Pewyton Manning – Executive Growth Strategies

June 8, 2020

Are You Tough Enough?

If you’re reading this you’ve been here or someplace like this before. You went through 911… Still Standing. You survived the Dot Com meltdown… Still Standing. You outlasted the 2008 mortgage melt down and lived to tell… Still Standing! While you’ve been wobbled more than once you made it through. You paid attention and as a result each one of these made you smarter, wiser and stronger. I’ve had the same experience as many of you. If you haven’t given yourself credit for surviving the time is now! You’re overdue.

Pastor Robert Schuller used to say “Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough People Do!” I suspect the last few weeks have measured your toughness. Still Standing? You’re certifiably tough. What’s your plan to remain tough? Mike Tyson was the first to say “Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.” We’ve all been hit… response means everything and determines what’s next.

A client from about 10 years ago called to tell me how bad things were. He’d been knocked down. I told him to Get Up! He misunderstood me so I said it again… Get The Hell Up! His words and actions during what may well be the fight of his life were crippling him and I heard that in his voice. When I asked what he’s done since the shelter in place order he said “everything’s shut down… What can I do?” I gave him a list of 10 things to do that day before he went to bed. I then got his wife on the phone to keep him accountable. I got off the phone with him 9 days later and things are much better while still under the shelter in place order. He has a new plan now.

This will eventually end. Many businesses, even some of your competition, will simply wait this out. That’s never the way to respond to any threat. If you’ve read the “Art Of War” you know to attack when the enemy is weak. There’s more weakness than I’ve ever seen. I promise I will survive this Pandemic both personally and professionally… I will emerge stronger. You will as well. Those who don’t take and maintain decisive action are bound to suffer the consequences. That result is sad and predictable. We’re in this together. We’re going to thrive together!

My name is Steven Clauson. I coach people who want help getting where they want to be. The people I coach are typically already taking action, getting results and ask what’s next and what actions to take to make an even greater impact. They aren’t afraid to ask for help. How can I help you? What actions are you taking? Those who have a plan and implement that plan lead the pack. Planning, preparing to win and taking appropriate action means you hear the word “YES” more than ever. Only if you one of the few willing to take action, do what’s required and play full out and you likely to hear the word yes more often. People hearing the word “YES” are winners on the field playing because they play full out and dominate. For these people results matter. Tired of results less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclausoncom

October 6, 2015

Who Creates Your Reality?

Who’s responsible for creating your reality? The word reality is defined as the way things actually are. With that being said the News people insist on watching is supposed to contain reality and what it really contains is grey areas of opinion and spin. Our lives happen just like this. Most of what happens comes down to opinion and spin.
Someone’s reality often comes down to their Response Ability in every given situation. Losing a parent, winning a football game, going through a divorce, filing bankruptcy and even getting an inheritance are examples of things that show your response ability. How will you respond in any given situation is what reality is all about. I know people dealing with each of these situations right now and the differences are stark and not what I would have predicted.
What I know to be true and a fact is that success is our duty, obligation and responsibility. We need to take it seriously. It matters! The last few days with a sick parent matters. Winning a football game matters. Divorce and the destruction of a family matters. Filing bankruptcy and having the chance to start over matters. Getting an inheritance and becoming the steward of someone’s financial lifes work matters.
Each of us holds the final definition of what reality means. When you choose to be part of the solution your ability to respond rises. What’s your current Response Ability?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to maximize their efforts. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out. These are people for whom results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

October 6, 2015

Price As The Primary Sticking Point

I hear salespeople tell me story after story about how their competitor is underselling them and they are practically giving their product away or how the exact same produce can be purchased on the internet for less in every case. In fact I was reading a book over this past weekend called “Secrets Of Successful Selling” and that book talked about how competition has reached levels never before seen and customer awareness has reached a point that required salespeople to operate at levels never before considered. This book was written in 1952!
Competition has always been here and thank goodness it will always be here. The problem isn’t product knowledge, competition or even smarter customer… The real issue is are you sold on your product? You need to become so sold and so convinced on your product and service that you know it would be a mistake for your customer to do business anywhere else. So convinced that you can tell them why it would be detrimental to them if they buy from anyone but you. So sold that you lose sleep when a customer doesn’t buy from you no matter the reason they give you. That level of commitment may seem too much but this is what people are searching for.
Champions in any field know they must produce results with what they have to work with. Champions look at the team they have and determine what their strengths are and as a result what actual assets they have to work with. They play the cards that have been dealt to maximum effect. They focus on winning the game they are involved in at that moment and never think about losing. David kicked Goliaths ass because he was sold on the idea he could get it done. Who is your Goliath?
My name is Steven Clauson and I coach people who want to come out of the stands and onto the field or are already on the field and demand to work to their potential. Are you in the stands or on the field? Winners are on the field playing full out and dominate. For these people results matter. Tired of results that are less than you know you can produce? Call me at 916-230-0176 or visit www.stevenclauson.com

October 28, 2014March 31, 2015

Why People Like Peyton Manning Are Invaluable…

With apologies to San Francisco 49er fans, I watched the Broncos vs. 49ers game Sunday night. This game was billed as the Kid vs. the Vet. Kid Colin Kaepernick is a complete physical specimen and a great athlete while Peyton Manning is supposedly at the twilight of his career given his advanced age and 4 neck surgeries. Here are a few of the facts and what we should all take away…

The 49er Quarterback is younger, faster, stronger, more mobile and can do things that the older Manning cannot even consider. What Manning has going for him is that he has seen everything that any team can throw at him, he does his homework at an level few can believe and when the coin is tossed before the game he knows that he’s done everything possible to get the win. While the win is never promised he over prepares himself, demands the same from his teammates and demonstrates what is expected. This is part of the reason he has thrown 510 touchdown passes in his career and will likely hit 600 according to his former coach Tony Dungy.

I am privileged to work with people that display this demand to win on a daily basis. One of those people holds the positions of Sales Manager and Lead Sales person for Brower Mechanical. Mark is slightly older than Peyton Manning and while he does not have the desire to climb around in attics or climb on roofs he has something that eliminates the requirement to do these things. Mark is a master at paying close attention to his customer while learning everything about them before deciding what to do next. There are times that Mark will walk away from what could be a sale because he knows that there’s not a fit between his solution and the prospect! He has learned a lot in his years of in home sales and knows what works and doesn’t work. Like Manning, Mark does his homework and over prepares for each situation he goes into. Mark is a great salesperson and he lives the mantra “They will never care how much you know until they know how much you care!”

From the reading I’ve done it’s clear to me that whenever anyone gets to the top in what they do, they are both a hard and smart worker. I recently learned that Jimmy Kimmell works between 75 and 90 hours every week and is always the first one to the show to get the ball rolling. This is why he’s able to make it all look so easy… He is over prepared and it shows! When things go wrong on his show or a joke bombs he takes responsibility for it and moves on. This is what Manning did after he lost the Super Bowl to the Seahawks and what Mark does when he doesn’t close a sale he believes he should have closed. Responsibility, when it’s combined with hard work is the easiest thing in the world to handle.

As you may know I took last week and spent it in Las Vegas. This was a combination of work and rest. While I was away I took in 5 webinars and met with 6 potential clients from the Las Vegas area. I am not sure who said that business and pleasure don’t mix but they were wrong! You not only can do both but you should do both in my estimation. The people I know that do well all have this in common and it shows. I had a client recently go to Italy for a week and told me in advance that he wanted and needed educational material for both he and his significant other for the flight there and back. He does this every time he goes away for pleasure and this is what keeps him at the cutting edge of what he does I’m convinced. Don’t take anything I’m writing to suggest that your life should be all about work because that is NOT what I’m saying. As Jeff Olson points out in the book The Slight Edge, it’s easy to do the things that will make you a success and it’s easy to not do the things that make you a success. Reading 10 pages of a good book every day is easy to do and easy to not do. Which easy thing are you going to do?

What about the rest of us? What could you add to what you do that your competition is unwilling to do? Are you going to simply outwork and out prepare your competition or are you willing to leave it to chance? Being a leader requires just a little more work than being a follower and unless you are the lead dog the view isn’t going to change!

If you demand to be the leader you were meant to be give me a call at 916-230-0176 or email me at steve@stevenclauson.com and let’s get to work! There is much to be done and less and less time to do it!