Are you getting paid an amount of money that equals your value to your organization? 

Notice the choice of words in my question. 

First, “…getting paid an amount….”  No one out there (with the exception of Warren Buffett who, I understand, is not on the distribution list for LeMonAide) actually believes the amount is large enough.  Adding a few zeros sounds like a good idea, right?  Let’s get honest, that payroll check is never enough. 

Second, “…that equals your value….”  In other words, what do you add to your organization’s bottom line?  This is an essential question, especially when the annual performance appraisal peeks around the corner of your career.

I am suggesting you need to think strategically when preparing for a little tête-à-tête with the person who will determine where the decimal point falls in your pay check.

So here are some practical suggestions on how to structure this often bile-inducing, annual conversation.

Before sitting down with your personal “Donald,” you need to know three numbers.

First, what is the market rate this economy is paying for people with your demonstrated skill sets?  Second, what do you want to be paid for your demonstrated outstanding contributions?  Third, and most important, what is your “bottom dollar”? 

When you go into the salary review meeting, have all these numbers in your head and be prepared to give “chapter and verse” documentation, especially on the market rate for your skills.

When you take your seated position, make sure your knees face your boss even though there is desk between you.  Lean slightly forward and keep your hands in your lap.  Be careful about invading the space of the “decider.”

Listen carefully to the questions and monitor the “tone” of your responses.  Specifically, if you come across as arrogant, kiss your dream paycheck goodbye.  People who “demand,” either verbally or emotionally, create an “opponent mentality.”

Remain appropriately assertive throughout the conversation.  Make “I” statements instead of accusatory “you” statements.  It would sound like this, “I am convinced my performance this year has created value for our workplace in the following five ways.”

The last message you want to project in this session is “victim sympathy.”  You know, “After all I have done for you and this place, I deserve….”  Your boss is not grabbing for the Kleenex box.  This approach is the pathetic pandering of a child.

Strategize, rehearse and deliver a persuasive presentation about your value. 

And, when you get big bucks because you have used my suggestions, drop me a line and tell me the good news…and be prepared to split your raise with me 50/50!

A paycheck is a visible sign of invisible value.

A boss has the power to sign a check, not assign your self-worth.

Money gets you in the door of workplace; money does not keep you there.

If you are an entrepreneur or aspire to be one, you have to pick up a copy of Michael Gerber’s well-known book, The E-Myth Revisited (Harper Business Press, 1995, ISBN:0-88730-728-0).

As someone who has owned his own business for the last 18 years, I have always found this book to be a slap in my euphoric face.  Here are the numbers.  Every year one million people will start a new business. In the first year 40% of these businesses will fail.  In the next five years another 40% of the original start-ups will bite the dust.  After six or seven years approximately 90% of the starry-eyed CEO’s will have closed the doors.

Gerber has four messages for aspiring entrepreneurs:  (1) We do not build our own business because we are risk-aversive, capitalistic cliff-dwellers; rather, we sign on the bottom line because most of us have been victimized in some other bureaucracy.  (2) When we start a business we are looking for “turn key” solutions.  (3) Businesses that last through the danger zone (first five years), always have a business development plan that is regularly reviewed and worked.  (4)  Entrepreneurs have to let go of the need to “control” or the business will die. The owner may suffer the same fate.

Gerber is an interesting writer and practitioner.  You will find this author regularly points to the success of the Gerber Business Development Corporation that has been around since 1977.  The proof of this book may be in his pudding.

New, Free Article

For those of you who ask, “What do I say?” when someone pushes your hot buttons, download my new article, “Assertive Responses to Nine In-Your-Face Verbal Challenges.” 

If you hear, “Sorry, that is not my job,” or “We don’t do it that way here,” or “Whatever!” you will keep this practical hands-on article posted on your office wall.

Just go to my website at www.execenrichment.com and click on the Downloadable Resources option.   You will be asked to fill out a short form and you’ll then be led to the list of available articles.

If You Are in Sales…

Selling is a daunting task.  You have to convince a potential consumer your product has credibility, is affordable and will generate financial and attitudinal returns.

I have recorded a CD training program (50 minutes), “Skills for Increasing Sales,” where I interview one of the experts in sales, Alan Weiss, Ph.D.  Dr. Weiss, a good friend of mine and colleague, has written 26 commercially published books including his best-sellers, Our Emperors Have No Clothes and Million Dollar Consulting.  You will not forget the insights and skills Alan and I will immediately apply to your next contact with potential customers.

To purchase this CD, go to my website at www.execenrichment.com and choose the Our Products option.  You’ll be led through the PayPal ordering process.

You probably missed it… page 6 in the Wall Street Journal.

Three weeks ago Saudi Arabia arrested 172 Islamic militants who were in the final stages of launching a 9/11-style attack on Saudi oil installations.  The Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Mansour al-Turki, told the AP in a telephone interview, “They had the personnel, the money and the arms.”

So what’s the big deal?  Nothing blew up!

If you think it was a non-event, check out the price of gasoline.  Prices immediately spiked by 2.2% and have continued to climb.  It seems fear is a good reason to add higher digits on gasoline price signs.

Terrorists have figured out the best way to bring this nation to its knees is rip out our economic, oil-pumping jugular.

In 2004 a set of very sophisticated plans were executed against refineries in Nigeria, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.  None of these attacks have been catastrophic, but no one has to hit us between the eyes with a 36-inch pipeline to know al Qaeda is not giving up on its strategic plan.

From a recent article in the al Qaeda monthly, the Voice of Jihad, the author, Abdelazis al Anzi, who is currently in Saudi custody, stated, “The targeting of oil facilities is a legitimate means of economic jihad.”  The most profound reason for blowing up oil facilities, Mr. al Anzi went on, “…is the damage to America’s economic reputation.”

So, let’s assume there is a resolute enemy out there who has figured out the greatest damage to the United States would be to dry up our oil shipments.  What are we doing about it?

Now, you are probably getting ready for some hand-holding, tree-hugging diatribe on the virtues of riding your bike to work and…turning off the lights!

Well, how about starting with the truth that terrorism, not depleted wells, is the greatest threat to our oil-soaked society.

Let’s move from that to the truth that corn ethanol (from present acreage) can only supply about 10% of our present gasoline needs according to Vinod Khosia, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and presently a biomass expert.

And, the truth that when gasoline hits $5.00 to $6.00 per gallon this present stable economy will wobble out of control.

We need three specific events to take place in order to pull the plug on any terrorist threat.

First, we must elect a president in the 2008 who has a sensible, honest plan to make this nation energy independent.  Since Richard Nixon in his 1974 State of the Union speech, we have had a series of “war plans” to cut the ties to foreign oil.  The facts belie the lie we have been told.

We have gone from 35% of total consumed oil originating from foreign countries to 60% today.  You are going to tell me that we have enjoyed a vibrant economy and it really does not matter the petroleum’s debarkation address.

My response is, “Were the stellar spread sheets worth handing terrorists what they prize the most…holding us hostage with a loaded economic gun to our heads?”

We have lived from opening to closing bell on Wall Street by pressing the “Easy Button.”  We need a president who will stop declaring war on our “addiction to foreign oil” and drag us into a treatment program.

Second, we need to be honest about capitalism.  Businesses keep the front door open by consistently generating a return on investment for shareholders.  Not much confusion or question about that statement.

So, whether it is switch grass, woodchips, municipal sewage, orange peels or cow emissions, no one is going to get financially excited unless there is a profit motive.  Think about it, would a cell phone have any potential of replacing an avocado green “Princess Phone” (mounted on the wall next to the avocado green refrigerator) if there had not been profit at the other end of the line?

This economy and government has to encourage entrepreneurs with the cash carrot.

Third, we need to call the CEO of Exxon. 

When you heard the first quarter profits of Exxon (unknown at the time this LeMonAide was written), I guarantee it was higher than the same quarter in 2006 when Exxon distributed $32.6 billion to shareholders, up 41% from 2005.

You see, in spite of our collective disgust over the oil industry’s profit-taking at our expense at the pump, they are doing something very right.  What they do right is long-term strategic planning.  Our government needs to attend one of their seminars.

And, fourth (yes, I know, I only told you three), turn out the lights! 

If you are not sleeping in your own bed, you should be rewarded for slipping into those clean, but strange sheets. Here is a brief summary of three frequent hotel programs I regularly use.

Hilton is the only program that provides double points for each stay.  That means you can get hotel, airline or car rental points (your choice). 

I have tons of Hilton points because of the variety of properties.  These hotels include Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Conrad, Homewood Suites, Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn.

Hyatt is my next choice.  They have high visibility in downtown areas and offer consistency in cleanliness and hotel amenities. I especially like their workout areas.  The only problem with Hyatt is the large number of points (5,000) you will need for a free night.

My final pick is the frequent stay program at Fairmont Hotels.  Yes, pricey, but worth it.  Just three nights and you will automatically become a member of the “President’s Club” (which I find incredibly ego-enhancing). With this impressive piece of plastic you will, on your fourth night, be upgraded to the “President’s Floor” (O.K., I am now getting light-headed!)

If you would like to personally meet with me during the month of May, here is my schedule.  Please call 800-373-4040 to set up an appointment.

This month I will address the issue of the “proper” use of quotation marks and the attending correct punctuation.  Make note of the information and examples that follow.

Quotation Marks (“”)

·         Interrupted quotations – use quotation marks only around the words being quoted.

Example:  “It doesn’t surprise me,” said Mark, “that you’re among the company’s top performers.”

·         Do not use quotation marks for indirect quotations.

Correct:  He said that she’d come back.  Incorrect:  He said that “she’d come back.”

·         Use single quotation marks to enclose a quote within a quote.

Example:  “I overheard him say, ‘I’ll join you,’” noted Mary.

·         Use quotation marks for direct quotation of words that do not make a complete sentence, although do not use a comma.

Example:  Mr. Thompson reported the event to be “a success.”

·         Use quotation marks to set off unusual phrases or words.

Example:  The “X Factor” is a concept devised by Dr. Stein.

·         Periods and commas fall within quotation marks.

Example:  “I like him,” she said.  She said he was “nice.”

·         Semi-colons and colons fall outside of quotation marks, unless they are part of the actual quote.

Example:  Michael said Rachael is “studious”; I don’t agree.  “I’ll be traveling to Europe this summer; however, it won’t be a pleasure trip,” said Mr. Jameston.

·         Question marks and exclamation marks should be placed inside quotation marks if they are part of the quote and outside if they are not part of the quote.

Example:  He asked, “Will you be joining me?”  Did she really say, “Don’t bother me”?

The question was very simple, “Tell me, what is your appraisal of ______________(someone who is a peer)?”

And, of course, I took the bait.

Guess who was not happy with me?  You got it, _____________(aforementioned someone).

Whenever a person with positional power comes up to you in private and asks your “opinion” of a peer, I encourage you to appropriately refuse.    

Notice my admonition does not include those people who are your direct reports.  If you are in management it is part of your job description to evaluate performance.

If you make statements about peers, be prepared to pay the price of your pronouncements.  You may hear from your boss, “You know, _____________(aforementioned someone) was upset when I told her you were not impressed with her performance.” 

Yes, the boss was wrong to tell the peer what I had said.  But, I made the first mistake by assuming my comments would remain confidential.  

I am not sure what I am doing here…again…in this sodden place pockmarked with palpable pain.

These granite monuments are becoming victims of time, too.  Not able to protect their chiseled names and dates against warring winds.

Oh God, I loathe making these tombstone treks where life is a wannabe and the past is ripe. Anoint my grief-soaked soul with hope…any hope.

Any words for me before they close these cemetery gates?

“For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels or demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God….”

Thanks.