Building your championship caliber workplace team starts with spring training everyday

https://www.petevanbaalen.com/single-post/2018/11/29/Building-your-championship-caliber-workplace-team-starts-with-spring-training-everyday

The first snow has fallen, and I'm well on my way on a count-down to spring training and the return to baseball season. That's pretty typical for me, being a fan of baseball as well as a hater of cold Indiana winters.

It's especially true this winter, after watching my favorite team the Boston Red Sox win the World Series this past October. And if you're of like mind, you can check out the Spring Training Countdown site to see how soon before the sports reporters announce that pitchers and catchers have reported.

Spring training is where championship teams are developed. You have to have talent, for sure. But spring training is where the fundamentals are taught and emphasized, skills are honed and team chemistry is developed.

Being a manager is not all that glamorous at times. Or a lot of time, pending on your situation. But the best part for me is working with and developing people. I guess that is why I love spring training. Once the season has started, you'll rarely see a veteran being instructed on how to round the bases. But during the spring, they will spend an hour on it, perfecting on the exact approach you should have as you hit the bases.

Developing people in the workplace is my spring training, and I try to make it a part of my daily routine. From working with a brand new sales rep to working with a very experienced business office person who is learning new tasks, the opportunities for developing your team is the most reward part of being a manager.

Alex Cora, the manager for the Red Sox developed a high performing championship team. I'm just trying to win the month with a good performance, but lessons can learned from the rookie manager's approach.

"He just has a way of making you believe." That was a comment from Nathan Eovaldi, pitcher for the Red Sox. I cannot think of a better compliment that someone could  pass along to a manager. That was Eovaldi's comments in the hours after the Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers for the championship.

In all the reading I did after the World Series ended, one article stood out to me. ESPN's Tim Keown's story focused on the culture of the winning team, and specifically Alex Cora. Cora made $800,000 to be the manager of that team which seems like a lot of money. But a team with a payroll of over $228,000,000 that is chump change. Yet, Cora built the team up and kept them up setting team records for wins in 2018. And I'm convinced it all comes back to culture.

Keown writes:  "This was the culture Cora set out to build when he became Boston's manager a year ago, which made the scene both humbling and a little sad. He wanted a team that felt like a family, one constructed out of tolerance and diversity and inclusion. Given the transitory nature of the game, he wanted to create an ecosystem capable of absorbing new members." 

Obviously the story is talking about how to build culture for a successful baseball team. But doesn't that sound pretty accurate for business, a sales team? Looking at building a multi-generational workforce, with Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and more? Then I think the advice from the rookie manager is a good thing to consider.

That passage doesn't talk about accountability. It is a very touchy-feely commentary but that doesn't mean I am not for accountability too. Far from it. I think employees, the good ones anyway, expect to held accountable for their productivity and actions. When they achieve or exceed, or when they fall short and need guidance, if you've treated them with tolerance and respect then they will be more open to hearing the words being expressed. This is especially important when those words are disciplinary by nature.

Shifting demographics still bring optimism to traditional media

https://www.petevanbaalen.com/single-post/2018/11/23/Shifting-demographics-still-bring-optimism-to-traditional-media

A co-worker of mine asked me the other day if I'd heard about the tsunami that was about to hit. Normally our conversation is about popular music or sports, so his weather statement caught me a bit off guard.

Then he forwarded me a recent post from InsiderRadio.com that brought things into perspective. His reference was to the "Silver Tsunami" that is gripping the nation. The trend is that as the US is getting older, the once coveted 25-54 demographic is losing the Baby-Boom generation. As of January 2019, all Baby-Boomers have exited, moving on to the 55+ age range.

The article suggests that advertising agencies and marketers need to rethink who their target should be going forward. Instead of targeting the 25 - 54 age range as in the past, it is time to think older and follow the money. And as Baby-Boomers age, they are aging with all the money! OK, maybe not all of the money but enough that they can't be ignored.

Tom Peters was one of the first business gurus back around the start of the millennium to talk about the need to focus on where the money was regarding marketing dollars, and that you cannot ignore the aging Boomer population. That trend is only intensifying as Boomers get older. Baby Boomers control 50% of the wealth in this country today, and 28% of retail spending based on findings from Deloitte Insights.

The grip on the cash that Baby Boomers have is not something that they are planning to relinquish anytime soon. Their current net worth of 50% of the wealth only drops 5% over the next 12 years. This is good news potentially for traditional media  who continue to struggle in this ever-increasing digital age.

Baby Boomers have embraced digital, and I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't do digital campaigns for this segment. But I think Baby Boomers more so than the generations that have followed are holding on to traditional media. The best example is the newspaper audience.

Newspapers continue to struggle with maintaining circulation numbers. That issue is pretty universal. But the losses are a result of the industry's inability to attract the next generation of readers. This is a long term problem, no doubt. But in the here and now, I believe this is an opportunity.

Newspapers are strongest in the older demographics, especially Baby Boomers. What was once a vehicle to reach the masses is now becoming a vehicle to reach a specific target. And the good news is the target that newspapers reach happens to be the most lucrative segment in the marketplace, and it will be for another generation.

Market research budgets are a thing of the past for most media companies, but there is still at your ready resources that you can use to show newspaper readership. Which you should then match up those readership numbers with the wealth index for this country, and remind advertisers and agencies of the power of the Silver Tsunami.

In Indiana, data from the Hoosier State Press Association's 2017 Readership Study provides you with excellent data on the value of newspaper's older audience. The study, conducted by American Opinion Research found that 74% of adults in the Hoosier state over the age of 55 read a printed newspaper on a regular basis. That strong readership number coupled with a simple explanation about the Silver Tsunami is a powerful combination when talking with media buyers.

This reminds me of Ronald Reagan's debate with Walter Mondale during the 1984 presidential election. Reagan, at the time the oldest president in history emphatically told the audience, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." He turned a potential negative into a huge positive, catching the audience and his opponent off guard.

Newspapers have the same opportunity. The perceived negative of the aging audience, at least for now, is still a positive opportunity. Newspapers continue to serve the wealthiest and most influential group in this country better than any other media outlet around.

Media has an opportunity to tap into the desire for a sense of community

https://www.petevanbaalen.com/single-post/2018/11/04/Media-has-an-opportunity-to-tap-into-the-desire-for-a-sense-of-community

I was recently lucky enough to get to go on vacation, which included a stop in New York City. Seeing the hustle and bustle of the big city was great, and filled with many memories. Near the top of that list was a chance to see up close the Statue of Liberty.

It was inspiring to see it with my own eyes, and think about the immigrant paths of my family and that of my wife’s along with the hope this statue brought to them and so many other families over the years. But I also looked on with a sense of pride, as I had just recently learned about the important role newspapers played in building of the Statue of Liberty.

The statue itself is a gift from the French, but the pedestal on which she stands needed funding. In steps Joseph Pulitzer, who made it a crusade of sorts to get that money raised. In the pages of his newspaper the New York World, he raised over $100,000 which was more than enough to finish the job. How appropriate that the base of liberty was built by newspapers.

That ability to rally a community and help it to be a better version of itself is one of the many things I love about this industry. And despite the troubles in the industry, newspapers are still building better communities today.

I did not know Matt Tully. To my knowledge, I never had the pleasure of meeting him, yet I couldn’t help but shed a tear as I read about his recent passing. Tully was a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, and Tully helped build communities.

Matt Tully died of cancer in late October. The story of his passing reminded me of what is good in media, and I hope the industry is reminded of the opportunity we are given each day. No doubt as I read about Matt that he took those opportunities and did some great thing. My favorite story started back in 2009, when Tully decided to focus on inner-city schools and tell their stories. He took a typical story assignment, added his passion and ignited a community. The pinnacle was the Christmas concert put on by the choir which, thanks to Tully and the many readers of his column, was attended by over 2,000 people. Most of those people had no direct involvement with the school. They were there because of the call of Tully and the Indianapolis Star. People wanted to be a part of something special, and I believe many yearn for a sense of community. Media and newspapers specifically have a chance to be that conduit to make things like this happen in small towns and large cities.

Building community is not an easy endeavor. While a newspaper wants to build up a community, it also has to report on the bad things too. So finding that balance is never easy. But here, I believe, is every newspapers opportunity.

Nearly every newspaper does a progress edition. It gets called different things at different publications; progress edition, focus edition, community annual report. Instead of doing the same stale section that only looks at the heath care, business and industry, retail and education which rarely changes much from year to year. Look at those topics, or other topics if relevant in your market, and find ways to rally the community.

Rallying the community around a project or a specific need may not generate 2,000 people, but all you might need is the right people to step up. The cities and towns we serve need our help, and taking the annual progress edition and making it important again will have impact. Our advertisers, local business want this too and I believe that not only will rallying the community be good for the community, it will be good for business.

I’m not saying you’ll get 2,000 people at a Christmas concert; but I’m not saying you won’t. Pulitzer’s fundraising for the Statue of Liberty didn’t rely on the bigwigs with deep pockets. It was his average, every day reader that made the difference. In fact, over 125,000 people donated to the pedestal for Lady Liberty, meaning the average donation was only 80 cents.

The newspaper’s ability to tell a story and help change the world is evident every day in the pages published. Focusing on building community through the annual progress edition is an excellent place to build a community and ignite a readership base.