Be Different or be dead

January 1, 2021

How to power up your career and make you successful

How to power up your career and make you successful.

BE DiFFERENT YOU is about how to accelerate your career.

How to take your career to another level and achieve greater success in a world where the competition for a fast track route to success is fierce.
                       
My 35+ years as an entrepreneur and business leader taught me one simple truth: if you are not DiFFERENT and standout from the crowd, you won’t get noticed and you won’t be successful.

You will be ignored. You will be white noise. You will blend into the background.

You will fall short of what you expect of yourself.

It’s as simple as that.

This ebook will show you how to BE DiFFERENT than the crowd in easy, practical and proven ways and take your career to astronomical levels as a result.

You will learn the simple, practical things I did to make my mark in fast-paced, technology driven, intensely competitive business where many people coveted the same leadership positions.

Where personal rivalry was deep.

Where hand-to-hand combat for advancement was an everyday occurrence.

To survive and advance in my career, I could not rely on the standard textbook career prescription. I had to develop my own unique approach based on the practical dynamics of real world business.

Key concepts

Here a only a few topics in my daring book that you won’t find anywhere else:

— The personal ONLY Statement.
— Muzzle the Ego Beast.
— The Career Game Plan.
— Being on the side of the Angels.
— Learning Line of Sight Leadership.
— Target the Fox for advancement.

— Ask the magic question In times of career change.
— Don’t be like the next guy.
— Find a ‘done it’ mentor.
— You need to be a performer.
— Your personal brand must stand apart from the crowd.
— You need a killer résumé.

— You need to be different to win.
— ’Get dirty’ ways to advance.
— Divergent factions.
— Your knowledge isn’t enough.
— If you’re not relevant your dead.
— It’s ok to be contrarian.

Learn from my innovative career winning approaches and my personal experiences. They are DiFFERENT from what you are used to reading from academics and other ‘experts’.

They are proven. They worked for me and they’ll work for you!

Let me be your coach, guide and mentor.

You won’t regret it.

What some of my readers say...

“In ‘BE DiFFERENT YOU! Roy Osing offers practical advice and proven methods for any professional who wants to be noticed, gain champions and effectively progress their career.”— Josh Blair, EVP Human Resources & Chief Corporate Officer, TELUS Corporation, Vancouver

“Employees are always asking: what does it take to be a future leader – your book tells them if they want to listen.  You gave many real life examples that make the read enjoyable but also real for the reader. Thank you so much for taking the time and passing on your learnings to others who are currently in the same situation or will be soon.  The path and vision you paved for others to see is insight they would not normally get unless they were being mentored or are living it.”— Shane Sabatino Senior VP, Human Resources, The Brick Group, Edmonton Canada

If you want to accelerate your career you have to find a way to stand out not fit in.

Read on and find out how to do it.

BE DiFFERENT YOU! is available at the following retailers.

Cheers,
Roy
For all of my books, check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 1.1.21 at 09:00 am by Roy Osing
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January 1, 2021

How marketing can improve and survive in an unpredictable world

How marketing can improve and survive in an unpredictable world.

How can your marketing strategy survive the storm in today’s world? Marketing is in serious trouble! Its effectiveness is extremely limited.

If you are practising traditional text book marketing, this book is your wake-up call. You are subjecting your organization to enormous risk.

Why? The playground for organizations today is not what it used to be.

Today’s environment is NOT relatively stable, predictable, and slow changing, where a handful of competitors tussle for business.

It is NOT a marketplace where customers dutifully accept what organizations produce with little recourse if they object and are dissatisfied.

It’s anything but.

The Storm is today’s world: turbulent, chaotic, powerful, violent and life-threatening. Where a plethora of hungry and aggressive competitors fight to live or die; where people are connected, well informed and engaging.

Storm consumers wield their power and punish companies who don’t live up to their expectations; they change their minds in a heartbeat and move to greater value and a better deal.

The Storm denies traditional marketing which is risky in current market dynamics. Doing more of the same-old, same-old marketing practices in destroys value and kills businesses.

Companies need a completely fresh and different approach. One that is completely in synch with new world realities.

One that is a shocking change from where we are in marketing today as opposed to a more lethargic shift in thinking which really doesn’t result in much change at all.

Storm marketing throws out the old and creates the new. It asks “What does marketing have to look like to thrive on and survive The Storm”? not “How can present marketing practices be modified and adapted to changes in our operating environment?”

The Storm demands disruptive and audacious thinking.

In this book, discover a new platform for Storm marketing; the essential marketing competencies organizations must take on and consistently demonstrate if they are to weather the maelstrom.

Key concepts

Here are only a few unbelievable concepts in the book you won’t find elsewhere:

— Serve people; stop flogging products and services at them. Respond to their agenda not yours.
— Learn about individual people; stop studying mass markets because they don’t exist.
— Dig for what people crave; merely satisfying their needs won’t give you a differential competitive advantage.
— Create customer experiences to build customer loyalty.
— Be the ONLY organization that does what you do; better and best don’t describe a long term winner.
— Be a premium priced in the markets you serve. Add extra value to your offerings and charge premium prices. Competing on price is insane marketing.

— Shed the strategy of being a fast follower; you’ll still be a copycat.
— Build barriers to customer exit; don’t fuss with competitive entry.
— Target to earn 100% of each customer’s business. Corollary: measure share of customer more than share of market.
— Shun benchmarking; it is a the tool of sameness. Copying lowers the bar it doesn’t raise it. Corollary: benchmarking has no strategic value.
— Focus on your loyal customers to grow your business; leave new customer acquisition to the second rate players.
— Stop product bundling. It’s price discounting in disguise.

— Build a customer learning competency to be able to shift with customer change.
— Grow revenue fast-and-easy during chaos.
— if you say you’re customer focused, choose your words very carefully.

What some of my readers say…

“Roy nails it again! Marketing in the Storm discusses the unusual disturbance of the once normal conditions of the business atmosphere, manifesting itself by winds of unusual force or direction. Today’s business is often accompanied by a rebellious climate of uncertainty, new rules, procurement, trust and lack of client know how. He’s scary correct with his insights. Read it and maybe survive.”—Frank Palmer, CEO DDB Canada

“Osing shouts out a convincing argument for smart marketers to heed: Take the time to respect your customers’ uniqueness, or get tuned out.”—Lori Leavitt Evans, Serial Entrepreneur and President, Lori Leavitt Evans Consulting

“I just love Roy’s books. Short, crisp, relevant, focussed and hard-hitting. Marketing in the Storm is 45 pages of dynamite to help marketeers understand what is important for today’s customers and what keeps them coming for more. He is right….it is about “experiences”, not “products”.
This book is highly recommended not just for new marketeers but also seasoned ones who still play by yesterday’s rules. The quote from Nelson Jackson, ” I do not think you can do today’s job using yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow” is the essence of Roy’s book. Loved reading it.”—Nerio Vakil, President Total Business Solutions, Mumbai India

Check out Marketing in the Storm at retailers here.

Cheers,
Roy
For all of my books, check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 1.1.21 at 08:00 am by Roy Osing
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January 1, 2021

How a business plan can be implemented for outstanding results

How a business plan can be implemented for outstanding results.

It’s getting tougher to develop a winning formula in today’s business world.

Competition is fierce.

Customers are demanding, fickle and unpredictable and employees are looking for insightful and caring leadership.

In response, extreme energy in most organizations is spent on trying to develop the perfect business plan that, due to its superb strategic essence, is viewed by all as a slam dunk to succeed. 

Unfortunately, the plan, regardless of how pristine or intellectually clever it is, does not guarantee a win. It may look good on paper, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Results are not achieved on paper. Results are achieved out there in the trenches where stuff is delivered to people; competitors do battle.

Winning is messy, inelegant and, yes, painful.

Winning is achieved by people doing things, not thinking things and not talking about things.

Winning is a function of brilliant execution, not what’s on paper. Yes, you need a roadmap to guide you, but that’s all it is - a guide.

A different perspective on planning is needed. Get the business plan just about right and put in the time to perfect execution.

Mind-blowing execution separates the winners from the mediocre ones.

Execution is the real competitive advantage; action not words.

Execute First; Plan Second offers a proven roadmap to establish execution as a core competency of any organization.

Discover my Strategic Game Plan; a playbook to create an effective business plan based on the gut issues facing an organization and the essentials to execute it.

This eBook draws on my 33+ years as an entrepreneur and executive leader. You will learn what i did to build execution into the DNA of organizations I successfully led.

The practices in this book are simple, practical and more important, proven. They work in the real world!

Key concepts

Here are only a few sound-bites from my book:

— Create your business plan - Strategic Game Plan (SGP) - in 3 days or less and execute on the 4th.
— The SGP is an execution plan with a strategic purpose.
— A growth target is a declaration of intent and is based on “I don’t know”.
— Beware of ’Yummy Incoming’.
— Tread lightly with ‘The irresistible Hook’.
— Special promotions and deals to attract new customers encourage 1-Night Stands.

— The ONLY Statement beats being #1, better or best.
— Craft your ‘Promise to Serve’ to DAZZLE your customers and create amazing experiences for them.
— The more tries you make, the more successful you become.
— Don’t use boilerplates for anything. They suck.
— The true source of innovation.
— Direct line of sight makes executing awesome.

— Overkill aids the execution process.
— Take care of your frontline If you want amazing execution.
— You need a Strategy Hawk to stay on your strategic course.
— You can’t execute well if you have CRAP In your way all around you.
— Imperfection feeds brilliant execution.
— To execute well you must plan on the run.

If you are excited about truly making a difference in your organization, study Execute First; Plan Second and venture where few have gone before.

What my Readers say…

“It’s a razor-sharp, focussed advice on building strategy in times when we don’t have full information. All questions that need to be asked are given.
No other book on strategy can condense all you need to do in 28 pages. It’s a masterclass for those fighting for time. Thanks for sharing it.” — Nerio Vakil, President Total Business Solutions, Mumbai, India

“I like the reference to financial targets and annual budget as well as creating separate growth plans for each WHO segment—combines,execution, strategy and metrics—all needed to reach goals. I also really liked the “Price Leader” concept—“lead prices up; follow prices down” (great strategy)”.— Bart Zych, MBA, The Strategy Doctor

“For today’s business Leader, ‘action’ trumps a beautiful 30 page business plan that never gets implemented. Roy’s formula for Strategic Game Planning is based on one simple concept:  Execution…. What you can implement NOW. This ebook is like his business philosophy… short and to the point; a quick read. Make your Plan composed of three very basic steps and EXECUTE on it.” — Michael Nott, Branch Principle, DWM Securities

“In his latest book BE DiFFERENT or be dead: EXECUTE First; Plan Second, Roy not only explains why execution trumps the Plan, he teaches the reader the fundamentals of HOW to flawlessly execute strategy.This book is an absolute necessity for anyone who wants to blow away their Plan and realize amazing results.” — Sandy Chernoff, Owner, Soft Skills for Success

Check out Execute First; Plan second at retailers here.

Cheers,
Roy
For all of my books, check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 1.1.21 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing
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December 31, 2020

What your career plan should look like to succeed during COVID-19

Source: Pexels

What your career plan should look like to succeed during COVID-19?

I’ve written many articles on how to have a successful career; but they have most of their relevance ‘in normal times’ when organizations went about their business without physical separation rules, without the need to redefine their business model on the run and without the ability to have employees working in an office environment.

It’s different now, and we don’t know when normal times will greet us once again.

Nevertheless, as individuals we must look to our long term future and not get punished by the (hopefully) short term challenges the pandemic imposes on us; we must journey on and take actions that will position us favourably for a successful future.

What does a COVID career plan look like?

It shrinks the planning horizon

The frame of reference for your plan is now down to a month from whatever you’ve been using up to now.
The 5-year plan is no longer a viable way to plot your career journey because in a pandemic, opportunities appear and disappear in a heartbeat. And if you’re not poised and ready to capitalize from an event that just shows up, you’re going to be on the sidelines away from the action.

A pandemic doesn’t have a smooth flow to it; it’s chaotic and unpredictable moment by moment. So your career plan has to ride it’s wave if you stand any chance of responding and adapting to it in a way that makes sense for you in the long haul.

Getting from ‘A’ to ‘B’ is not going to be a straight line these days; you’re going to have to weave your way to try and achieve your end goal. An inch forward; a lunge to the right; a step back; a leap forward is the process that you need to be prepared to participate in if you want your career to continue advancing.

Have a long term vision for yourself, but if you’re not prepared with a 30-day tactical plan, the long term will never show up — Roy, think long term; act short term.

It is online centric

Businesses are being forced to morph much of their operations to online; bricks and mortar selling and distribution is waning. This is creating a surge in demand for people who have skills relevant to an online play.

Benchmark Amazon to see the jobs available in the online world; choose one that fits your long term goal and get in the hunt now. And look at ways your existing skill set can be extended to include online requirements.
Online marketing is a great opportunity these days in the small business sector. Look there.

It is dominated by learning

In an environment like this that is changing unpredictably and fast, it’s critical to ‘keep your feet moving’, and learning is the core of successful adaptation and responsiveness.

The career options you have in this pandemic are proportional to what you know about the opportunities that are revealed. What successful organizations decided to do is the source of your learning.
Choose learning as your core competency during this pandemic and follow what you discover.

It has experimentation and ‘tries’ as themes

A pandemic is a stochastic environment that changes regularly and unpredictability, which means you can’t pick a path and stick religiously to it.
You have to be prepared to shift and pivot based on new circumstances and try different things to move forward toward your goal. What this means is that you must try new opportunities as they arise to see if they are right for you.

Don’t dismiss an interesting prospect because you don’t believe it’s consistent with your long term career aspirations; in a pandemic you don’t have the luxury of foregoing anything that can contribute to your learning portfolio.
Take a chance. Try it out. Find out if it’s the right thing for you by doing it not by thinking about it.

It has ‘COVID mentors’

Even though the pandemic is fast paced with little or no rhythm, it does have people who are leading their organizations to success; individuals who have been able to meander their way through the challenges posed by the new forces and survive.
Find a few of these people and get close to what they’ve done. Forget about academic pedigrees; select people who are actually doing great things in chaotic times.

You don’t have to personally get to know them, all you need to do is be a student of their work.
Study the strategy and actions they’ve taken and the results they’ve achieved.
Follow them. Listen to them. Copy them.

It’s tactical in design

A planning period measured in days as opposed to years requires a commitment to being tactical in your approach.
This means being extremely nimble in the way you approach your challenge. You have to be ‘on your tiptoes every moment and have your spider senses on to provide the input you need to shape your tactics.

In addition, tactics require that you have a laser focus on job availability. It’s a sequential paradigm that seeks to put together a string of job successes that you hope leads you — but doesn’t promise you — to where you want to go.
This is a highly pragmatic way to move forward because career success is generally measured through a retrospective lens; you conclude success by looking back on what you did.

Despite the pandemic, you can pursue your career goals. The journey just looks different.
No big deal because winning and success are all about adapting to what’s in front of your face, right?

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 12.31.20 at 04:14 pm by Roy Osing
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