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Interview
Kerry Johnson
The Nation's Business
Psychologist
Kerry L. Johnson, MBA, Ph.D. is a
best-selling author who speaks at least eight times a month all over
the world, traveling 8,000 miles a week.
In addition to speaking, Kerry heads a
personal coaching company. Professionals from around the
world use him and his coaches to increase business usually by
300% within weeks.
Kerry currently writes monthly for 15
national trade and management magazines whose editors have dubbed him
"The Nation's Business Psychologist." He is also the
author of six best selling books, including: Mastering the Game
(Louis & Ford), Peak Performance: How to Increase Your
Business by 70% Within 6 Weeks (Prentice Hall), and Willpower:
The Secrets of Self-Discipline. His weekly newsletter on sales
psychology, The Winning Edge, is read by thousands around the globe.
In the 1970's, Kerry spent two years
competing on the International Grand Prix Tennis Tour. He
played both singles and doubles matches against some of the world's
top tennis players. Kerry was also recognized by the U.S.
Jaycees as one of the Most Outstanding Men in America.
Why
did you become an executive coach?
"I have been a speaker since
1981. Speeches
disappeared for about a year after 9/11 due to the fact that
convention attendees were afraid to fly. I then started focusing even
more on coaching after that time. With coaching you can keep people
on track speaking with them once a week. I really enjoy seeing my
clients progress. I enjoy
taking someone from $200,000 to $2 million, from not being confident
to being confident and growing their business from 1 office to
10. That is a rush for
me."
What
is your process and methodology for improving performance?
"We do three things. First, we put together a game
plan so they know what they have to do to hit their goals. This stage is very
quantitative. We then try
to find out how many contacts they have to make, how many clients
they have to see to hit their financial goals for their
business. Second, we
rebuild their basic skills such as develop a system for gaining
referrals, probing for customer client needs and presenting solutions
and finally show them techniques they can use to close more business.
The third step we engage in with coaching client are advanced
skills. Those skills
include Branding or becoming unique in your market; Target Marketing,
so they become a household word with the people they talk to and
Hiring and Retaining Great People. This includes motivating
people to perform better than for any employer they have worked
with."
How
do you develop networking skills if your personality is
reserved?
"We try to teach them to first create
an elevator speech. Our
clients have to first determine what it is they do that is unique and
interesting about them.
If their listener doesn't keep eye contact, the elevator
speech isn't connecting.
If the listener drifts then they don't have it. Once they have done the
speech, they have to be able to bridge it by developing a
relationship. Let's say I
am an attorney. I might say we protect clients from capricious
lawsuits. After the elevator speech, they can then bridge by
asking the last time you were involved in a law suit. The last part is the process
of creating an
opportunity by asking a questions."
What
is the profile of a good leader?
"There are four leadership styles.
First, laissez-faire leadership! This is the benign neglect behavior
of most managers. They show up at work, do their job hoping their
employees get something done and go home. They do a retreat once a
year. They just show up. The second leadership style is
the Theory X manager. He
unsuccessfully tries to motivate by throwing emotional bombs asking,
"Why are you late, why didn't I get this", etc. The Theory Y manager was
originated by Bill Ouchi from UCLA. The Theory Y manager shapes
behavior and motivates using praise. Praising people is easy to do
but necessitates consistency. Praising needs to be done once a day
per person. The fourth management style is that of the inspirational
leader. Like retired GE CEO Jack Welch, this manager tried to take
you to the next level by motivating inspiration, appealing to your
sense of accomplishment and aspiring to lofty goals. He or she gets
you to come a half hour early, going the extra mile, taking ownership
of your job as a mission to be accomplished. When Former pro football star
and Congressman Jack Kemp was quarterback at Occidental College,
his coach told him he was the best leader he had ever seen. The coach
told him he could inspire greatness in all the players taking them to
a national championship. The team needed his leadership. Thirty years later Kemp went
to a college reunion and found the coach had told everyone the same
thing. That is inspirational leadership."
From your years of experience, what
separates successful people from everyone else?
"Consistency and discipline! What I have noticed about
successful people is doing what you say you are going to do and being
consistent at it. If your
plan is to make three appointments per day, make three appointments
per day. If your game plan dictates making 3 client contacts
and you agree to this rigor, then just do every single day. This
sounds simplistic, but anyone I have coached has had remarkable
success by being consistent."
What
skills do you need to motivate people?
The best skills are knowing how to praise
and reprimand. We need to
praise people once a day, which means more than money to nearly all
employees.
Make it frequent. The first step is praising in
front of other people because it raises morale. Second, be specific with the
praise duplicating the behavior you praise them for. Third, praise
them globally about what a great job they are doing overall. The three step reprimand is
also important. But it is critical to reprimand people when they need
it, not when you get so angry, you can't hold it in any longer. First, always reprimand people
in private. Two,
reprimand the behavior not the person. Be specific in what you
reprimand. Three, it's
important to praise the person at the end. If they come in late,
reprimand the behavior by telling them the pressure it puts on other
staff and the importance
of being on time. But then mention they are doing great and you
are glad to have them, but they can't be late."
How
do you get someone to change their mindset from thinking they are going
to fail to knowing they can succeed?
"It goes back to consistency. Sticking to game plan. Doing the things you know you
need to do to be successful over and over again."
To see if you are a candidate for this fast
track system, click on www.KerryJohnson.com/coaching and take a free evaluation test. You
will learn about your strengths and what is holding you back.
Or call 800-883-8787 for more information.
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