 15 year period. Only 11 of the Fortune 500 companies made the cut.  Their leaders were identified as Level 5 for this key trait:  the ability to blend extreme personal humility with intense professional will.  Humility + Will = level 5 leader.  How do they do it?

1) They set up others for success.

2) They are modest.

3) Their resolve and diligence never wavers.

4) Mediocrity is unacceptable to them.

5) They are quick to credit others for their success, credit theirs to luck and take the blame for mistakes.

How do you become a level 5 leader?  Here’s my advice:

1) Build your bench and groom great leaders to succeed you in your organization.  This starts with delegating.

2) If someone is giving you the credit, turn the spotlight away from you and on to the team you lead.  Better yet, join the choir and include specific examples in your praise.

3) People first, ideas later:  get the right team on the bus before you tackle the route.

4) Be brave enough to confront your weaknesses, address them and maintain confidence that you will succeed.

5) Play the part.  If you want to be a level 5 leader, start acting like one.

Go out there and be great!

Keep it classy,

Rachel

In my life I have had the great fortune to know Liz Carpenter. I met Liz through my friend Jennifer Hill. My favorite memories are many: Liz’s fabulous dinner parties, where you might be sitting between a political heavyweight and a radio personality hearing them talk about the craziest thing they ever did for love, watching the Gore/Bush debates with her, and soaking in her hot tub.

What I loved more than anything about Liz Carpenter was her optimism and sense of fun. Liz inspired you to think big and work hard. Liz was passionate about life. As Sarah Weddington, another Texas legend I am proud to call a friend, said at her service, “Liz, life won’t be the same without you, but thanks to you its better.” Like Sarah, who opened doors for women to control their reproductive lives, Liz opened doors for women in press, politics and penned the words that comforted a nation in its darkest hour. Liz was irrepressible and lovable. She rehearsed her funeral twice, once while standing onstage and having a choir sing How Great Thou Art. Liz stood for women, Texas and democracy. I’ll never forget what her granddaughter Bonnie said about her, because Liz made me feel the same way, “I can’t tell you how it feels for a woman like that, with a life like that, to be proud of you.”

After Liz wrote Getting Better all the Time , about getting older she joked about coming out with a sequel titled, “I lied”. But it is her thoughts on the afterlife that stay with me:

“I have some to think of the hereafter as the last and ultimate home, where we became part of the universal soul and understand all we have striven to know before. I hope for a place of signing and laughter in a circle of all those I’ve loved who have gone before me. I hope there will be plenty of things left to do. It will be hard for someone like me to just lie around on billowing clouds, shining up my halo and preening my wings. I want to keep on learning and being part of things, entering the mind of those I’ve left behind with an answer, some guidance, or a kiss when they need it most.”