Speakers quote

Last week, I had a Strategy Session with an accomplished author, consultant and speaker in Europe.

His goal over the coming year is to increase the amount of paid speaking engagements he gets because being on stage naturally leads him to more consulting gigs as well.

First, we looked at what he is currently doing.

Almost every time he is getting booked for speaking, it’s because the event organizer found him by doing research or through a referral.

So every time he gets booked, it’s because the decision maker needs him right now. That’s good of course.

However, the challenge is that there is no control he has over that. The decision maker does the research, comes up with several people to call and then compares his choices.

So we started working on a different approach

We looked at his existing network.

When I asked him how many event organizers and creators he has in his network, he said that he had neglected connecting with them in the past. He had mainly focused on connecting with peers. So we started there.

Now, as you know, a referral is one of the most powerful ways to win new business.

So we mapped out a referral trust building sequence.

Because he had no systematic approach in the past, he neglected keeping up the relationships with his peers and did not nurture them.

So we started with brainstorming what a re-connection sequence could look like.

A re-connection sequence is designed to re-establish a relationship or re-initiate it. This can be done with anyone from a good friend you haven't’ talked to in a long time, to a LinkedIn connection you never really talked to.

The speaker told me that he had recently developed some simple tools to make his life as a speaker a lot easier. So he could share these tools with his peers because that would add tremendous value to their lives.

Great. Now we even had some content to start with.

At the end of our conversation, we got to a place where we had a very clear idea about what kinds of trust building stages his peers need to go through in order to remember him as the very first person when somebody asks about great speakers on his topic.

We even mapped out some of the content he could share with his peers to make that happen.

As the next step in our relationship, we need to identify the right people in his network, categorize them and then design the actual messages in the trust building sequence that will evolve his peers from one stage to the next. This will ensure that the network he has already built, is actually working for him and he’s not just wasting this asset.

Now I want you to think about your network

Where are your relationship assets? And how do you currently nurture these relationships to create win-win situations?

Chances are that you already have lots of relationship assets.

The question is, how do you leverage those assets in a way that feels authentic to you?

Maybe the reason you haven’t nurtured these relationships enough is because you’re afraid you come over as pushy.

Or maybe it’s because there are simply too many small decisions to make and too little time in the day.

Here’s my suggestion.

Think about nurturing these relationships in a systematic way that feels completely authentic to you and people in your network.

Because when you combine the systematic side and the authentic side, you’ve got the key to making it effortless and effective.

If you want to chat more about this, I’m happy to connect on LinkedIn and start a conversation.

Have you ever seen what happens when gasoline goes bad? Spoiler alert: It's not good. In fact, if you don't have the right fuel in your tank, the consequences are disastrous. Just like car fuel, if you don't have the right company culture in place, you can find yourself broken-down on the side of the road. And overcoming a broken down anything--whether it be a car or company culture--is never easy.

So, do you have the right fuel in your tank? If you're broken down due to bad culture, or if you're merely looking to get better, this is a question you've got to answer--and often. Then once you have the answer, be prepared to take some difficult steps to get better. Because no matter how bad things may be, finding and using the right fuel is going to get you up and running toward your goals.

Below are six steps to improve your culture. The first three steps are specifically for the broken-down cultures. Just like you need a tow truck to bring your car to the shop, there are additional tasks required when your culture breaks down (But don't worry, fixing a culture doesn't involve sitting in the front seat of the tow truck and wondering what that smell is). Steps four, five and six are relevant to everyone, no matter how smoothly your engine is running.

1. Rebuild with best principles in mind, not just best practices. Believe it or not, an automobile can run on bad fuel. You can even put diesel fuel into a gas engine (or vice versa) and it'll work for a while. The problem is the car won't perform very well, and eventually it will break down. It's the same with bad culture.

So, filling your time with activities designed to build culture isn't necessarily helpful to you if those activities don't build the rightculture. For example, if you determine you're a company that cares a great deal about being friendly to the environment, going to a monster truck rally for a company party may not make sense. Even if the event is a rip-roaring blast.

When you rebuild a culture, you have to figure out exactly what kind of fuel you need before planning specific activities. This means focusing on principles, not practices. Take the time to identify your organization's DNA. Honestly evaluate who you are. Figure out what it is about your product or service that will inspire the type of employees you want (besides a paycheck), and write down your company values.

Once your values are in place, clearly and accurately define your mission and vision statements (a mission statement explains your reason for existing and a vision statement describes who you want to eventually become). Setting these principles in place establishes a firm foundation for the rest of your culture. Now, instead of a truck rally, you can go plant trees at a local park or make hammocks out of recycled six-pack rings.

2. Be humble and open. Rebuilding a culture is hard; there are no two ways about it. And it requires everyone to be better, beginning with leaders. When your company culture goes bad--just like when your car breaks down--it can be embarrassing. When it happens, leadership has to show genuine humility, acknowledging any shortcomings and being honest about the organization's failings. Otherwise, how can you learn from prior mistakes? A simple email or speech at a company meeting from the CEO might be all it takes, but it has to be sincere and heartfelt. And it must be followed up with consistent actions that prove they meant it.

From there, you must strive for better--more open--communication throughout the company. Culture should be discussed on a regular basis. Employee's opinions should be considered when making major culture changes, whether they come from performance reviews or surveys or conversation (or overheard chatter in the break room). In the end, everybody on the team should feel like they were part of the culture overhaul. It needs to feel like a team project. Not only will this ensure that everyone is on board, but everyone will know exactly what is expected of them.

3. Rip and replace. When fixing a broken culture, you can't always afford to spend your time tweaking failed strategies and initiatives. Sometimes you need to find the elements of your organization that aren't working, and simply eliminate them. Rip them out of the fabric of your company and replace them entirely.

For example, you might have a rewards program that your sales team has never been satisfied with. Instead of band-aiding the problem by throwing money at it, you might consider scrapping the whole thing altogether and starting from scratch. Dig deep and figure out what exactly motivates your team--not just financially, but psychologically as well.

Sometimes the thing that needs replaced is a member of your staff. Obviously, this is an especially hard thing to do. But if you've defined your mission, vision and values and still have staff members who refuse to comply to those critical building blocks of your organization, it's best for you (and frankly, for them as well) to let go and move on. Your team needs to be united, or past failures will continue to creep into the culture and ruin your best intentions.

4. Implement your values into regular activities. The values you define for your organization will mean nothing if you don't intertwine them into everyday work. Otherwise, your culture will evolve on its own, and whether it continues to match your values or not will be a tossup. Start by finding ways to incorporate your values into the following activities:

• One-on-ones - It will be a lot easier for managers to know how to manage their employees when they can use company values as a guide. For example, let's say an employee is having a hard time getting to work on time, and one of your values is "Be dependable." Rather than saying, "You're tardy and I'm sick of it," a manager can refer to the value and set goals with the employee to achieve it.
• Company meetings - By discussing company values with everyone, not only can you ensure the whole company is on the same page, but you can also stress to the whole team just how important your values are. This is also a good time to educate your people about your mission and vision. As soon as an employee loses sight of the why, the how and what will start to suffer too.
• Recruiting efforts - Most companies try to recruit for culture fits, but being a culture fit is more than just sharing similar personalities or interests with current employees ("Hey, I like Led Zeppelin, too!"). It's about sharing common values. By gauging candidates on their values, you'll be able to find the right people and, perhaps equally important, weed out those who would become thorns in the workplace.

5. Use the right technologies to jumpstart your efforts. You have a product or service that you provide, so sometimes it can be difficult to spend the amount of time you'd like to improve your culture. With the help of technology you can automate time-consuming tasks and free yourself to work on culture.

For example, there are onboarding automation tools that allow you to spend less time doing paperwork on first days andmore time initiating people into your culture. There are also performance management tools that are turningtraditional performance reviews on their heads, making them more useful in quickly identifying employees who are hurting the culture and giving direction on how to get them back on board.

6. Keep your eye on the fuel gauge.Remember that, just like a car, your culture will need constant fuel to thrive. Don't look at rebuilding (or building or improving) your culture like it's an ad hoc project--because it's not. Maintaining a great culture is an ongoing process that requires constant attention and care. You just have to always be honest with yourself and be prepared to make the necessary improvements, whether you're broken down on the side of the road, or merely looking to speed up the journey to your ultimate goal

China's largest bank is throwing its weight behind Singapore organisations and companies to join in the One Belt, One Road initiative.

A raft of agreements to increase Sino-Singapore cooperation was signed yesterday between the Singapore branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and five local parties.

One agreement was inked with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), extending up to 50 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) in funding to SBF members for infrastructure investments under the initiative.

This brings total financing available for Singapore companies to at least $100 billion, including International Enterprise (IE) Singapore's deals with three Chinese banks that provide over $90 billion in funding.

The figure is significant, considering that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has US$100 billion (S$136 billion) in capital, which could support lending of between US$200 billion and US$500 billion, according to a European Commission estimate.

• $10.2b

• Funding to Singapore Business Federation members for infrastructure investments under the initiative.

• $100b

• Minimum total financing available for Singapore firms at the moment.

Memorandums of understanding were also signed by Singapore Press Holdings, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Surbana Jurong and Sinochem International Corporation at an inaugural forum on financing for One Belt, One Road infrastructure projects yesterday.

Surbana Jurong chairman Liew Mun Leong said its agreement would allow the firm to offer its clients a full suite of financial and engineering expertise for urban infrastructure projects."Our expertise in urban planning, engineering, project management and facilities management services fully complement ICBC's financial-related services," said Mr Liew, who also chairs Changi Airport Group.

ICBC chairman Yi Huiman said the bank's Singapore branch has 20 Belt and Road projects in reserve that involve about US$3 billion of financing. It also has more than 200 projects in reserve globally, with a total investment of more than US$200 billion. "We will provide enterprises with 'one-stop' financial services including international settlement... that reflect Singapore's market characteristics and build on ICBC Group's resources," he said.

The bank, which organised the forum with Surbana Jurong, will also create a one-stop service system that includes information consulting and project matchmaking.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade), noted that the Asean region will need an estimated US$60 billion annually until 2022 for infrastructure. He said Singapore and Chinese companies share complementary strengths and can work together in third-country markets.

Mr Lim cited the partnership of Singaporean engineering company ISDN with China Huadian Engineering, one ofChina's largest industrial players, to develop mini-hydropower projects across Indonesia. "I would like to encourage more of such fruitful partnerships between Singapore and China," he added.

In a separate panel on infrastructure financing, Mr Kow Juan Tiang, group director of environment and infrastructure solutions at IE Singapore, emphasised the "tremendous demand for infrastructure", countering the claim that policy banks like the AIIB are crowding out commercial banks. "Forget all the numbers, what is needed is one Singapore to be developed every week for the next five years... that's the magnitude we are talking about," he said.

Mr Kenneth Loo, president of the Singapore Contractors Association, said the Belt and Road initiative would provide a "good start" for local contractors to move into the region, but added that it would be challenging for individual Singaporean companies to get financing for such projects on their own.