Robert Brodo

Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience.
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Recent Posts

5 Tips for Sales Professionals when Dealing with “Radio Silence”

By Robert Brodo | May 24, 2017 10:05:00 AM

For a sales professional, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.  It’s a frustration, confusion, and helplessness all wrapped up into one and it’s called “Radio Silence.”  Radio Silence is a phenomenon in strategic business selling where you’ve connected with a prospect, established credibility, started to develop a relationship, demonstrated value, the prospect has provided good buying signals by asking for follow-up and next steps, and you’ve followed up appropriately.

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4 Tips for Leadership Development to Build Empathy Skills

By Robert Brodo | May 18, 2017 8:20:38 AM

This week I had the pleasure of working with a group of Emerging Leaders from a large company in the high-tech space.  One of the many reasons why it was such a pleasure was how enthusiastic and thirsty for new leadership skills this group was during this business simulation-centric learning journey.  The multi-day session – that includes pre- work and post-work reinforcement - focuses on fundamental business leadership skills including understanding personality styles, coaching and providing feedback, and emotional intelligence.  One of the interesting conversations that came up as part of debriefing the interactive business leadership simulation workshop scenario was the topic of “empathy” in leadership.

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Challenging the Status quo; How to Lead Past the Skeptics

By Robert Brodo | May 16, 2017 8:07:39 AM

Almost every “leading innovation” framework, model, and training program begins with the recognition that in order to innovate within an organization, leaders and individual contributors must “challenge the orthodoxies” (which is another way of saying force yourself to think differently about the things you take for granted or assume will be the same forever).  There are several iconic examples of organizations that failed to innovate because they didn’t challenge the status quo:

Kodak – Their own R&D department invented digital photography but leadership didn’t want to invest in a business that would “cannibalize” their camera, chemicals, and paper businesses

Blockbuster – Didn’t understand or embrace streaming technology as Netflix did and put Blockbuster out of business.

Blackberry – Became an early world leader in the smartphone market but failed to recognize the desire for touchscreens and applications like Apple thinking their brand loyalty would be a competitive advantage.

But this blog is not about how to lead innovation or develop a new business strategy; it’s about the challenge leaders face when they are able to read the weak signals, challenge the status quo, develop an innovative solution, but then run into the brick wall of skeptics and critics who say it “can’t” be done or look for every reason in the world why not to change.

During the past several years I’ve had the chance to work with and brainstorm with executives and other senior leaders and I can definitely say that to a person they all share there is nothing more frustrating to a leader than evolving new idea by challenging the status quo only to have the naysayers shoot down the ideas because they are afraid of change or it negatively impacts them by taking away power, resources, or even their jobs.

Based on research from the academic world, the consulting world, and our own experiences running business simulations, as well as leadership and business acumen training programs, here are five quick tips to help you lead past the skeptics:

Over communicate and explain in big picture terms

In the corporate world, there is no such thing as too much communication.  Successful leaders pushing past the skeptics communicate, share, and talk in big picture terms rather than getting caught up in all the details that can only confuse some people.

Manage expectations

All of the change leadership data illustrates that the most successful leaders are able to manage the expectations of their people.  That means being authentic, acknowledge the realities, and share will people the truth about what to expect.  Over-selling a significant change to the status quo is never a good thing.

Adjust to their style; give them the facts and details

Many “critics and naysayers” are generally skeptical people in terms of their personality styles.  And as we know from personality styles, every style has its strengths and limitations and sometimes a healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. When trying to challenge the status quo and change things, the best leaders are able to identify the skeptics and provide them with all of the facts and details they need to understand and feel comfortable. We live in an era of big data, use it.

Hold firm and show commitment

The skeptics will challenge you and wear you down; that’s what they do and they do it many times to see how committed you really are.  When you truly believe in a challenge to the status quo you need to hold firm and tirelessly and show your commitment because everyone is watching (not just the skeptics).

Exit them

Sometimes people need to move on and you have to exit them from the organization.  Challenging the status quo suggests changes in functions, jobs and roles and not everyone who is performing a job today will be able to evolve to the jobs of tomorrow.  It might serve all parties well to exit the people who don’t fit and find the people who get it and understand the challenge to the orthodoxies.

why-does-leadership-matter-infographic

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Business skills for sales professionals

By Robert Brodo | May 9, 2017 10:06:24 AM

3 key skills needed to become a better business professional

Last week in one of our Strategic Business Selling™ learning journey workshops one of our participants shared a story about the biggest sales challenge she is facing today.  The discussion began with a group exercise exploring the key trends and potential disruptors in their market in order to identify the areas of focus for the learning.  The participant shared the following:

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3 Weeks Later: Business Outcomes of the United Airlines Fiasco

By Robert Brodo | May 4, 2017 8:24:18 AM

Three weeks ago I wrote a blog called “What the United Airlines Fiasco Should Teach us about Business Acumen” in response to the unfortunate incident involving the passenger who was forcibly removed from an oversold flight.  In the blog I shared some ideas, insights, and lessons learned through the lenses of Business Acumen and Business Leadership skills that are required for company success.  During these past three weeks the blog has become one of the most popular blogs we’ve ever published and I have received feedback and comments every day since.  Because of this activity, I think it’s worthwhile to reflect on what has transpired since the incident and share the comments and reactions for additional learnings and application.  Below are several random but connected thoughts that I hope can enhance your ability to learn from the situation and improve and build upon your business leadership and business acumen skill set.

In a world of virtual information, there is no place to hide

The video of the Chicago transportation police dragging the passenger off the United Flight went viral within a few hours and was the topic of conversation for millions of people around the world within 24 hours.  25 years ago, it would have taken weeks if not months to achieve that level of penetration and in most likelihood, would never have reached millions of people because the story would have lost its legs much sooner.  The implication of this phenomenon to today’s leaders is profound.  In the blink of an eye and a share on Facebook the execution of your business strategy could be derailed forever; one of your most critical roles in this new world is to create a culture of “doing the right things” and anticipating the things that can and will go wrong and try to prevent them before they ever happen.

Customers aren’t inventory

In Business Acumen training, one of the first things you learn about are income statements and balance sheets.  An income statement illustrates revenues (what customers buy and pay for) and a balance sheet illustrates what a company owns (assets, inventories, etc.) and what a company owes (liabilities, debt, etc.).  A lesson that isn’t taught – but perhaps it should be – is that customers aren’t inventory!  Customers provide revenues and ultimately profit in exchange for a service rendered or a product delivered; they can’t be treated like a box of product in a warehouse and you certainly can’t pick they up by their arms and legs and throw them onto another flight.  I know these last few sentences sound ridiculous, but it’s the lesson learned.

Cost justification analysis

Another valuable lesson taught in most Business Acumen program is the concept of the cost justification analysis.  How much would you invest ($X) to have an outcome of ($Y)?  In most cases, business leaders understand and benchmark the analysis in business terms and can make the right decisions.  In the case of United, I think that lesson is now learned.  United recently announced that they have given local decision makers the ability to go up to $10,000 in travel vouchers in exchange for a passenger giving up a seat.  When compared to the millions of dollars in settlement and legal fees, that $10,000 seems like a very wise decision.

“But’s that’s my job!”

Perhaps the most valuable lesson of all is that existing airlines are making a distinct effort to make sure this never happens again.  During the past few weeks I’ve been on at least 8 flights and the difference is noticeable.  I almost exclusively fly #AmericanAirlines and I have noticed that everyone – from the ticketing agents, to the gate team, to the pilots, to the flight staff – has been more accommodating, friendly, and customer centric.  On my most recent flight from Philadelphia to Chicago I thanked the lead flight attendant for what I perceived as services beyond the core and she replied with a big smile, “But that’s my job.”  It was funny, refreshing, and much appreciated.

In summary, sometimes good business outcomes come from bad business situations.  I had my doubts, but it is clear to me now that the existing airlines have “received the message” and aren’t going to sit around and do nothing about it.  There are lessons here for us all…

Why Business Acumen Matters

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