I have to tell you that I was excited to receive Lead Like Ike by Geoff Loftus from Book Sneeze when I read the synopsis.  Unfortunately, once I received the book, and I cracked it open, my excitement level began to fade quickly.  I love the idea of meshing the worlds of Dwight Eisenhower's role in coordinating the largest military campaign in history up that point in time and the world of leadership. 

The book missed on several points.  At times, it appeared that the chapters were written independently from one another and then pulled together in one book.  The same information, or concept was repeated multiple times yet in a way as though it was suppose to be the first time the reader was seeing it but it wasn't.  To be honest, it was very distracting.  The integration of the management strategies to the history of the D-Day invasion and the planning did not flow well at all.  Inserts for the "business strategy" seemed to be hap hazardly thrown around.  Relation to modern day business was sometimes integrated into the main text and other times as excerpts as well.  With regards to modern day company integration, it appeared Mr. Loftus chose to focus on 4 or 5 companies with the same basic concepts......It seemed very entry level.

As far as a leadership or management book goes, Lead Like Ike is a complete miss for me.  That being said, If Mr. Loftus had focused his efforts on creating a simple straightforward account of Dwight Eisenhower's role (What this book really is) in the D-Day planning, it would have been much better.  Unfortunately, that has been done multiple times and much better than this. 

I tried to find the best in Lead Like Ike.  I wanted to like it.  I was pulling Geoff, but at the end of the day, I was able to get through Lead Like Ike because I was obligated too.  Don't think I could have done it otherwise.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard about what I do now will have a dramatic impact on my children's future.   I heard Andy Andrews speak this weekend and it actually put that simple concept into a large scale frame. 

Every action and choice that each of us takes on a daily basis adds up to large scale situations as I have discussed in the past.  Have you ever considered the impact one of your choices can make?  Have you ever had a bad day, and took that out on someone else?  I know I have, I think it is a human reaction.  It is a controllable human reaction, yet I have done it many times.

What does that impact have on a large scale.  Think about it this way.  Someone cuts me off at an intersection.  I know it has happened to me before.  Of course, I throw out a few choice words, that the other driver visibly can see me seething through the front windshield.  The other driver takes that on as either a good or a bad situation.  I know I have taken on the guilt of cutting someone off, and allowed it to replay in my mind.  Of course, when it is bad enough, I call my wife and let her know about it.  And then she talks to her sister, and so on and so on. 

Do you get it?  Little inconsequential things move from person to person to person.  I suppose it is Newton's 1st Law:  Objects in motion tend to stay in motion (Inertia).  Our actions once put into motion tend to move out in all directions and impact and keep moving forward from person to person.  The butterfly effect.  What I do creates global change.  With the advent of the Internet and the viral affect of information, thoughts transfer around the world at the speed of light. 

Andy Andrews put a complicated issue into a thought provoking immediate actionable item for me.  Anyone who reads this blog has the responsibility to do the right thing, to be a good person, to forgive, to love, because everyone out there is passing your impact to this world.  And at some point in time, your actions will eventually transfer to my children, or what I do will transfer to your children and have a profound and direct impact on them, good or bad.  It is a choice.  What does Dr. Laura say?  Go do the right thing!

 Have you ever had to deal with conflict in your workplace?  How did it go?  Were you in charge of the folks that were creating a riff and how did you handle it?

In my experience, conflict will do nothing but fester if not taken head on.  Depending on the severity of the conflict, it must be dealt with and dealt with quickly.  I typically like to acquire information from both of the individuals on an individual basis to determine what is going on in each of the conflicting peoples perspective.

Utilizing that information, the truth of the matter typically falls somewhere in between the two stories.  Surprisingly, most of the time, the stories are the same.  Sure, the emotion of each person tends to draw emphasis on the parts of the story they are passionate about, but they still have the same basic understory.

If the issue needs to be dealt with (as in, the issue most definitely create ongoing hardship), sit the people involved down and make the two people present the information and the issues as they see them.  It is important to facilitate the conversation and ensure that each person sees the side of the other person.  It is not always simple, but having the opposing parties state the other persons concerns as they understand it typically is a good way to walk in one another's shoes.

Conflict will do nothing for any organization.  It will create loss in production, hurt feelings, and at the end of the day will hurt the bottom line.  Snuff it out immediately.  Issues that need to be dealt with are simple to resolve early on, but are challenging at best if not dealt with.

In the next post, I will talk about conflict that it challenging to create a win/win.....never fun!

What does it take to lead?  I think, if you are to find real true success, you have to have the ability to lead.  Without leadership, their is no direction, and we simply wander about with random acts hoping that something comes together.  As a former scientist in the big boy world, its called chaos theory.  All of these interactions that happen with out a leader defining a path and creating the way would seam to have the ability to move forward in a somewhat predictable manner (failure) yet the ability to know what kind of failure may occur is challenging.

Fortunately, with the ability to create true leadership characteristics rather simply, we are never far from looking to someone for guidance.  What is the triple threat.  On the topic of leadership, we want to keep it simple (not easy) and we want to ensure that everyone has a fair shake at it.

Mark Sanborn, author of The Fred Factor, simply qualifies leadership ability as the Three C's; character, competency, and finally connection.

Character to me is the golden rule.  Due unto others as you would have done to yourself.  Character is so simple.  In my world, when the right thing is clearly defined, it is never difficult to proceed with integrity.

Competency is the one that typically takes a bit longer.  To learn a craft or a trade takes differing amounts of time.  Irregardless of the industry involvement, there will always be a learning curve.  I believe this is one where people can be challenged greatly on both cases.  For people who pick up skill sets quickly, they have the ability to lead based on their ability to teach and show others a new skill.  I run across this all of the time.  The other case is where it takes longer to develop the skill set.  I think in most cases, anyone can learn to do just about anything with a high level of competency.  Granted, it may take someone a week and another a year, but with consistency, it can be done.

The final ability of a leader is the ability to connect.  I have to tell you, this is where I struggle and focus a chunk of my time.  Connecting is essential.  In order to lead, you must have the ability to create a relationship based on trust.  The biggest aspect of connection is being truly interested in others.  Interest in others leads to a trusting relationship and thereby the ability to connect.

While character is the simplest of these attributes to attain, it can often be the biggest downfall.  While people work diligently to improve their competency levels and their relationships, one lapse in character can cause a foundational crack in a leaders position that can be near impossible to repair.  Sometimes the simplest attributes are also the easiest to screw up!

I was reading an article by Stephen Covey this fathers day morning and there is a list that I will give in this post that has so many valuable questions to take into consideration to create a family cohesion through open lines of communication.  I so often see in business where the family is independent of the business life or career path.

There are actually two situations that come up on a regular basis.  One spouse, or the children of the parents have no idea what the parents do for work, or have no interest in what they do.  I know for me, when my family is enrolled in what I am doing for my business, or even as simple as what I am doing for money, it is empowering to me.  The correlation between work and family will come in a moment!

The second situation I see, is where one family member, or children are resistant to the business life do to schedule and actually make it challenging to conduct business.  Again, a lack of understanding for the money earners in the family makes a family life challenging.

Okay, with those couple of examples, in my experience, both are easily tackled with the same solution.  The idea of enrollment.  Define what the family most desires.  Long term goals, midterm goals, and short term goals.  Enrolling the family in the goals allows the open conversation for open enrollment and involvement in the facilities to make the goals a reality.

For example, my children love their pets, especially my oldest daughter whose paint horse Bella is her pride and joy.  For Rhyan, her horse is a goal, or a part of her structure that creates happiness in her life.  With her enrolled in the vision for that purpose, when I go to work, and she asks, "why are you leaving" I relay it to Bella.  "Remember, mommies and daddies have to work to provide for our families.  Today, I am working so we can get more hay for Bella.  Does that sound like a good plan?"

I have young children, so for them, goals tend to be smaller and not BHAGs (Big Hairy Audactious Goals) that as we age come into focus.

What does all of this mean and how does it relate to the Covey article.  He talks about creating a family mission statement.  Powerful idea.  A mantra, by which the family is enrolled in for all aspects.  Health, spirituality, finances, and family.  A cohesive plan that allows open lines of communication to facilitate forward movement towards the empowering belief of the plan.  Simple!

Here is a list of questions from Stephen Covey to ask families to gain insightful information for developing your family plan!

1.  What kind of family do we really want to be?
2. What kind of home would you like to invite your friends to?
3.  What embarasses you about our family?
4.  What makes you feel comfortable here?
5.  What makes you want to come home?
6.  What makes you feel drawn to us as your parents so that you are open to our influence?
7.  What makes us feel open to your influence?
8.  How do we want to be remembered by others?
9.  What is the purpose of our family?
10.  What kinds of things do we want to do?
11.  What kind of relationships do we want to have with one another?
12.  What things are truly important to us as a family?
13.  What are our family's highest-priority goals?
14.  What are the unique talents, gifts and abilities of family members?
15.  What are our responsibilities as family members?
16.  What are the principles and guidelines we want our family to follow?
17.  Who are our heroes?  What is it about them that we like and would like to emulate?
18.  What families inspire us and why do we admire them?
19.  How can we contribute to society as a family and become more service-oriented?

Powerful list of questions.  I challenge you to create a family plan, a unified system for which the decisions in your family are made.  Put the plan into action.  Spend quality time on create your plan as it will be the foundation for which it is allowed to grow and mature!

I was reading a excerpt by Jim Rohn this morning regarding the power of consistency and it was so telling and overwhelmingly clear the power of consistency and its direct link to success or failure.

What truly is success or failure, or that is to say, how do we get from where we are today, to where we want to be.  We all begin and end at some point in this life and between now and then, we all live within a set set of circumstances.  Each of us has the power to interact in those circumstances and we get to choose how we define our ultimate outcomes by our reactions.  The way we react with the events in our lives is the difference between winning and losing, succeeding or failing.

The simple truth is, we don't have to make huge changes to see huge changes.  A small amount of effort over a period of time adds up.

Lets put this into several different examples to make this clear.

What if the only thing we changed in our lives was to start saving money towards our future financial security.  If we started at the age of 25 (assuming most people have either gone to college by that time and are out in the real world working, or have settled in their chosen career paths after college) and simply saved $10.00 per day every day for a period of 40 years (LONG Time) and we made 8% annually on the investment reinvesting all of the money, the total at the end of that time would be $1,021,201.  Of that total amount, you would have brought to the table $146,000.00 over a 40 year period.  But, breaking it into small bite size pieces of $10.00/day (one less coffee each day) makes it incredibly doable.

That would be a "success" in terms of investing.

Lets look at the flip side.  What would constitute a failure in terms of bit by bit, making the same mistakes over and over again.  In essence, that is what failure amounts to.  Repeating a systematic error, over and over again.  If I choose to get into shape, in the beginning I go 4 or 5 times per week and I do that consistently.  I see marked increases in terms of stamina, weight loss, energy, all of the things associated with taking control of my health.  Three months in, I make the determination, to cut back to 3 or 4 days a week.  After all, I am committed, and what is one day per week going to make a difference.  Again, I see a bit of increased results, but I start to plateau.  In my world, perfectly okay.  I reached my goals with the aggressive plan, and then I go into maintenance phase.  About three months later, I back off to 2 or 3 days per week.  Again, what is one day going to hurt.  I'm in good shape, things are going well.  As the story goes, six months later, I am down to squeezing in one day of work out in each week, my energy levels are dipping, my blood pressure is going up, my weight is most certainly on the wrong side of right.  Now, I am not working out as it seems why bother, and 2 years from now I get rushed to the hospital with heart issues.

Sad story, but a reality when we make little simple inconsequential decisions that over time compound.  It is so simple to make the right choices over and over again, and it is so simple to make the wrong choices over and over again.  The great part is, we can choose and every day is a new day to implement the action plan for success in our relationships, our health, our career, our spirituality, and our financial future.

Okay, it must stop already.  If you are utilizing your facebook, blog, or twitter account to shamelessly promote your business, just stop.  Read the tips below for a few basics on social media and marketing.  I believe Guy Kawasaki put it best, and I'm paraphrasing here, "you should be informing almost all of the time to earn the right to promote your business on occasion."  I love that, you EARN the right.  Such good advice!

 

Top 10 Social Media "Power Friending" Tips

Jun 09, 2010 -

There was a day when Twitter was just a tiny site with a 140-character blank box.  Today, the messaging service is now home to more than two billion tweets per month.  The company's CTO Dick Costolo recently announced that they're signing up 135,000 new registrations a day.  With so much conversation on just one website, it's tough to know how to get your business stand out from the online chatter. I just published a book called Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business, and it demystifies social media to help grow your business. Although it's a 50,000 word read, here are the top ten tips from the book that should entice you to learn more.

1.  Act authentically. A few years I worked as a social media consultant with Tony Robbins. As a leading speaker, entrepreneur, and coach, he is one of the busiest people I know. Still, today, Tony has time to manage many of his own social media efforts. As an active Twitter user (@tonyrobbins), he shares honest and compelling personal and professional messages. When he recently celebrated his 50th birthday, he took the time to record a friendly audio message for his fans. Being honest, accessible, and authentic is a key ingredient to social media success.

2.  Make time. People complain endlessly about not having time to roll social media efforts into their lives. Let's face it, many of us are short on time. As many highly effective people will attest, you always have time for the things you put first. Take the Tony example, I'm quite sure he doesn't have time to record friendly audio and video messages for an audience but he makes time because he knows it's important for his business.

3.  Be consistent. As much as you want to run away from your email and the web for a few days here and there, to ensure that your online marketing efforts are getting results try to participate in the social media world on a regular basis. That doesn't mean that you have to stay glued to your computer 24-7, but try to respond to comments within twenty-four or forty-eight hours during the work week.

4.  Tell stories. If you're looking for content ideas, there is nothing better than a good story. Whether you're sharing photos on Flickr or blogging on Blogger, people love to look inside the lives of people at home and at work.  Although you don't want to share anything that makes you uncomfortable, a little personality goes a long way online.

5.  Plan ahead. When I interviewed the face of Ford's social media efforts for my book he explained that a strategic plan kept his company on top. "A solid social media strategy meant that we had a plan and were well prepared for the newfound attention we received," said Scott Monty.  While you might not be experience a huge wave of social media activity right now, six months down the road this could change. As a result, you should be prepared.

6.  Embrace criticism. No one likes negative comments, but may times this feedback can help your organization make appropriate changes. The worst thing you can do when someone lashes out with a complaint is to ignore them completely. Often times, the individual simply wants a reaction and someone to listen to their problems.

7.  Listen well. To pick up on the last point, be aware of what people are saying about your brand or business. A free and easy way to do this is to sign up for Google Alerts, so you can monitor online conversations on a regular basis.  Depending on what you hear, look to your plan to figure out how you want to engage.

8.  Create a policy. As social media continues to grow quickly, and more than 400 million people worldwide continue to flock to Facebook, now is a good time for your business to develop a social media policy. This document can help your team determine what's appropriate to talk about online, and how they should interact in various situations. For example, Coca-Cola's social media policy includes a few smart guidelines, including advising employees that the Internet is permanent and that local posts have global significance.

9.  Go mobile. Remember how quickly the mobile world is exploding. Within more than one million iPads sold since launch, the demand for apps on the go shouldn't be ignored.  Consider developing your own application, either now or put it on your project plan for the future.

10.  Have fun. Although the technology is constantly evolving, and often frustrating, there are lots of exciting opportunities in the social media environment. A few weeks ago I hosted a workshop where attendees were tasked with developing an online video campaign for a fictitious airline in under thirty minutes. Many groups pitched pretty traditional ideas, but one group dragged their chairs up on stage and acted out an online skit with "Amelia Earhart" leading the audience through their plans to go viral. In other words, the most creative and original ideas have the best chance to stand out.

Do you remember in Top Gun, when Maverick says to Goose, "Talk to me Goose."  I believe that communication is the most valuable tool and for the most part, the top tool for success in life.  Communication both written, verbally, and non verbal says to the world what we are about and what we represent.

At the end of the day, to be an effective person and someone who has the ability to have big success, communication is the key.  Quite obviously, communication can be in so many different venues, but today, I want to focus quickly on public speaking or speaking in front of an audience larger than a couple of people.

For me, the first time I was to get in front of a group in my current professional life was incredibly trying.  I was anxious, nervous, dry mouth, all of the things we can imagine.  What I had, was a solid foundation of my material which assisted me to go on auto pilot once I got in front of the crowd.  Early on, I struggled to even remember what I said when I was done.

I have found, for me, one of the best ways to speak in front of a group, is to design the first couple of minutes of your material.  If you are an expert in the field, or if you are duplicating a sales presentation, the sales presentation should be the same or nearly the same if you have proven it to be affective.

For me, I often find something that has happened in my life on a given day that I can relate to the entire group.  It does a couple of things.  First, as a speaker, it is critical to share something of yourself outside the basic subject matter to connect with the group.  Again, if you are not connecting with the group, it does not matter what you say....they aren't listening.

Let me give you an example of a talk the other day so this makes a bit of sense.

"How is everyone doing today?  Please forgive me for my voice (I was sick the day I was speaking) today.  Does anyone in the room have children?  Great, most of you do, so you will be able to relate to me, especially if you have young kids in your home.  I have four kids, and my oldest is 5....so you can imagine, that if they are sick, I'm sick, so bare with my voice today please!"

I believe giving an anecdotal element at the beginning of a presentation calms your nerves as you are simply sharing a story.  In this case, it is also important to get the crowd in the "yes" before you even enter the actual presentation.  I asked who has kids, in most rooms that I speak I know 90% of the people or more will have children.  I also showed a level of relation, that I have a real life, with real concerns, and when I share the information that I will be covering on that day, they will correlate that I am just like them.

You have probably watched a speaker, who nearly faints in the first few minutes of their presentation and then they find their groove.  Its typically because they have so much pressure on the informational part.  Talk to the group as you were talking to a friend and they will feel that, relate to you, and they will in turn give energy back to you in the form of actively listening and participating.

I got to wondering the other day how best to treat that little voice in your head.  If you are wondering what little voice I am referring to, its the one talking to you right now asking what I'm talking about!

That being said, in my opinion, most people allow that little voice to be a source of defeat rather than a source of inspiration.  When we embark on a new challenge, our voice starts talking to us based on previous life experience. 

"Why are you doing this AGAIN, you KNOW you can't make it work"
"You are to heavy right now, why don't you try again after you lose the weight"
"Its in your genes, your parents weren't successful, your uncles aren't, no one is, so why bother"

You get the point.  Whatever the words are in your head that are defeating you, you are in control of those words.  One good theory on dealing with that little voice is to take ownership of it and employ it as a partner in your goals.  Instead of stonewalling the voice and trying to ignore it, think of it as an overbearing mom or dad who at the end of the day, are overbearing because they love you. 

Utilize the same tactics with the inner voice as you might with your parents. 

"Mom, I appreciate you sharing, and I understand that you come from a space of love.  I will take your thoughts into advisement, but I get to live my life on my terms, and when I need your assistance on tasks you can assist with, I will consult you.  Just know, my big goals are mine, and mine alone, you can assist with the small goals; the editing, the punctuation, the grammar of my life."

Whatever yours words are, just say "Thank you, but I'm not listening" as paraphrased from a mentor of mine Domo Kovacevik.  Now, go out and make it happen!

I love finding a great article that I can post for everyone to find value in.   Brian Tracy is phenomenal in the area of Sales and motivational psychology.  I hope you find value int he post!

The Parable of Talents by Brian Tracy

The Parable of the Talents is the primary reason for wealth or poverty throughout history.

Reasons for Rich or Poor
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages. There have been many cases of hundreds or thousands, and even millions, of men and women starting with nothing and going on to become financially independent. So, naturally, people are curious to know how their successes happened and what the common rules or principles are so that they, too, can apply them and become wealthy.

Why People Become Rich
One illustration of this key principle is called the Parable of the Talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."

Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation
What does that mean? In the modern world, we say the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The fact is, though, people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money they have. Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that you become what you think about most of the time.

Control Your Thoughts
And whatever you dwell upon grows in your reality. You create your entire world based on the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.

It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.

Activate Your Reticular Cortex
For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there, but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.

Avoid Poverty Thinking
On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty and being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.

Think Like Wealthy People Think
Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.

Find Out How Rich People Think
Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies, and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and then do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:

First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.

Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead, ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need but don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.

Check out the link I came across.  No matter what your profession, the better we are at building our business and social network, the more tools we have in our chest for expanding our business.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingideas/networkingcolumnistivanmisner/article206924.html

Have you ever considered what a person is worth, not in terms of them as a person walking on this earth, but what can that person do for you and your business?  I was reading a blog entry by Seth Godin today and it reminded me of one of the most interesting assets in business.  That asset is your personal power and what you bring to the table. 

Think of it this way.  If you were going to hire a band to come play at your new businesses launch party.  You could hire a local band who hits all of the big clubs and brings a pretty decent crowd and thus helps you get the eyes on the product or into your new store. 

How bout conversely to that.  You could hire one of the top bands of the day, for example, Stone Temple Pilots who just hit number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart the first week they released their new album. 

I think we have to agree that the local band put the time in to learn their craft just as the head liner did.  What makes the difference though in terms of their value?  The local band would certainly pull in all of the regular suspects that you would expect to come to your opening. 

The big time band would pull all of them, plus a wide variety of people that with out the pull would never have stepped foot into your new store, and that exposure opens a demographic a new customer base.

Both play for a couple of hours.  Probably pay the the local band a thousand maybe a few thousand dollars for the gig.....so why does the big timer get big money, perhaps on the scale of $100,000.00 for the appearance?

The bottom line is, its not the hours that are worked by the group, its the results that are produced.  If you open your store and in the first month you do 10 to 1 the production all of the same things being equal, the big timer has a perceived value of much greater than the local.

I remember listening on a success magazine disc one time a situation where there was a nuclear power plant that had shut down due to a mechanical deficiency.  The plant was losing millions of dollars a day each day it was not operational.  After a week or so of their best people trying to figure out the issue, they finally broke down and brought in one of the countries top consultants. 

The consultant arrived, and spent a full day looking at the controls, the dials, all of the instrumentation.  After assessing the situation, he walked in, got on a ladder, put a piece of masking tape on a dial marked with an X.  He told the plant managers to replace the dial and the issue would be resolved.

Sure enough, the dial was replaced and the plant immediately came back on line.  A short time later, the plant manager received a bill from the consultant for $75,000.00.  Of course, the plant manager practically fell over in his chair and sent a correspondence to the consultant inquiring as to the break down of the bill and why was it so excessive as after all, you simply placed an X on a dial and we actually fixed the dial and gauge.

After receiving the managers correspondence, the consultant politely sent back an itemized bill. 

$1.00 for placing X on malfunctioning Dial
$74,999.00 for having the knowledge of which dial to place it on.

So true, the company was losing a million dollars a day.  It is challenging to put a value on a "linchpin" job as Seth Godin calls it compared to a simple hourly recipe.

I believe if we took that same understanding and placed it on the strategic partnerships we have in business, everything would change.  I see it happen all of the time where we create massive value for the guidance of a top leader in our business, and the numbers that are produced are astounding.  The biggest difference is, we can promote effectively irregardless of who the person is.  It is not the same as dealing with a big public figure.  I can create within my integrity the value for whomever it is that we are working with and at the end of the day, sometimes it is easy to promote for the Stone Temple Pilots, but what if we were able to promote for the local band with the same intensity and excitement.  Sure, the name brings something.  But the name can be whatever it is we make of it.