Theresa Behenna

As a motivational speaker at conferences around the country I need to stand out from the crowded speakers circuit to be in demand. I do that by playing the piano during my presentations on peak performance  and since music is a universal language that energizes people of all ages and cultures, I’m usually booked as the opening keynote.

The five principles of learning to master the piano are the same ones that apply to be successful at work: Passion, Persistence, Attitude, People and Focus.

Ready to rock?

Passion

The beginning of all motivation. Every rock star, athlete and billionaire  started out with one thing in common – they had a passion for what they do.  Fear and money are both great motivators and perceived obstacles. Taking small steps outside your comfort zone towards that dream job/new business can open up a world of opportunities.  

Persistence

Most people give up too easily… at the first sign of difficulty they’re outta there. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ he writes how Bill Gates and The Beatles each took 10,000 hours worth of practice to reach the levels of excellence they did.  Think Lady Gaga was an overnight success? Not! She started playing piano when she was four. It took 10 years for me to play pop music worth listening to without sounding like a total dweeb.

Attitude

In today’s economy you have to be extraordinary to get the job/client and keep the job/client. This means constantly learning new ways of working. Translation: stay teachable. The days of managers that Know-It-All and We’ve-Always-Done-It-This-Way are SO over. Baby Boomers and Traditionalists need to learn about the latest gizmos from Gen X & Y who in turn need to learn about professional communications. Multi-millionaire Lady Gaga has the ultimate attitude of being willing to change by re-inventing herself almost every week with outrageous costumes, creative videos and spectacular sets. (You gotta get a load of this boomer standing up with one foot on the piano playing ‘Paparazzi’ during her keynotes!)

Stay humble and likeable. Mark Pincus CEO of Zynga a hugely successful online game company, says the main attribute he looks for when hiring is humility because it means someone is both approachable and open to new ideas. Lady Gaga is constantly thanking her fans that she affectionately calls ‘little monsters’. People buy from people they like. Having peeps gaga over you = cha ching!

People

Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump and Lady Gaga realized early on they needed other people to help them be successful so they each had mentors. For your organization to achieve goals great teamwork is essential and mentoring the younger generations is key. For your small business to thrive, brainstorm with peers in the industry for fresh ideas and solutions to challenges. Join group discussions on Linked In to stay current in your field, create a buzz about your biz on Facebook and post Tweets of value to your Twibe.

Focus

When I was offered the opportunity to audition for Coca Cola to perform at the 2006 Winter Olympics, I did nothing else for three days but focus on  winning. Through research I found out who was going to be in the audience in Italy and practiced piano relentlessly to WOW the judges within 30 seconds. To stay ahead of your competition today pay attention to changing market trends and keep up with technology to provide speedier customer service.  Focus on goals but stay open to new ideas.

I’m honored to say I bought home the Olympic gold (OK, so it’s a chocolate medal).

Got goals?

Get fans.

As a motivational speaker on high performance one of the ways I stay current is to read the daily blogs on Fast.com and the following was a recent post.

WHAT GOOD BOSSES DO WITH BAD APPLES

Making subtraction a way of life isn’t a theme raised in Good Boss, Bad Boss, but as I began thinking about many of the main ideas plus Matthew May’s great book In Pursuit of Elegance, I realized that great bosses have a “subtraction mind-set.” They are always looking to remove bad or unnecessary things.

As we know, “bad is stronger than good.” Getting rid of bad people is probably even more crucial than bringing in great people. We saw, for example how Paul Purcell enforces the “no jerks rule” at Baird. Removing selfish jerks has not only made Baird a civilized place but has helped keep it on Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list since 2004. And it has helped Baird grow and improve profits in recent years even as many other financial services firms faltered and failed.

When I speak to managers and executives rotten apples provoke especially strong reactions. At a gathering of high-tech CEOs, there was an interesting segment where each described “what keeps me up at night.” One said it was a star executive who brought in a lot of business but was driving away good people. There was consensus among his fellow CEOs that “we’ve seen  this movie before” and they all learned after firing someone like that, “Why did I wait so long? Things are so much better now!”

Another way some bosses deal with rotten apples–especially those with skills that are tough to replace or who have so much job security they are impossible to fire–is to “subtract them” physically, to isolate them so they don’t infect others. In one organization, there was a deeply skilled and incredibly nasty engineer whom leaders could not bring themselves to fire. So they rented a beautiful private office for him several blocks from the building where his colleagues worked. His coworkers were a lot happier–and so was he, since he preferred working alone.

Bad apples aren’t the only thing great bosses remove…

Cumbersome rules and procedures waste time and energy–so great bosses find ways to simplify and eliminate them. After the General Motors bankruptcy in 2009, CEO Rick Wagoner was fired and replaced with Ed Whitacre. He immediately started slashing away at GM’s maze of irrational and ingrained procedures—such as cutting the number of reports prepared by his research group from ninety-four to four per year. Whitacre’s blazingly obvious belief in doing so would allow researchers to spend more time researching and less time writing reports.

 The lesson here isn’t so much about these specific subtraction stories. Rather, it is about the subtraction mind-set that every boss ought to keep searching for things to remove and simplify- ways to make life less frustrating and annoying.

Great bosses live the motto “When in doubt, take it out.”