Dear Evil HR Lady,

I work for a small family business where HR functions are handled by accounting and the department manager. I manage a very small workforce that contributes a great deal to the bottom line. I have recently conducted interviews for a position that is soon to be available. The problem is that the best candidate is a minority, and the owners of the business are racist.

They are not overtly racist, they just put the microscope on every minority I hire, especially minority women. My direct supervisor is not a member of the family, but everyone else above me is. I feel that I would not be helping this candidate to hire her since I can guarantee that I will be asked to terminate her before her probationary period ends for “unsatisfactory performance.”

If I do not hire because my higher ups are racist, then am I guilty of discrimination? I have decided to hire the most qualified person, who is a minority, but I can count the calender days until I am instructed to terminate. What do I do?

Well, this is a sticky situation, isn't it? If the economy were humming along at full speed, I'd tell you to forget about these losers you work for and find a new job. Employers who don't treat their employees fairly soon end up without any good employees, because the good ones leave. That will happen to these people eventually, but in a bad economy, it's easier to keep people who normally wouldn't put up with you. However, I would start looking for a new job anyway because this isn't a place you want to be associated with.

But for the here and now, you need to take control of the situation. Your department contributes to the bottom line. That means other people are dependent upon your work for their paychecks. That gives you some leverage. Let's use it.

First, you need to have clear, objective, quantitative measures for success. This is a critical point. It needs to be established, in writing, what is expected of the new hire. Personally, I'm a fan of SMART objectives. These are objectives that are:

S–Specific
M–Measurable
A–Achievable
R–Relevant
T–Time Frame

Once you've written these up, get them approved by your boss and (to be safe) your boss's boss, who is part of the racist family. You need to have their approvals in writing, so that when the time comes you can effectively defend your new hire. Be careful with the SMART objectives: Make sure they're what you want to live and die by, because you'll have to do just that.

With the SMART job objectives in hand, go ahead and make an offer to your best candidate. Go over the details with her and explain that in the past many people have been terminated during the probationary period. Explain that these objectives are new, that they are designed to make sure everyone is on the same page, but again, that other people have been terminated during the probationary period. (And not that you asked, but I really dislike probationary periods. Having a probationary period says, “There will become a time in which you are no longer an at-will employee,” but we'll deal with that some time in the distant future.)

To be fair to the candidate, you need to let her know that there is a possibility she'll be terminated. This is especially important if she's leaving another job. Explain that this is not going to be an easy job and that the family sometimes has a hard time accepting outsiders.

Then bring the candidate on board and work with her to make sure she meets the SMART objectives. If the powers that be want to fire her, you'll have solid evidence in your little hand that she has met all of the objectives. When they say, “But it's the probationary period, we can fire anyone at any time,” you can say, “Yes, that's true, but this function is critical for the bottom line of the company. If I terminate someone who is clearly meeting the objectives we all agreed on, it's going to look like racial or gender discrimination. If she sues, we'll most likely lose, because how would we defend ourselves? Terminating her would be a poor business move, since she is meeting all the objectives.”

Using the “we” form instead of “you” will help soften the blow that you're telling these people they're racist idiots. In fact, they probably won't pick up on it. All you're saying is that it “looks” like discrimination. If they still insist that she be terminated, this is where you need to draw your line in the sand. You need to refuse to terminate the person.

If the family wants to terminate, fine. But, don't you dare be the one who delivers the news. Why? Because often a defense in discrimination lawsuits is that the company can't possibly be racist/sexist/ageist/whateverist because the same person who hired did the firing. The argument is that if there were a problem with illegal discrimination, the person never would have been hired in the first place. Don't give them the opportunity to hide behind you.

I realize that this opens you up for termination. This stinks. But remember, you're a strong contributor to the bottom line. Remind them of that. Stand firm. Don't give in to the temptation to do something wrong to preserve yourself. Sometimes, you've just got to do what's right.

Why do customers take their business elsewhere? Sure, sometimes it's about dissatisfaction with the quality or price of the product or service. More often, though, it's about dissatisfaction with people.

Why they leave

The majority of customers take their business elsewhere because salespeople don't listen to what they say or ignore them completely. They also object to salespeople who don't do what they say they will or don't follow up or follow through.

Here are tips that may help your salespeople remember to keep their commitments:

• Always do what you say you will when you promise to do it.
• Don't make a commitment you may not be able to keep. Think about the amount of time you need to resolve a problem and make your commitment accordingly.
• Customers would rather have you commit to a realistic time frame than a time frame that sounds good but is unrealistic.
• If you make a commitment that you can't meet, call your customer and explain the delay. Most customers are understanding as long as you are honest with them.
• When making commitments, try to avoid words such as “as soon as possible” or “right away.” These time frames may mean one thing to you, but they probably mean something different to your customer.
• Try to give a definite time commitment for your answer to a question or problem. Customers appreciate hearing a definite time and day rather than “I'll call you back when I have an answer.”

Adapted from Award-Winning Customer Service (AMACOM) by Renee Evenson. Ms. Evenson has worked in customer service management for 30 years and is the author of Customer Service Training 101.

When I ran my first business, I was tough. Even my most enthusiastic employees, when giving 360º feedback, said I was tough — but in a good way. I was proud of my reputation. It was a better, I thought, if men didn't think I was a pushover.

One of my jobs was negotiating big contracts with labor unions. Two months into my job, one of these came up for renewal, so the union boss invited me out to lunch, obviously wanting to size me up. We met in a Chinese restaurant; he ordered the food.

As we talked, the most disgusting array of foods began to arrive: ducks' tongues, chicken's feet, gizzards and various body parts. It was clearly a test: was I tough enough to eat it? “If you wanted to intimidate me,” I thought to myself, “Boy, did you pick the wrong girl.” I thought, gratefully, of a stern upbringing in which clearing my plate was mandatory.

I ate every mouthful. I was so tough.

For many years I told that story with relish. Then, when I was running my first software company, we kept running into problems. We never shipped anything on time, the software was too buggy, nobody would give me a straight answer. The only thing we seemed good at developing was rage and frustration.

Driving to pick my daughter up from school one night, I thought again about the Chinese meal and imagined telling it to her. Suddenly, it didn't seem like such a great story. Was that how I wanted her to remember her mother: the toughest woman in town? I realized with a shock how stupid I'd been. Why did I eat all that disgusting food? I should just have signaled to the waiter and ordered something I liked. Instead of playing someone else's game, I should have played my own.

That night I realized why the company wasn't thriving. I was trying to impress everyone — my investors, my customers — with how aggressive I could be. But I wasn't playing my game; I was playing theirs. What we needed wasn't toughness; it was intelligence. What I needed to inspire in other people wasn't fear; it was confidence that I wouldn't commit to impossible targets.

I needed to stop being a manager and start being a leader.

Today I wonder what would have happened if my daughter hadn't provoked that epiphany. Would I ever have figured out how to lead my business? Now I call this the Dinner Time Test. When you're about to do something important at work, picture yourself describing it over a family dinner. Does it make you feel good? Are you sure you're playing your game and not somebody else's? If it's the latter, you may be a manager, but you're not really a leader.

Have you had a similar epiphany or developed your own method of testing important decisions?

If you're not periodically under fire by your management and peers then your career's probably not going anywhere. It's sort of like “no pain no gain.” If you push the envelope and take risks, then you're going to get mercilessly grilled from time to time. That's just the way it works. And if you seriously want to get promoted and make something of yourself, you have to learn to handle it.

No, I'm not talking about growing thick skin and becoming a human punching bag. I'm talking about learning to handle getting fired upon like a true leader. Everyone will walk out of the room thinking you're the next Lou Gerstner or Jack Welch. Okay, maybe not, but they'll definitely think more of you and will more readily accept your ideas, proposals, and most importantly, promotions.

How'd I learn this stuff? By spending much of my career selling innovative strategies to risk averse CEOs, CFOs, and management teams. Sure, I probably came across as whiny and defensive in the early days, but in time I learned the ropes. Here they are:

How to Lead Under Fire

1. Don't get emotionally attached to your ideas. It's good to be passionate about your ideas, but if you're emotionally attached to them, it'll come through when you're getting grilled. And managers are incredibly distrustful of ideologues trying to shove things down their throats. It's all about positioning. In your mind, you have to be willing to walk away. That little separation will give you the appearance of perspective and poise under fire.
2. Learn to embrace alternative views. The best way to respond to most objections is by first embracing them, then explaining why your plan is better or at least equivalent. Again, it's a positioning game. But there's a subtle but significant difference between, “My approach is better and here's why,” and “That's an interesting idea; here's why I think this might be a better approach.”
3. Master the art of zinger retorts. When you're getting grilled there will inevitably be some real zingers. Well, there's only one way to beat a zinger and that's with a zinger retort. How do you get good at zinger retorts? By getting good at thinking on your feet, which is really equal parts knowledge, experience, preparation, and of course, self confidence. Also, it's essential to maintain a sense of humor under fire.
4. Know your stakeholders. Of course you need to know your material cold and expect the worst. Unfortunately, that's not even close to good enough. You also have to know the stakeholders, aka your audience, and have a pretty good idea of their likely objections. A few one-on-one premeetings are a good idea. Then you'll be ready to counter effortlessly.
5. Never, ever lose control of the meeting. It's your meeting, or at least your time to present, so you're in charge and you need to act like it. I don't care if the CEO and CFO start going down a rat hole on some mindlessly trivial point. You have to be adept at all the usual techniques for keeping meetings on track, on topic, and on time. Come to think of it, that's probably a topic of its own.

You will never create a solid career for yourself by worrying about who is stealing your ideas. People hate whiners, they hate bickering, and, most importantly, people who are confident that they have tons of ideas don't keep track of each one. And, to be honest, people do not get far by just having ideas. You need to have ideas and be likable. That's almost impossible to do if you worry about whose ideas were whose.

So cut it out. Worrying about who gets credit for which ideas will prevent you from having a fulfilling work life. Here are five reasons why:

1) You do not have a finite number of good ideas

The best idea people - the ones who have tons of good ideas - share them. If you're an entrepreneur, for instance, you have an idea and call six friends to share it. They each tell you why your idea won't work, and you do the same thing the next week, until you land on an idea that does work. The mix of friends might ebb and flow, but for an entrepreneur, the ideas never stop coming and you never stop sharing them.

Or take the person at an ad agency who is great with coming up with ideas. Sure, it's that person's job to sit in a room with clients and brainstorm, tossing out idea after idea for hours at a time. But you want to follow that model. Because really it's everyone's job at every company to come up with ideas. What are you doing in life if you are not being creative? Every job is creative. Every person is creative - you just need to unleash that part of yourself.

The people who have lots of ideas don't treat their ides as if they are precious. If your ideas are so valuable that they need protecting - or you think they do - you'll come across as someone who is anything but creative. Then no one will hire you for your ideas. So if you want to be known for your ideas, act like someone who has a lot of them. Keep them coming and give them away all the time. In the end, it will benefit you. If people steal them, take it as a compliment. The people with the fewest ideas are the ones who hoard them.

2) There are no unique ideas.

Get over yourself. I know you're brilliant, but trust me when I tell you that someone has had the same idea - whatever it is. Do yourself a favor and instead of worrying about being the idea person, become the person that can make the idea reality. Everyone has ideas. Few people can execute. Deliver the ideas, and do it in a fun way. That will bring meaning to your work life.

3) People like nice people, not smart people

My favorite workplace research shows that people would rather work with people who are likeable than people who are competent. The research is from Tiziana Casciaro, and was published in the Harvard Business Review twice - maybe like a nuclear bomb, because people didn't believe it the first time.

In fact, people view the nice people as more competent, even if they are not. And the skilled people who are jerks start appearing incompetent to their co-workers. That's how powerful being nice at the office is. In other words, others will view you as you better at your job if you stop bitching about who gets credit for ideas.

In my experience, the person everyone likes is the person who helps others get their job done. That person genuinely cares if you are happy doing your work; she genuinely cares if you feel connected and engaged. One way to become that well-liked person - share your ideas.

4) Your job is to make your boss happy

Complaining doesn't make your boss's life easier. And demanding that your boss give you all the credit does not help, either. If you make your boss's life a dream, your boss will help you. She will mentor you, train you, guide you through the organization and pay you well. If she does that, so what if she takes your ideas? And if she doesn't do that, then leave.

Bosses do not complain that they don't have enough idea people working for them. Bosses complain that there is too much work to do. This is because bosses always think they are the idea people, whether or not they are. So if your boss thinks your co-worker has all the ideas, it doesn't matter. Your boss will promote the person who gets things done. In fact, maybe this means you should give your co-worker all your ideas and frame yourself as the one who is actually helping your boss day to day.

5) If you want to get credit for your ideas, get a blog

Resumes don't showcase ideas. Resumes are a history of what others have allowed you to do in their organization. If you want to be known for the ideas you are coming up with right now, then write a blog. It's incredibly easy to write a blog if you have a lot of ideas. The ideas don't have to reveal company secrets; they just need to reveal how you think - about a wide range of things in your field.

My company, Brazen Careerist, is a good starting point for creating an idea-based resume. And once you get started, you will see yourself differently; you'll feel more valuable.

So start putting your ideas out for public consumption. That's how you really get credit for good ideas. By saying them often and in front of lots of people. Think about that: It's hard to steal someone's ideas when those ideas are out in public. A warning, though: Don't write about people stealing your ideas - that's a bore. Just write the ideas. Talk about ideas on your blog, and others will associate those ideas with you.

Not all your ideas will be good, or on target. But it's more important simply to spout ideas regularly. So-called experts are not right more than the rest of us with opinions we don't share; they are just willing to put their ideas out there. Experts are people who start interesting conversations.

Where will all this get you? Someone will want to hire you or work with you not because of the list of tasks on your resume, but because you are that person with all those ideas. And once you're hired as the idea person, it doesn't matter if someone steals your ideas. Spreading ideas will be your job - and your work life will be richer for it.

If you run a company full of smart people, they will find faults and mistakes everywhere, and they'll complain. That's fine. It can become destructive, though, if it evolves into a culture of complaint.

I learned this lesson when I had my first experience working as a consultant, for a Massachusetts software start-up called Vertigo Technology. As you can tell from the name, the founders had high expectations of their own success — expectations which were unrealized when the company closed down in the late 1990s. It had been packed with many brilliant people, many of whom went on to achieve big successes elsewhere.

But this company was destroyed by its own internal demons. Everyone found fault with corporate strategy, tactics, products, sales, marketing, right down to the Standard Operating Procedure guidelines for taking a shower on company premises. (No, I'm not joking.)

At first, I found the company's openness exhilarating. How democratic that everyone could speak their mind! But after a year or so, I came to see that everyone spent more time arguing abstractions than producing profits. The company became what venture capitalists call “the living dead” — bringing in enough revenue to cover costs but never building a company anyone would want to buy.

Later, I realized our fatal flaw lay in chronic complaining: We didn't distinguish between the faults that have to be fixed and the faults you can't afford the time to fix. The memory haunted me when I started my first technology company. Determined to curtail the whining, I introduced a rule: all complaints to me had to be accompanied by at least one proposed solution.

The rule was a big success. Here's why:

• It made people consider why things were the way they were, and what the costs of fixing them might be. Many aspects of a business aren't perfect but just aren't worth fixing. The cost, in terms of time, attention and resources, is too high, the return too slight. But it takes time for a leader to explain that, and it's better if your employees figure it out for themselves. They learn to prioritize, just as you have had to.
• It helped me, as the chief executive, distinguish the wheat from the chaff. Nothing is more important in running a business than creating an environment in which everyone feels welcome to raise questions, concerns and doubts. If you create the conditions in which legitimate concerns are raised easily, each employee is an early warning system. But you want everyone focused on fixing the faults that have real impact.
• It generated good ideas. Instead of my software engineers complaining that the sales team made impossible promises, they asked to go on sales calls to ensure promises were practical. That didn't just save a lot of anger and disappointment; it meant we could also offer easy product enhancements the sales team had never dreamed of.
• It made every employee act and feel like an owner. They took responsibility for a business they felt invested in, rather than behaving like whining children.

So many companies become the walking dead when they focus on complaints rather than solutions. Does your company have a culture of complaint? If it does, what are you doing about it?

The best thing about writing Sales Machine is you readers are a lot smarter than I am.  As a result, this blog often gets comments that are full of practical wisdom.  My recent post “How to Get Prospects in the Pipeline” elicited a brilliant response from “ndlicht1″ (in real life sales guru Neil Licht.)  Here's his comment, slightly edited:

Your challenge is not just getting prospects into the pipeline, but getting the right prospect… right at the point when he or she is ready to buy.  Here's a seven-step program for accomplishing this:

• Step #1. Target. Clearly define and list the target market(s) for your offerings.
• Step #2. Adapt. Learn the language and lingo of your target market(s).  Once you understand it and can speak it, you'll not just be able to communicate with them, but you'll be better able to relate to their challenges.
• Step #3. Plug Yourself In. Locate and subscribe to wire services and news services that serve each market or sub-market that you listed.
• Step #4. Research. Immerse yourself in insider news.  Look for names about events that are actually buying signals and need signals.
• Step #5: Organize. Using the results of your research, create a list of decision-makers and key influencers.  Be sure your list includes information about the article that seemed to signal a possible need for your offering.
• Step #6: Craft. Create a “30 second commercial” for each specific title on your call list.  This “commercial” should mention the article that engendered the call and explain how you helped somebody similar to the prospect with a similar challenge.
• Step #7: Call. Contact the executives on your list and ask for some time to “visit and discuss” this.  Quallify it as an issue and bring up other issues that you know probably need handling, based on the information in the article.

This targeted method works well because the “event” that triggers the call suggests a need for your offering, making more likely that decision maker or key influencer will become the entry point for a qualified opportunity.

IMHO, Neil's process is money in your pocket when it comes to loading up your pipeline with qualified leads.  And I like the way that Neil has structured it so that ANYBODY can do, with nothing more than a web browser and (maybe) a credit card.  Bravo!

In a recent portrait of Avatar director James Cameron, Rebecca Keegan outlines five leadership rules the director brings to each movie set. Reading it I was struck by how Cameron's style matches what we've learned about Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

But don't go teaching these traits, which admittedly produce incredible innovation, to MBA students. In fact, following any of these styles will get you fired — unless you have the inspiration genius that can deliver results like Cameron and Jobs.

Here are three areas where the computer and cinema wunderkinds overlap.

Bonding Through Innovation

Cameron. “Breaking new ground is Cameron's raison d'être — nothing interests this man unless it's hard to do,” Keegan writes. “But innovation has also become a way of bonding his teams… For Cameron, a sense of exploration isn't just personally enriching, it's a crucial tool for motivating and uniting his teams.”

Jobs. When Jobs created the original Macintosh team in the early 1980s, he moved the group to a remote building on the Apple campus, raised a pirate flag above the roof, and moved in a popcorn machine to give his people a sense of esprit de corps. Today, management experts prefer you unite your groups rather than pitting them against each other, but they also love the idea of inspiring your team with sense of purpose they can rally around.

More Perfection, Please

Cameron. On Avatar, Keegan reports, “Hours were spent on the smallest details, like getting alien sap to drip precisely right…. It's hard to argue with Cameron's nitpicky style, however, when audiences thrill to immerse themselves in the richly detailed worlds he creates.”

Jobs: Just weeks before launch of the original iPhone, Apple decided to replace the plastic touch screen with optical-quality glass. The change not only delayed the introduction, but caused its screen vendor, Balda, to reconfigure parts of its assembly line “causing a material impact on financials,” according to AppleInsider. For Jobs, however, the aesthetic of the product would have been ruined by an inferior screen.

Inspiration Through Fear

Again, not a great trait you'd teach to MBAs, but both Cameron and Jobs are stern taskmasters who demand the most of their employees, and occasionally cross the line to get it.

Cameron. “Many Cameron alumni will share a story from their first film with him, a day they were sure they were going to be fired, almost hoped for it. But Cameron rarely fires people. ‘Firing is too merciful,' he says. Instead he tests their endurance for long hours, hard tasks, and harsh criticism. Survivors tend to surprise themselves by turning in the best work of their careers, and signing on for Cameron's next project.”

Jobs. “”It was probably the best work I ever did,” former Apple designer Corsdell Ratzlaff told Inside Steve's Brain author Leander Kahaney. “It was exhilratating. It was exciting. Sometimes it was difficult, but he had the ability to pull the best out of people.”

If these men, both brilliant in their own fields, managed by the book, I doubt they would be nearly as successful. What they share is passion for the work, and their management styles both demand and instill passion in the people that work around them.

Have you worked for someone with the passion exhibited by Cameron and Jobs? What was the experience like, and what did you take away from the experience?

Last week's huge post “Is a Sales Career Right for You?” went through the characteristics that top sales professionals share.  However, the lack of those characteristics aren't the only reason that sales pros fail.  Here are the top ten reasons that people (mostly new-hires) fail to build a successful career in Sales.  Some of them are similar to the ones described in the original post, but some are new:

• REASON #1: They base their self-worth on what other people think. If you define your sense of worth based on how you assume your boss, co-workers, and customers see you, you'll be deeply hurt by anything that smacks of criticism.  Selling, and working inside a sales organization, begins to look like a series of horrible and (finally) intolerable rejections.
• REASON #2: They assume that past failure defines the future. Some people find failure so unpleasant that they try to avoid it at all costs. As a result, they avoid any situations where failure is a risk. Because any meaningful sales effort entails risk, such people seldom, if ever, accomplish anything significant in a sales organization.
• REASON #3. They believe in destiny, luck and fate. Some people believe that their status in life and potential as a human being is determined by luck, fate or divine intervention operating upon the circumstances of their lives…
  These beliefs, however, constantly keep you focused on what you can't change (e.g. fate) and not on what you can (e.g. your skill set.)
• REASON #4: They lack the right attitude. The right attitude for a sales pro consists three qualities: 1) Empathy, so that you can understand customer needs. 2) Confidence, so that your can bring customers to the point of buying, and 3) Resilience, so that you can use rejection and temporary setbacks as spurs that constantly move you forward.
• REASON #5: They don't perceive the subtleties. When mediocre sales pros make sales calls, they are so busy “trying to sell” that they miss the nuances of the customer relationship. Top sales pros know that the most important element of a successful sales call is the value that the sales professional can bring to the customer, rather than whatever might eventually be sold.
• REASON #6: They'd rather be doing something else. Failing sales pros often wish they had the nerve get out of sales and do something completely different.  If a sales pro's ideal occupation is to play baseball,  be a musician, write a novel, or do anything else that not in Sales — they'll eventually sabotage their sales career.
• REASON #7: They don't learn from their mistakes. Sales pros tend to avoid looking at their failures and would prefer to examine their successes - and then attempt to replicate them. However, until and unless you understand how, why and where your sales process is failing, it's impossible to correct systemic problems in your sales approach.
• REASON #8: They can't follow simple instructions. Sales skills must be learned.  Some people are naturally resistant to learning new ideas and new techniques, especially if they've already achieved a certain level of success.  Many a sales pro has “topped off” at the lowest level because of a failure to understand that news skills are needed at each stage of a sales career.
• REASON #9: They lack true honesty and candor. Sales is all about relationships and relationships are all about trust.  People who lie and fudge the truth may become good at fraud or other criminal acts, but they're at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to being successful at an honest sales job.  Most customers can “sense” when a sales rep isn't being real… and avoid buying.
• REASON #10: They can, but won't, do the work. This is true not just of selling, but of every other activity in the world.  Sales pros who don't makes their numbers either can't or won't do what it takes to make sale.  When you can't do the job, it's usually because you don't know what to do.  When you won't to the job, it's because you simply lack the drive.