First, a caveat: This is not a political column, this is a business column. The meaning of Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts is a great metaphor for corporations. Given a “Massachusetts Shock Message” to a corporation (like snowballing employee turnover or customer defections), how many corporate executive teams and organizational leaders go into spin cycle- or worse yet- denial mode? Let’s face it: leadership isn’t just about giving a directional message (“I haven’t explained the message well. They don’t get it”.) That’s top-down management-by-directive, and the problem is the executive is in denial about which way the real message is being sent: it’s not coming from headquarters; it’s coming from the pickup truck- the street.

If there is a problem with the rank and file, it isn’t because the message hasn’t been crafted well so they get it. It’s because there are some serious leadership issues and the leaders better find out what’s really going on at the factory floor level, at the customer level- at the street level. And if they don’t already know how to drive a pickup truck, then they’d better bring in folks that can do that- and listen to their good advice.

What are the metaphorical business messages of the Scott Brown election in Massachusetts?

Stop Talking: Start Listening

Maybe leaders don’t have an inability to articulate their message- maybe they aren’t listening to what’s happening on the ground floor. I went into a retail store- a specialty sports store- a few years ago looking for a sports hat. I forget the details of the hat, but remember the gist of the exchange- the store didn’t have it and the store clerk was upset. He was upset because at least ten customers had come in looking for that type of hat, and they didn’t have it. The clerk’s frustration wasn’t that he didn’t have the hat: the clerk’s frustration was that he had been telling his corporate bosses for several months that they were inventorying the wrong stuff and not bringing in the right stuff. That store is now closed. No wonder. The clerk drove a pick-up truck, but the folks in Washington knew better.

Get Engaged: Stand out at Fenway Park on January 1 in the cold.

SCAN Healthplan is one of the fastest growing Medicare Advantage plans in the country. They aren’t accomplishing this because they are doing over-the-top mergers and acquisitions. They are doing this because all of their senior executives- the CEO, COO, CFO, and every executive Vice-President- actively participate in “Straight-Talk Forums” where they have to engage and listen to their members. Additionally, all executives are required to go on “ride-alongs”- sales calls with a salesperson in a prospect’s home. They drive pickup trucks and aren’t afraid to stand out in the cold.

Don’t Fake It: Anyone can buy a pickup truck, but not everyone can drive a pickup truck.

One of the biggest waste of business transformational effort and expense is to try to imitate some industry standard- be like Jack Welch or Southwest Airlines or Federal Express, etc. The pickup truck wasn’t a gimmick. It was Scott Brown, it was his message, it was what he stood for, and most importantly, it connected with who he was delivering his message to. There are certain things that just don’t fit- and can’t be faked- either as a leader or by the organization. If you suddenly want to re-invent your company by buying a bunch of pick-up trucks, it isn’t going to work if you don’t have people that “fit” the image of the truck. They’d better chuck the suit. They can’t be afraid to get it dirty or to haul stuff in it. And they sure as heck better be able to parallel park it. You can’t be who you aren’t.

A Simple, Resonating Message: Constant Communications and articulating well is meaningless if the message is ignored.

A boy was fishing with his dad. The boy made a great cast to the perfect spot where a fish would surely be lurking. “That’s a perfect cast!” exclaimed the boy. The dad replied, “You know it and I know it, but does the fish know it?”

While some executives will lament, “They don’t get it- so we must articulate our message better (or shove it down their throats harder).” Scott Brown’s message was pretty simple- “I will be the 41^st vote”; “I drive a pickup truck”. I will take action (and the message resonates) and I am one of you (I get it). Yet not one resonating message can be quoted from his opposition- which not only included his opponent, but arguably two of the best Presidential orators of our time.

A few years ago, interviewing the head of training and development of Southwest Airlines, he made a quote about what working at Southwest boils down to: “Seats full, wheels up.” That is a Scott Brown message.

Forecasting a Sure Win Will Lead to Failure: Leaders shouldn’t assume they’ll win tomorrow because they won yesterday.

A thirty-three year straight-commission salesman had some sage advice for his daughter (real estate) and son (B to B) when they went into sales: “Every day is a learning experience. When the day comes that you think you know it all, shoot yourself.”

Sales is- and should always be- a humbling profession. So should leadership. As brash as some salespeople- and leaders- are on the surface, the really successful ones are the ones who never assume that their hard-fought victories or methods of the past will guarantee success tomorrow. Here are some notes from a pre-program interview conducted for a sales training seminar with David O’Connor, New York sales rep for Lubrication Engineers. David had been selling Lubrication Engineers’ products as a straight-commission sales rep for 46 years at that point:

“David, what would you like to take away from this program?”

David O’Connor: “I love going to training programs because there is always a jewel to be taken from them. My biggest need is to open new accounts- usually I have 50-60 new accounts, but I only have 30-40 this year. I’m looking for a few new tips in that area.”

Far too many people in business and sales take the Martha Coakley approach: They assume the victory because they won a few times in the past. Or, some assume victory because they are the brand of choice- they are in Ted Kennedy’s party. They coast. This leads to the next point.

Playing Not To Lose: Panic as the margins slip away.

How many times have we watched a sports team build a great lead in the first half by playing great defense and skillful offense- and most importantly, playing the game with their hearts? Then the second half starts and they start to think- they try to slow down their offense, play a prevent defense, and pray for the clock to move faster. It doesn’t. The opponent stung by the humiliation of the first half comes out playing with fire in the second half. They sense the leading team’s lack of passion and go for broke. The inertia of the lead being whittled away can’t be stopped, until the team that led at the half is finally overtaken- and loses.

Witness the Irish Hurling Final of 2003 in Dublin between the favored Kilkenny and Cork. Hurling is a cross between soccer and field hockey, except they use something that resembles a baseball bat. In the final, Kilkenny had a huge halftime lead. This was the first time I ever watched this sport- and yet, in the second half, I could tell Kilkenny stopped attacking (played not to lose) and the whole momentum swung to Cork’s favor, who eventually won.

In business, the same thing occurs: A business creates a great product, gains huge market share, and generates record revenues and profits. Then they sit back on their invention, reap profits, and hope nobody notices. Competitors start to attack the price margins. Innovation stagnates because the focus is on cost-control (prevent defense). The management strategy is to play not to lose as the margins and market share continue to wilt away. Finally the business loses.

Final Lesson: Learning to drive the pickup truck.

A few years ago, we had a coaching intervention with a regional sales executive in the weekly newspaper print business. The sales executive’s office happened to be at corporate headquarters and his responsibility was for twelve weekly publications- the furthest being a two-hour drive from his office at headquarters.

The challenge was his region was under-performing. The bigger challenge was (at that time) the corporate mentality (his bosses) was, “Make them come to you, don’t go out to them”. It was the Washington DC mentality. Engagement with his twelve publication managers was mostly at the monthly meetings held at his corporate office. If one of the corporate execs slipped into the meeting, it turned into a beating. The only managers he would visit regularly were his two “problem” (really low performing) managers. He only got out to the field (left Washington) when there was trouble. So, a visit by the regional boss to a newspaper office could only mean one thing: that office was in trouble. A visit to a state by Washington can only mean one thing.

The coaching session with the regional exec lasted six weeks. It involved a live visit the first week to review the objectives and guidelines followed by a five-week blended program of online work and teleconference calls. We set a very singular goal for the sales executive: Get out to all twelve publications on a weekly basis- get in the field four days a week. Start racking up the truck miles.

But it wasn’t as simple as that. There were two issues: One was he had to look at all the reports and meetings at corporate and make the conscientious decision that they were not as important as going to the field. In other words, he had to choose NOT to be a part of the report and meeting corporate culture. He had to disengage himself from the Washington DC apparatus. The excuse he used at corporate was he was going out to deliver more beatings instead of doing it monthly. The visits were allowed by corporate as long as beatings were in order.

The other issue was that he just couldn’t get in the pickup truck and drive out to one of the twelve local newspaper offices and announce, “Here I am!” They’d brush him off, not trust what he was up to, think this was a new management gimmick, or just throw him out (Don’t tread on me!). His visits normally meant trouble, and he had a credibility gap that he had to bridge in a hurry. Without getting into details, we were also at that time running the third in a series of blended (live and online) programs for the twelve managers. We were already driving the pickup truck around and knew what it would take for him to “fit in”- and we could facilitate the introduction to the locals as to why this change would work. We had their ear.

His weekly goal was to add one-half to one full day in the field per week- adding two to three newspaper offices per week to his weekly “truck” visit list. The biggest challenge was to get two of his most independent (and top-performing) managers to allow him to visit. Again, without getting into details, as an “advance team” (for lack of a better term) we had the managers’ ear and were able to get them to think differently about the role of the sales executive and the opportunity this presented to them.

The results can be summed up in the following unsolicited phone calls from the sales executive to us during the intervention:

Week 3: He called to exclaim, “The two most difficult managers for me to work with called me today and invited me to their offices!” We did not suggest they do this- we merely helped them see him and their relationship with him differently. The “locals” gave him permission to bring his truck to town- and it was entirely their call.

Week 4: “I was out four days this week and made it to all twelve publications for the first time.” He’s going to get 200,000 miles on that truck- and that will have meaning.

Week 5: “We had our monthly meeting at corporate today, and for the first time I was in charge of the whole meeting- and didn’t have to refer to one report. I knew what was going on.” Well now, there’s a revelation. Listen, learn, and lead.

What was the effect? Performance of his twelve publications exceeded goal over the following twelve months by over 20% and year-over-year growth of 25%. Let’s see: The President carried Massachusetts by a 26% margin in 2008- Scott Brown won by 5%- a 31% swing. Anybody detect a pattern?

Leaders don’t need to own or even know how to drive a pickup truck. They need to respect it, pay attention to it, and understand its meaning. It looks like it’ll help improve productivity 20 to 30%. And the competition will wind up as road kill.