George M. Steinbrenner…The “Power” behind the Man

Who was the “Boss”?

With the passing of George Steinbrenner an era has ended. Mr. Steinbrenner was more than the owner of the New York Yankees. He transformed the sport of baseball into a billion dollar business for other owners. The “Boss” as he was known, singlehandedly raised the competitive drive to levels not seen before and didn’t care what people said about his actions. Furthermore, he became a cultural icon. And perhaps most important, George Steinbrenner was a behind the scenes angel whose generous philanthropy helped many in times of need, often unknown to those very individuals whose lives he touched so profoundly.

All of these qualities exemplify certain behavioral patterns which I refer to as People Patterns™ (which comprise what I call one’s Personality Language™). In the case of Mr. Steinbrenner, the unique configuration of People Patterns™ and other typological traits, together, created a powerful, brilliant, successful, passionate and driven business man on one side, and a caring, compassionate, giving and generous humanitarian on the other side.

As a life-long Yankee fan and original New Yorker, I thought that it would be a fitting tribute to talk briefly about George Steinbrenner from a typological perspective of People Patterns™ among other things.

First, Mr. Steinbrenner personified to the core of his being what we call the ultimate power person. He exemplified what we call the Power Motive People Pattern™. A motive is what drives us to do what we do in our lives. (It corresponds to the particular stick or carrot that we use to motivate ourselves and others.) His title of the “Boss” was so fitting of his typological profile. A power person is driven to do one thing: to WIN. Winning and/or not losing is what takes center stage in the mind of a power person.

This was Mr. Steinbrenner to a tee. His never-ending drive and innate passion to win is what set him apart from other owners and not just in baseball, in all sports. And it was this same drive to win and his burning desire to have the best team in baseball is what helped catapult the New York Yankees back to dominance and to win seven World Series Championships under his tutelage.

Power people such as Mr. Steinbrenner like to be the bosses of the world. They tend to give orders and they expect obedience. They like to be in control…control of their environment, whether it be people, things or situations. I heard the “Boss” once say in an interview that he liked to do things “my way,” as in Sinatra’s song. Mr. Steinbrenner always made his presence known when it came down to motivating the players, coaches, the management, etc. to be in the right mindset to win. He had his share of clashes with managers and other people in his efforts to create the best and most powerful teams to win. Power people happen to view life as contests of will and Mr. Steinbrenner always made sure that he would come up on top whenever possible in his business dealings.

Meanwhile, the press seemed to relish their role in spotlighting his “power plays” and skirmishes. Mr. Steinbrenner didn’t seem to mind too much in the context of sports. In fact, he was a master in handling the press; and he certainly knew how to goad them and to push the right buttons to “win” his interaction with them. In stark contrast, however, in his role as philanthropist, he often preferred to remain anonymous in his charitable gift giving.

George Steinbrenner also personified what we refer to as Internal Referential People Pattern™. This means that he would base his decisions on what he knew inside to be right. He didn’t need feedback from other people about how well he was doing his job, as do External People. At the same time, he had what we call an External check in that he would listen to people who were experts on a given subject or had savvy concerning an issue or situation. However, as an Internal person, the “Boss” would evaluate people, things and situations based on his own internal criteria when making a decision. He certainly didn’t need to ask for the opinion of others.

Mr. Steinbrenner also had what we call a Difference People Pattern™. He was a successful entrepreneur and visionary who did not like the status quo. He liked to do things differently especially if doing so would help him be in control and win. He welcomed change as a way to become even stronger and to make the Yankees even more successful. After all, just think about how many times he changed managers for the team! His difference orientation is one of the reasons behind his success.

George Steinbrenner also had what we call a “Specific (Small Chunk) Information People Pattern™. This pattern deals with the amount of information as well as the specificity of information presented in a communication exchange. Mr. Steinbrenner was a Specific person in that he focused on depth of information. He was extremely detail oriented in all that he did and his love of details is what enabled him to fine tune and to refine things to increase the chance of success in a given endeavor.

There is so much more I could say about Mr. Steinbrenner’s typological profile and People Patterns™, as I am merely scratching the surface. I will simply discuss one more aspect at this time. It has to do with what many people see as an unusual combination of attributes that made him so loved and disliked at the same time by different people. I am referring to him being what we call a Venge. This type of person is totally power oriented and wants always to be in a superior position in relation to others. They view interactions with others as a battle of weak versus strong. At the same, they are quite protective of those they care about. That is why Mr. Steinbrenner “took care” of his players so well.

Because of his Venge personality, he would respect those who were daring enough to stand up to him. That is one of the reasons that Billy Martin and he had the relationship that they did, at times quite contentious as we all know. And yet the “Boss” cared a great deal for Mr. Martin.

In addition, a Venge is one who will usually make his or her opinion known no matter what others may think particularly in the face of what they perceive to be injustices in all contexts of life, whether in society, on the field, in the boardroom, etc. And beware if a Venge thinks that someone or a situation is unfair to him/her or to someone in their circle of loyal friends (or within his team, i.e. the Yankee players). That is why Mr. Steinbrenner gave Darryl Strawberry a second chance after his bout with substance abuse.

Fairness is a big issue for Venge. This is the reason why they also champion the underdog and those who are less privileged or downtrodden. His Venge typology is why George Steinbrenner was such an amazing and dedicated philanthropist who genuinely wanted to help those who were less fortunate, or those who were of ill health or those who found themselves in dire situations of some sort.

Last but not least, George Steinbrenner changed the way in which people perceived winning. He made winning an art in itself. His contributions to the sport of baseball and his countless contributions to improve the lives of those less fortunate will remain as his amazing legacy to all of us. Our world is certainly a better place thanks to the visionary who will always be known as the “Boss.”

Marilyne Woodsmall

MASS MEDIOCRITY AND THE MOTIVATION PEOPLE PATTERN™

“Human nature is such that if we are relatively content, then we are not going to be motivated to do anything to change our comfort zone, whether it be now or later.” Marilyne Woodsmall

Why is this so? It is because when people have already gotten all the carrots and sticks they think they need to lead what they believe to be an acceptable lifestyle, then they no longer have that fire burning within to move any farther. Life is okay as is, nothing more nothing less, no bells and whistles; yet this is satisfactory to them so they don’t care to budge one bit. These are the very people who end up staying in jobs for years and are quite content to do so.

Most people are mired in mediocrity. All too sad yet true. These are the so-called masses. And these are precisely the people who don’t want to change even if they have the opportunity to do so as I’ll explain shortly.

This has major implications regarding motivation in the workplace. There are basically four reasons why people aren’t motivated:

1. People who are move toward in orientation and have nothing towards which to move.

2. People who are move away from and have nothing from which to move away.

3. People who are move toward and who have reached their set goals and have nothing else to get them out of their satisfaction zone.

4. People who are move away from and who have somehow managed to move away from all the things which they would like to avoid.

The last two types are the most challenging elements in any workforce because they don’t want to move in any direction. These people are a nightmare to any team, to any manager, to any organization, to anyone who wants to get ahead because they are indifferent to change. These people are the masses, the people who are content to live their lives in mediocrity.

Once again, the Motivation People Pattern is the basis of everything that we do in life, or don’t do for that matter. Imagine the possibilities if we could move people from relatively content to ecstatic and beyond! Tune in for more next time.

ARE ALL TYPES THE SAME?

PEOPLE PATTERNS™ VS MEYERS-BRIGGS – PART II

In the first part of this discussion, we discussed the two points: 1) the concept of typologies from a perspective of formal logic and 2) the different forms of typologies. As mentioned, Meyers-Briggs presents immutable boxes or preferences, whereas we know that types can be changed, given our work in behavioral change technologies. Second, we discussed how Meyers-Briggs and People Patterns™ are what we refer to as horizontal typologies.

Now we are going to present the third concept that relates to typologies, that of contextuality. It is critically important to realize that all behavior is context dependent. This is one of the fundamental principles of NLP. In fact, all behaviors change depending on the context in which they occur. What this means is that you may behave or act in a particular way, for example, in a work context, while at home, you behave totally differently because it is a different context. So in one context, you’ll behave one way, and when you shift contexts, your behavior shifts as well. With People Patterns™, we constantly emphasize that they are context dependent. Myers-Briggs does not take this into account.

The notion of context and contextuality in our typologies (in this case, People Patterns™) is critically important. It is a concept that is a vital component to all behaviors, and thus, to typologies. Context, for our People Patterns™ takes into account several elements:

1. Where you are (for example in work, at home, at school, driving, etc.)

2. What are the circumstances in which you are behaving a certain way

3. When are you behaving a particular way

Now let us consider the fourth concept regarding typologies, that of deep structure and refinement. What we call People Patterns™ that make up one’s Personality Language™ goes beyond what the four Meyers-Briggs categories cover in their scope. People Patterns™ take the types to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of what is involved:

Sensor/Intuitor: our Tangible/Intangible People Pattern™ is more refined.

Introvert/Extrovert: our Internal/External People Pattern™ is more refined.

Judger/Perceiver: our Structurist/Free Spirit (through time/in time dichotomy) People Pattern™ is more refined.

Thinker/Feeler: Our Decision People Pattern™ (looks right, sounds right, feels right and makes sense) is more refined. Also, the Chunk Size People Pattern™ clarifies this Meyers-Briggs preference.

Now, our People Pattern™ Profile is different from others that are out there in that we are not looking for content based responses. Our work is based on decoding what I refer to as the deep structure (as in linguistics), and here, the deep structure of the psyche. In this case, it is the deep structure of your thinking and of your behavior, rather than the specific content.

At another time, we will discuss the deep structure differences between the two typologies a bit more.

DO TESTIMONIALS REALLY WORK? PART II:

By Marilyne Woodsmall

WHEN TO USE THEM AND WHEN NOT…

In our prior discussion, I talked about the Evaluation People Pattern™. This critical Evaluation People Pattern™ determines how an individual makes a judgment. In the context of sales, this pattern reveals how an individual makes a judgment to buy a product or service.

If you remember, there are two types of people when it comes to the Evaluation People Pattern™: Internal People and External People. Individuals who have what we call an Internal Referential Filter don’t want to hear about what other people are saying about a product or a service that they are thinking about purchasing. On the other side of the coin, there are those who have an External Referential Filter. They need to know what other people think before they purchase something. Remember, too, that there are some Internal People who will rely on what another person is saying if that person happens to be a proven expert on the product or service and has accurate information.

It makes a huge difference whether you are selling to someone with an internal pattern or an external pattern. Most Internal People think that the public at large is totally lacking in awareness and taste when it comes to making evaluations or judgments. In fact, our term, the Science of Idiots™ is quite apropos here, since Internal People view External People to be idiots for the most part. The former ask in referring to the latter: How is it possible to be such an idiot as to need another person’s opinion before buying something?

On the other hand, External People can’t imagine how a person can buy anything in life without getting feedback from others. They think that Internal People are idiots for not wanting the opinion of other people.

So what can you do to tailor your sales communication, whether one-on-one or on your site to reach these types of people? First, let us consider External People. If you are dealing with External People there are two viable strategies. One, you can position yourself as their external point of reference. The second strategy is to have people they respect or admire talk about your product.

The first strategy means that you have to be knowledgeable about your product or service as well as be trustworthy. Even sleazy car salesmen types don’t fare well here. Customers are much savvier than you may think and they certainly don’t want or need the traditional hype that has worked in the past in certain niches. The best rule of all is to always come from a place of integrity. In our work professionally modeling top salespeople over the years, my husband and I have always found that the best of the best have integrity and also create trust among their customers. I’ll delve more into this topic in a future article.

The second strategy involves telling your customers what people they respect have to say about what you are selling or providing. This means finding out who those people are for your particular customers.

In brief, with External People:

1. Provide as much information or referral material that you can.

2. Give as many testimonials as possible (more is better than less here)

3. Stress what others think about your product.

4. Have them see and or hear others’ reactions to your product or service.

5. Know that they are easily influenced by others.

Now, with Internal People, the strategy is totally different. With them you want to go out of your way to avoid telling them what other people are saying about your product or service. In fact, an Internal People will think less of you if try to sell your product based on testimonials or based on others’ opinions. They simply will view you as another idiot who has no clue about things.

In brief, with Internal People:

1. Suggest that they have their own internal check regarding the buying decision.

2. Stress that it is up to them and not up to you, as to whether to buy or not.

3. Avoid giving testimonials.

4. Tell them that you know that they are ultimately making the buying decision.

5. Know that telling them what others think is useless and may cost you the sale.

Also, remember that if you are an expert and or have someone else’s expertise to present regarding your product, it may be helpful to the Internal Person and only if the information is from an expert and is relevant.

In summary, it is critical in sales to know what criteria your customers are using when buying anything. This is why it is so important to appeal to both the Internal and External People in your presentation. In this way, you cover all possibilities; and you increase your sales as well as avoid missing half your customers and thus, avoid losing sales.

DO TESTIMONIALS REALLY WORK?

Long before the internet came along, people have been giving testimonials for products. TV sales have always played a huge part in the conspicuous consumer society in which we live and still do so today. With the onset of the internet, we have been overwhelmed with the typical and quite annoying bottomless sales letter that is riddled with endorsements and testimonials to convince prospective buyers to purchase a product or service.

And with TV shopping channels like QVC and the Home Shopping Network, testimonials play an increasingly important role in selling. Or do they? The question is do they really work with everyone? The answer is NO, NO, NO!!!

In fact, only about half of the population cares about what others think about a product before they buy it. The other half simply couldn’t care less what other people say about what they are buying. Which type are you? And more important, which type are your customers? Just because you may like to hear what other people are saying about products before purchasing them doesn’t mean that all of your customers think the same way. Or you may not care about testimonials and yet some of your customers won’t buy your products without them.

Are you a person who thrives on hearing what others have to say about a particular product? Or are you a person who can’t stand listening to or to reading about what people are saying about a product or service that you are contemplating buying? And there is another possibility as well. Are you someone who occasionally likes to read or to hear testimonials from certain individuals? How you answer these questions is quite revelatory.

In fact, it will determine still another People Pattern™ that comprises what we call Personality Language™. It is called the Evaluation People Pattern™. This all important Evaluation People Pattern™ determines how an individual makes a judgment, and in the context of this discussion, how an individual makes a judgment to buy a product or service. The emphasis is on how and not why.

Basically there are two major elements that make up the Evaluation People Pattern™. There are some individuals who make decisions to buy based on internal criteria and then there are some individuals who make decisions to buy based on external criteria. Those who make buying decisions based on internal criteria have what we refer to as an Internal Referential Filter or People Pattern™. They simply know inside that what they are doing or what they are buying, in this case, is the right thing for them. Those who make buying decisions based on external criteria have what we refer to as an External Referential Filter or People Pattern™. They need to hear what others think and tend not to buy anything without this feedback.

There are also some Internal People who, under certain circumstances, don’t mind having an expert give advice or information about a product, and only if it is information from an expert and not just anyone offering their opinion.

The bottom line is that Internal People don’t need feedback from others when it comes to buying products or services (unless, as mentioned, they want expert information under some circumstances); and External People need feedback before they purchase something. External People are often incapable of buying something without hearing first what other people think about it.

What this means for you in sales is that you have to tailor your communication on your sales page and/or in your presentation to both include testimonials for External People as well as include phrases that target the Internal People among your customers. Tune in next time to learn how to communicate with both types of customers in your audience, those with an Internal Referential Filter and those with an External Referential Filter.

By Marilyne Woodsmall

THE LOOKS RIGHT BUYER

As we mentioned in our introductory overview of the Decision People Pattern™, there are four reasons why people make the decisions that they do. It is because something either:

1. Looks right

2. Sounds right

3. Feels right or

4. Makes Sense

When we discuss someone having one of the above four elements of the “Decision People Pattern™, what this means is that a person is using a particular formula which we call a mental “strategy” to make a given decision.

Today we are going to discuss the first component of the Decision People Pattern™, the looks right pattern. First, what does it mean to have a “looks right” decision making pattern? A looks right person literally makes decisions based on a visual representation in his or her mind that literally looks right to him or to her. In reality, what the person is doing is creating an ideal image and a series of each of the alternatives. What actually happens is that the looks right person is comparing each of the alternatives, outside of his or her conscious awareness, to the ideal in his or her mind. The right match between the ideal and one of the alternatives triggers the decision. If there is no match, the looks right person generates more alternatives and if there is still no match, then the person ends up looking for more data to make a decision or else settles for less.

We have greatly simplified the process here, for we normally teach these patterns in the context of an entire workshop. So this is simply a brief overview of the looks right buyer.

How would you tailor your approach to the looks right buyer? There are several things that you can do. First it will be to your advantage to present a proper physical appearance for the presentation, whether it be in person or on a video. Tidiness, good hygiene and neatness are all factors that appeal to a looks right buyer or customer. Think about how many times you’ve heard about someone not buying a product because the buyer did not like the way the seller looked. The basic overall impression that you give from the start is critical. Even if visual factors don’t mean anything to you, they are vital to making a sale with a looks right person.

In terms of the actual sale, make sure that you have visual material on hand. If it is an in-person presentation, have slides, photos and sufficient graphic material to support your sale. By not having the visual support, you are literally not meeting the looks right buyer in his world. Also, colors impact looks right people much more than black and white. Looks right people need to see the product you are selling or to see the result of your service. If it is a service you are providing, then you want to be able to show the potential customer the work done and the result. In today’s world, video clips afford a convenient and economical way to provide these visual stimuli to the looks right person.

If you are selling a product or service that lends itself to an actual demonstration, then by all means, do so. Show them how to use it and in your explanation, be certain to use visual language. Another effective strategy is to have other people in your video or in a one on one presentation to demonstrate how to use your product. Telling stories about the effectiveness of your product (always be truthful) is a huge part of selling to looks right buyers. This is because telling stories makes them create imagery in their minds.

So the bottom line is that to increase your sales, you have to be able to tailor your communication to the mindset of the looks right buyer by applying what you have learned about the looks right pattern of the Decision People Pattern™. You will be amazed at just how much you have grown in your own awareness of self and others.

Next time we will discuss the second component of the Decision People Pattern™.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS, OR IS IT?

By Marilyne Woodsmall

One of the biggest challenges for a salesperson is to know how much detail to give about a product or service. We have found that most salespeople have a tendency to keep talking until they get or lose the sale. Such an approach means that these salespeople are losing out on half of their potential customers. What they fail to realize is that some buyers want a lot of information and some require very little information.

The amount of information that a person wants or needs in a communication exchange is determined by what we refer to as the Global/Specific or Chunk Size Information People Pattern™. This powerful pattern reveals the quantity of information presented or how much information a person desires in a given communication.

The Chunk Size Information People Pattern™ (which is another element of one’s Personality Language™) is comprised of two types of people, and in the case of sales, of two distinctive types of buyers. Those who want a lot of information are called specific buyers and those who do not require a lot of information are called global buyers. Let us take a look at each.

Specific prospects want to know everything that there is to know about a product. They require a lot of information and a lot of detail in the information in order to make a buying decision. In fact, they will keep asking the salesperson for more and more detail. If the salesperson is not able to provide this, then the specific prospect will think that he or she is either not knowledgeable about the product that he or she is selling or that the salesperson has something to hide. Either way, it means bad news for the salesperson.

Global prospects, on the other hand, need very little information in order to make a buying decision. Too much information will turn them off, confuse them or make them suspicious. They will usually not ask detailed questions. If the salesperson keeps providing information they will not listen and will be completely turned off.

How does a salesperson know whether they are dealing with a global or specific buyer? Listen carefully to the way that the prospect describes his or her needs. Does the prospect provide a lot of specific details or does the prospect just give you vague, general information? Also, determine if the prospect asks a lot of questions or if he or she doesn’t ask questions at all.

The general rule of thumb is this. Provide the prospect with as much information as he or she needs to make a buying decision and no more. Often salespeople keep providing information in order to delay closing. This is a mistake. Close early and close often. If you close and the prospect needs more information, then they will ask for it. Once the prospect is sold, then shut up and close. Once you close, wait for a yes or a no. Adding more information at this point merely takes the prospect off the hook.

So the bottom line is to apply the Global/Specific Information People Pattern™ in all of your sales presentations to make a solid impact on the buyer or buyers with whom you are communicating. If you apply this pattern in sales, you will enhance your sales and you will connect with your customers more readily. If you don’t do this, you’ll be missing out on half of your customers and prospects and you will end up losing sales.