Results Without Technique are DEAD!

We often look at results as the end-all-be-all to performance when that is the last thing that dictates accomplishment.  Let’s first agree that satisfactory performance is the accomplishment of set objectives.  With that said, I would argue that results are merely consequences of activity; outcomes that occur because of the series of events preceding them.  If you concur with this notion, why is it that we continuously magnify and harp on results rather than the behaviors that are responsible for them?  I believe that if we, as leaders, concentrate on skill development, technique, and execution we directly influence our desired outcome without mentioning results at all.  This may seem like an intuitive concept, but rarely do you find teaching, coaching, and leading without a results driven approach.

In the game of sales, there are obvious quotas, goals, and objectives to be met.  However, results are usually the topic of discussion while the route to getting there is routinely ignored.  I’m not sure if it is conventional leadership or an inability to transfer knowledge that keeps leaders from adequately training, but we can do a much better job at developing the rudimentary techniques that improve execution ultimately yielding desired results.  Consider your Monday morning sales meeting or conference call where Managers submit their weekly reports.  Instead of Directors addressing communication strategies that gain buy-in to improve behaviors, they generally focus on the conversion ratios of appointments set, number of new clients, and revenue generated.  The same can be said for the Monday morning sales meeting that Managers have with their sales representatives.  At the end of the day, honing skills that strengthen the probability of execution (i.e. targeting, initial interaction, needs assessment, and partnership/positioning) is always better than driving arbitrary activity that may or may not translate into preferred outcomes.

This theory of technique over results was recently illustrated in a dialogue with a Tennis Pro.  He was stressing his attempt to show his students different tactical scenarios through simulation.  His challenge was that, regardless of how long they practiced these situations the student could not satisfactorily execute the strategy.  My question to him was, ‘What determines satisfactory execution?’.  His answer was ‘Ball placement’.  There was his problem, if he had his students pay more attention to their technique (i.e. footwork, racquet grip and positioning, posture, stroke, and follow-through), ball placement would be the least of his worries.  Although it is difficult, thinking about the elements of your technique during the process instead of the outcome, creates habitual behaviors that dramatically increases execution and results.

While working with an industry leading Advertising and Publishing Company I found, that because of top-down management focusing on results rather than technique, not only were their employees underdeveloped they were frustrated with resentment and low morale.  I am a firm believer that we all want to be better at whatever it is we decide to do.  We are hungry for legitimate guidance and new information that makes our work more valuable and more meaningful.  It is Leaders‘ responsibility to improve outcomes by strengthening techniques that facilitate execution and propel results.  It is the ownership of fundamentals that enable us to perform, in any given situation, because of who we are and not what we have been told to do.  In order to ‘control‘ your results, perfect your technique.  Great Selling!

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