The Zentropist Casebook: Ten Tips for Dealing with Difficult Clients

Anyone who has been in business for a meaningful length of time has encountered the “difficult client.” Of course, this moniker can be attached to a variety of individual habits and behavioral attributes, running the gamut from minor quirks and annoying predilections to full-blown pathologies. The reality is, if you want to stay in business, developing the skills and techniques to mitigate or otherwise counteract “difficult” behavior is vitally important and will affect your bottom line.

Following are 10 time-proven techniques and approaches that have passed muster with the Zentropist and provided some measure of succor when confronting less than cooperative yet paying clients:

1. Set Expectations Early (And Often). This cannot be overstated. Even during the courtship phase, a service provider must be forthright and honest in what the client can expect in terms of resources, deliverables and energy expended in service of the project. And your word must be your bond. Individuals and companies that promise the moon to make the sale and then treat the fulfillment process as an afterthought are courting rancor and bad juju. And quite frankly, they deserve it.
2. Define Your Deliverables. Attention to detail is extremely important at every stage of the process. It’s essential that you are very clear about what it is you (or your representatives) are selling and what you intend to deliver. I’ve seen numerous companies get themselves into hot water by failing to adequately utilize inclusionary and/or exclusionary language when listing a product they intend to create. For example, The Huffington Post is a blog. So is Tao of the Zentropist. You’ll brook no argument from me that the scale, scope and corresponding expenses of the two are radically different. And budgets aside, if a client expects to receive a deliverable listed as a “blog” with no further description of its functionality, there’s a good chance they’ll be looking for all of the bells and whistles that you failed to account for.
3. Clear Communication Trumps Head in the Sand. We all know the adage about killing the messenger. Nobody likes to deliver anything but good news. Yet sometimes this is necessary. A large number of projects start to go downhill and coast rapidly towards failure due to the inability of stakeholders to openly communicate, address issues as they arise, and find solutions that are agreeable to all. Don’t make this mistake. Provide updates to your client in writing, at least on a weekly basis, and if need be, on a daily one. Problems generally don’t solve themselves or otherwise go away. Deal with them and move on.
4. Report Progress and Impediments Equally. Consider this one a corollary to #3 above. While it’s important to acknowledge the success in achieving stated objectives and milestones, if a project is facing delays (regardless of the cause), figure out what can be done to get things back on track. This isn’t about assigning blame (at least not at the outset), but dealing with a factual reality (i.e. “We’re behind schedule”) and finding ways to correct course. Such proactive behavior helps negate the argument down the road that you were aware of things going sideways but failed to act in a timely manner or otherwise alert the client.
5. Tie Payments to Progress Milestones and/or Hard Dates. Depending on the scope of the project, anticipated duration, risk assessments and other considerations, a service provider is likely to only secure a percentage advance on total fees due. While in some situations, “half up front and half upon delivery” may work from a cash flow and risk perspective to both parties, this is not always the case. If you are concerned about a client possibly unreasonably holding back fees or causing delays in delivery due to indecisiveness or failure to provide feedback in a timely fashion, you may want to consider developing a payment schedule which calls for more frequent payments tied to key milestones in the schedule, with a hard date attached as well. For example, “25 percent of fees are due upon delivery of preliminary draft of narrative or by [insert desired date], whichever comes first.”
6. Put Yourself in the Client’s Shoes. When negotiating or even debating, it’s a recommended practice to look at the situation from the other party’s perspective, to understand what their concerns and agenda are likely to be and to place yourself in a position to counter these as necessary. Understand that as a service provider, you may be an unknown variable to the buyer, who may be risking substantial capital, time and opportunity in engaging your services. Showing some empathy can go a long way in earning trust and breaking down barriers, especially if the client has been burned before. And remember, if you walk a mile in someone’s shoes, at the end of it you’ve gone a mile and you’re wearing their shoes.
7. Sometimes Listening Wins Converts. One of the hardest lessons for most of us to learn is the art of active listening. Actually paying attention to what another party is saying without interruption or immediate judgment. Try it sometime. Many people who are perceived as “difficult” may be that way because of insecurities or because they feel unheard. By listening to them, you will gain valuable insight, which may in turn provide leverage in managing them. The majority of people love to talk about themselves. Let them.
8. The Customer is Always Right – Until They Are Not. It’s a delicate balancing act, when a client becomes demanding or feels entitled to things that were never part of the agreement. Sometimes in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation, you bend, as a willow does in a storm. But with that being said, if you allow yourself to be walked on and taken advantage of, invariably that’s exactly what will happen. It’s perfectly fine to give a client enough rope to hang themselves — and once they’ve done so, you can extricate them without gloating and educate them as to the error of their ways.  Your mileage may vary in the application of this axiom, so use it judiciously.
9. Know Where “The Line” Is – And Have a Plan if Crossed. As service providers, we all have different thresholds for risk and pain. Make sure you understand where yours is for a particular project and have a contingency plan in place to deal with the situation if the Rubicon is crossed.
10. Know When to Walk Away – And When to Run. While it’s debatable whether Kenny Rogers knows good chicken or not, he nailed this premise in his lyrics to “The Gambler.” Sometimes a client will simply prove to be impossible to deal with (see #9) and there’s simply no reasonable way of completing the project and retaining your sanity or any semblance of profit margin. It’s always a good idea to have a contract that provides language to allow both parties to give notice and walk away from the deal if necessary, and if there comes a time that you need to invoke this clause, that’s why it’s there.

While we all hope to have long, financially lucrative careers that avoid the necessity of interacting with troublesome personalities, it’s best to be prepared for the latter, especially in pursuit of the former. Understanding what makes a client difficult and how to manage them is an art in of itself, and one worth mastering in the course of business.

Seven Core Elements of Successful Business Planning

Working with start-ups and other early-stage ventures, as well as even more established entities, reveals the undeniable truth that planning is often relegated to the realm of theory or executed as part of an initial checklist to secure outside funding, then promptly forgotten. This is a mistake which can haunt or even cripple a business, and is one that is best avoided by keeping a handful of axioms in mind.

The following list of “Seven Core Elements of Successful Business Planning” is intended to serve as a guide for both enthusiastic (i.e. by choice) as well as reluctant (i.e. forced by circumstance) entrepreneurial souls to help maintain your focus and gain traction in the market as your business matures.

• “Know Yourself.” It is vital, whether you are a lone individual selling a product or service or a corporation of any size to be able to dispassionately assess both your strengths and weaknesses, so you can capitalize on the former and minimize the latter. While this may seem self-evident, many businesses fail to thoroughly undertake this exercise or make the mistake of treating it as a one-time thing, when in reality, circumstances change over time and what were once strengths may no longer be so, while conversely, weaknesses may have dissipated, multiplied or otherwise shifted. It’s a good practice at least once per year to undertake a SWOT analysis to see if changes in strategy are necessary.
• “Find Your Market Niche.” All too often, it’s human nature to want to be universally liked or otherwise in demand. However, for most brands, this is a tall order, and in the effort to accommodate and please everyone, the product or service invariably winds up diluted and really pleases no one to any great extent. This phenomenon is often witnessed when committees or other forms of bureaucracy get involved in the process, and is all too often exacerbated in government. Fundamentally, it is essential that you find a way to be valuable to a targeted niche, ideally one that can meet the prices that you anticipate charging for your solutions.
• “Know the Competition.” As obvious as this may sound, many businesses blithely commence operations with little understanding of what makes the competition tick, or worse, assumes or states that it has no competition, which is the mark of either an arrogant fool or an incompetent. There’s always competition, at the very least indirect, for any product or service with a definable consumer. Don’t make the mistake of believing it hasn’t been done before, because chances are, it has, and if it is no longer in existence, there may be good cause for this. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you may not improve upon another’s offering, but that’s a different story altogether.
• “Decide What Metrics Are Important – And Measure Your Progress Regularly.” This is crucial in understanding whether or not your business is succeeding under its current strategy, or requires a course correction to avert disaster or to capitalize on shifting market trends or emerging opportunities. Anything that is quantifiable can be measured, and as a business owner, executive or stakeholder, or even just an employee hoping to remain gainfully employed in uncertain times, it’s vital that you optimize your performance. While the metrics which are used may vary widely depending on the nature of the business, these should be identified from Day One and monitored closely, and if circumstances change and necessitate the inclusion of new metrics, be proactive and do so. As a final note, don’t be willing to discard or exclude metrics simply because they do not cast the business in a favorable light – that is not a legitimate reason to bury one’s head in the sand.
• “You Can Never Have Too Much Capital.” Two of the leading causes for business failure are under-capitalization (especially at inception) and issues managing cash flow. While it’s true that money can be easily squandered or flitted away on ill-conceived projects and initiatives, this does not negate the reality that having ready access to money (i.e. liquidity), especially cash, is an enormous competitive advantage. If you are raising money, be sure to challenge your own assumptions as to the pace at which revenues, never mind profits, will flow, and always assume that your expenses will be higher than initially projected and revenues lower. Failure to do so tends to have adverse consequences down the line.
• “Have a Strategy (Preferably a Good One).” If you’ve been around business long enough, you come to realize that a surprisingly large percentage lack any form of coherent strategy that can be easily articulated internally, let alone to outsiders. Many businesses are reactive rather than proactive, blindly groping their way through the darkness, hoping to stumble upon an acorn every now and again. This isn’t a strategy, and it isn’t viable for very long. While strategies may evolve or change over time (and correspondingly, impact tactics), they need to be aligned with clearly specified goals. If you don’t know where you want to be, you’ll have a devil of a time getting there.
• “Be Unique (And if You’re Not, Give the Impression You are Anyway).” It’s common parlance among marketers to speak of “unique selling propositions” (USP’s) which make one business different from another. Sometimes these are actually true, but more often than not, they speak to the need to position your business to meet the psychological needs of your target customer. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with this, as nothing in business actually happens until someone makes a sale, and part of the process of engaging with a prospective client or customer is convincing the party that you have something worth offering to them that they can’t find anywhere else. They may find something similar (perhaps even strikingly so) to your product or service, but they’ll miss out on the benefits (both tangible and intangible) that you bring to the table if they opt to go with another option. So it’s your responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen.

By implementing the above list, and regularly revisiting the issues raised, you will give your business an increased chance of successfully weathering economic storms when times are tough and thriving when optimism returns to the market.

Have a business question or want to learn more about business planning and other related services? Black Rock Consulting is available to assist you with solutions that meet your needs and achieve results.

On the Nature of Energy

While it may seem esoteric at first, when you think about it, we spend our lives dealing with the “energy” present in both living and inanimate objects. Since interpersonal and communication skills are vital in business, understanding how we can address energy when we encounter it is crucial to identifying the appropriate response to a given situation.

Essentially, we have four choices available to us when we encounter an opposing energy: we can seek to absorb it; we can meet it with force and seek to block it; we can deflect/redirect and release it; or we can “go with the flow” and not resist the opposing energy, but simply channel it to create a favorable outcome.

Those with a martial arts background may appreciate the physical expression of this “energy channeling,” although in our verbal and written dealings with others we must ultimately be conscious of the energy that we are facing and can apply the same basic principles that we would “out on the mat,” in the training hall, or “in the street.” So let’s briefly examine the options that we have and translate these to common business dealings to understand the ramifications of our actions.

Oftentimes, “absorbing” energy is a byproduct of being caught unawares, or having our first option fail. While it is possible to train the body, for example, to physically absorb to one extent or another various strikes delivered by an unarmed opponent, most would agree that the notion of deliberately “absorbing” the energy of a projectile (i.e. bullet, arrow, dart, etc.) or an edged or blunt trauma weapon is an awful idea. The same is often true in our dealings with others, which even if not physically violent or threatening to our person, can have detrimental effect to our emotional and psychological state.

Clients, customers or vendors that attempt to get their way through verbal bullying and other tactics may very well expect you to simply “roll with the punches” and concede to their demands, no matter how unreasonable or outlandish, especially if they feel that they have significant leverage over you. Such leverage may take the form of threats of non-payment (or delayed payment of bills), taking their business elsewhere, or trying to wrangle additional work or products without having to pay for them. The obvious downside in “absorbing” such energy as expressed in these examples is that you run the risk of being made a doormat, and always “giving away the store” in business dealings. While compromise is a necessity in business, and we need to be flexible and allow a certain amount of “give and take,” it’s simply bad business to allow yourself to be outmaneuvered.

Meeting force with opposing force can be a viable strategy as well as a tactic, but suffers from one serious weakness; if the energy which you project is not stronger than the opposing force, your defense will be compromised and you may very well wind up absorbing the energy that you had initially hoped to block. Within the world of martial arts, many systems rely on hard blocks with arms and legs to meet incoming strikes, which leads to a tremendous “clashing” of energies and perhaps some physical pain as well to both attacker and defender. In social dealings, an example of this might be raising one’s voice and verbally escalating a heated conversation, attempting to shout down, drown out or intimidate the other party. Again, this carries certain risks, because it can add “fuel to the fire” in an already tense situation and may backfire if the other party refuses to back down.

Many traditional “internal arts” such as Tai Chi Chuan, Ba Gua, and Aikido, along with a number of others which blend both internal and external responses (such as a number of Chinese styles including Wing Chun) understand that a more sophisticated approach to managing energy is to deflect or redirect incoming energy so it is safely released, which in turn sets up an appropriate counter, which often has the added desirable effect of leaving the opponent off balance or vulnerable. In business, this can be an excellent response for dealing with an opposing party that is seeking to be confrontational or uncooperative; by carefully channeling their focus to other things, or finding common ground or deal points that both parties can agree upon, a tense situation can be defused and a more equitable compromise or solution may be found. This might involve psychological ploys such as using flattery or otherwise stroking the other party’s ego, but does not have to involve outright fabrication or even “lies of omission.”

Our final option is one that Aikido practitioners refer to as “blending,” or channeling the energy of the opposing force by flowing with it, and simply allowing it to travel in the direction that it is heading, albeit perhaps with some additional assistance in the form of joint locks or throws. By yielding to the energy that is projected, yet guiding it in a manner which is conducive to one’s own objectives, there is no need to expend much energy in the defense. From a social standpoint, this approach can be employed by making concessions on issues which are of lesser importance, making the other party feel that it has won a victory, in order to secure concessions or favorable terms on the issues which really matter.

Learning how to direct energy, both one’s own as well as that of another party, using the appropriate method at the appropriate time, is a skill that is innate in some, and requires focused work for many. Yet it is a skill that once developed, can make one’s relationships on a business, social and personal level far more rewarding and even less stressful.

Why not give it a try?

When You Meet a Swordsman…

In Thomas Cleary’s translation of several lesser known (at least in the West) Chinese classics compiled within the book “Thunder in the Sky” he references a Ch’an (Zen) Buddhist aphorism which deserves some attention:

“When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet.”

This lesson is apropos in both one’s personal and professional dealings. The ability to quickly size people up, either as allies, adversaries, or something not quite either is a skill that under some circumstances can mean the difference between life and death. In business, it could carry serious financial and even legal implications when taking the measure of a prospective business partner, competitor, creditor or debtor, among others.

Those versed in theories of warfare both Eastern and Western have realized that war, when practiced shrewdly, is based on deception, and convincing the opponent of “truths” that are anything but; in concealing one’s strengths (and intentions) until the last possible moment; and to borrow a turn of phrase from Winston Churchill, surrounding one’s weakness(es) “with a bodyguard of illusion” which downplays or otherwise mitigates pragmatic evaluation of reality.

As with many others, the Zentropist feels strongly that parallels can be drawn between conduct in business and prosecution of warfare (which in itself is an extension of politics and statecraft, as Von Clausewitz observed), although rather than seeking the annihilation of one’s opponents / business rivals, it is better to subscribe to victory through superior performance in terms of products and services, marketing, and customer service and support (and for some businesses, pricing is certainly part of this matrix as well).  In “meeting a swordsman,” it is vital that one seeks to uncover the motivations and intentions that underlie the other entity’s behavior, to provide insight into character and likely reactions to circumstances that may present themselves.

This is especially important when evaluating strategic or business partnerships and alliances, since those that seek harmonious and mutually beneficial relations understand that a “win/win” scenario must be the end goal which the parties pursue, yet some individuals and companies simply cannot do anything but pay lip service to this notion. For some, business, as with other aspects of life, is a zero-sum game in which the advancement of one’s aims is automatically at the expense of another’s. Those that subscribe to such theory will tend to be highly deceptive and sometimes amoral agents that only serve themselves and cannot be relied upon to uphold their end of any deal. You must be prepared to deal with such treachery, and one of the best means to do so is to limit your interactions wherever possible to avoid those that would employ the ancient strategy of, “To hold a sword behind the smile.”

A final take-away from this lesson is that the Zentropist does not suggest that deception or obfuscation has no legitimate role in business or personal affairs, nor is it inherently “dishonorable” behavior. To a certain degree in this instance, the ends can justify the means, and it is certainly one thing to mislead a competitor or business rival, for example, and another to betray a business partner, vendor, supplier or affiliate, especially for one’s financial gain. Ultimately, in one form or another, we must all answer for our actions and those that can operate with clean conscience due to the rightness of their actions will always be better served than those that seek to rationalize their self-serving or otherwise malevolent behavior.

And we all would do well to remember that, when confronting a swordsman, our own blade must be fast and true and without hesitation, for the “fluent blade cuts cleanly…”

To learn more about the author, please visit Black Rock Consulting or drop us an email…

Writers Facing the Double-Edged Blade of Technology

It’s hardly an original observation to acknowledge that technology is a double-edged blade, capable of delivering enormous benefits to users when properly employed, yet also facilitating the destruction of careers, professions, cultures and even economies as either an intended or unintended consequence of its utilization. Certainly, the “flattening” of the world which Thomas Friedman has persuasively written about for several years now could not have happened without the build-out of technological infrastructure during the 1990’s, which has in turn facilitated the off-shoring (a sub-set of traditional “outsourcing” to freelancers) of many jobs which were once performed domestically.

This off-shoring trend has been great for low-cost nations such as India and China and parts of Eastern and Central Europe, but not so great for developed nations such as the United States, where for better or worse, many of us have grown accustomed to a certain standard of living. Some might call it opulent, some might call it irresponsible (and in hindsight, clearly unsustainable), and arguments about carbon footprints aside, many Americans, irrespective of educational levels or actual skills, have come to feel entitled to a rather free-wheeling approach to spending money and accumulating material goods and comforts.

Like many others, I’m a member of the business social network LinkedIn, and belong to a number of “special interest” groups. While the global recession is hurting a lot of people in a lot of nations, there’s a lot of bewilderment and pain evident among white-collar professionals, many of them well-educated, suddenly realizing that somewhere offshore, there is a counterpart willing to do the same work for less money. Sometimes for far less money. This has impacted the professional writing and communications/media community (i.e. journalists, copywriters, marketers, consultants, authors of fiction and non-fiction alike) especially hard from what I can see. For anyone dealing primarily in intellectual property or work that does not depend upon a physical component necessitating locality (such as one form or another of manual labor or public/private service), the Internet is at once both a channel and tool to cultivate new opportunities once ignored due to distance, yet also increases competition exponentially.

Understand that capital, like energy, follows the path of least resistance. Those who grew comfortable pulling in solidly middle class, if not upper tier incomes, and more often than not assumed debt loads to finance these lifestyles, have been completely sand-bagged upon learning that they are indeed replaceable. Such knowledge ranks right up there with the realization of one’s mortality and seems to carry the same intensity of emotional baggage.

Writing has always been a profession that many people devalue and largely dismiss, since after all, anyone that has any degree of literacy “can write,” so those that earn a living doing this are not typically viewed as performing a service which is magical or mysterious. Brain surgery is mysterious. Building a bridge or building is mysterious. Even composing a symphony is mysterious. Writing a script or novel? Hah. Swing a dead cat in Los Angeles or New York and you’ll take out an aspiring screenwriter and/or novelist without doubt.

Blogging and “Internet journalism” are rapidly displacing traditional media in terms of audience reach and relevancy, and with the apparent decline in journalistic standards and integrity, the line between professional and amateur journalist is increasingly blurred.  Journalists and other writers accustomed to being paid by the word for print publication are now horrified to discover that rates that in some instances could formerly exceed $1.00 per word for a particular piece of work are now dropping to mere pennies per word, since in a universe where one’s work is now simply “content” and SEO (search engine optimization) is more important than a clever turn of phrase or providing the reader with insightful analysis or thought-provoking ideas, most publishers don’t correlate high quality output with traffic. Rather than pursue or encourage excellence (and pay rates in accord with this outcome), there’s a marked tendency to settle for “good enough,” which is a rather low-lying bar these days.

Writers that wish to “fight back” face an uphill battle, but not one which is unwinnable. Creating and marketing the writer “as a brand” is an absolute necessity, and using digital media to find and connect with an audience is vital to the successful prosecution of this strategy. The plethora of digital channels for delivery of one’s work has lowered the barriers to entry, and is likely going to make many traditional publishers largely irrelevant in the coming years. To be sure, there is still prestige associated with having one’s work published in print by a major name (be it a newspaper, book publisher, etc.), but as more consumers turn to digital channels to consume “content,” I suspect the distinction will fade. Portents of this are already appearing. For example, Amazon’s popular Kindle book-reader will allow bloggers to post their work directly to the unit, which in turn gives equal weight (in terms of presentation) to an undiscovered writer working in obscurity as it does to a best-selling author with a major publishing deal. The difference between them (which is clearly not insignificant) is audience reach, and the willingness of readers to pay for the enjoyment of accessing that writer’s work.

If this global recession teaches us anything, the lesson that we can take nothing for granted must be first and foremost. For those that use the written word to connect with others, whether through articles or columns appearing in traditional print media, advertising, film and television, or digital media, we must be cognizant that if we wish to earn a living from our work, we had better deliver a meaningful or otherwise valuable experience to the end user/consumer, or we will quickly be rendered irrelevant.  After all, plenty of others are more than willing to take up the mantle, and far too many will happily do so for free…

Finding Center

In the traditional Asian martial arts, there is often quite a bit of emphasis on “finding one’s center” and learning to move from the center, which the Chinese refer to as the dan tien. As esoteric as this may seem upon first impression, it actually makes a great deal of sense once properly understood, and the lessons are as applicable in business as in the practice of martial arts. In fact, “finding center” shares a great deal in common with the Hedgehog Concept advanced by Jim Collins in his deservedly well-regarded business book, “Good to Great.”

One key theme that emerges from the work of Mr. Collins is the “Hedgehog Concept,” which in turn is credited to the work of Isaiah Berlin in his book “The Hedgehog and the Fox.” When traced back to antiquity, this stems from a Greek parable which posits that the world is divided into “hedgehogs,” or people that define the world through a single defining idea, and “foxes,” or people that view the world through multiple experiences. In other words, hedgehogs know one thing very well while foxes know many things, but not necessarily in any real depth.

The Hedgehog Concept boils down to the need for a company (or arguably, an individual) to define itself by what it can be the best at. This forced examination of strengths and weaknesses, which requires an honest assessment of not only one’s own capabilities but the competition and operating environment, is arrived at by envisioning three circles and finding the intersection where all three overlap:

1. What you can be the best in the world at. For some individuals and companies, this is potentially a painful realization. You may or may not be currently on the right path, because as case studies have found, being “competent” or even “good” in the face of global completion is not sustainable. Your product or service must be world class, or at the very least perceived by your customers as being so, if you are to thrive and become “great.”
2. What drives your economic engine. At the end of the day, a business must earn more money than it spends. It’s as simple as that. Without profits, you cannot survive, and profits are arrived at by maximizing revenues and containing costs. Understanding how to do this, and arriving at a business model that is sustainable and scalable, and aligned with your product(s) / service(s), is one of the greatest challenges that you can face.
3. What you are deeply passionate about. If an individual (or business) does not truly enjoy the work that it performs, no matter how much it attempts to fake it or muster false enthusiasm, this eventually comes out in the work. False passion cannot be manufactured indefinitely; it must be an outgrowth out of genuine enjoyment and satisfaction in engaging in the process of Mastery, and to be the best in the world at something, you must walk the Path of Mastery.

If you take the time to diagram the approach above, you will discover that in creating the three overlapping circles, you are in effect “centering” by finding the point where these all come together. And make no mistake, this exercise is not an easy one in practice, as simple as it is in theory, because we live in a world of illusion.

Many traditions hold that what we perceive as “reality” is simply illusion, and that the physical world is subject to varying interpretations and perceptions based on the frame of reference of the individual / organization. As individuals we both consciously and subconsciously create illusions, either because of a desire to portray ourselves in a favorable light (yielding to the ego), or because we filter the information that our senses deliver and interpret it based on biases or assumptions that we may not even be aware of.

Not only must we contend with self-manufactured illusions, but we must also deal with the illusions cast forth by others, which all feed upon each other and perpetuate uncertainty, unclear intent and lead us astray from our chosen path. This can be the root cause of a great deal of unhappiness, misunderstanding and suffering.

Even without delving into the spiritual aspect, or discounting it entirely, finding one’s center has both a physical and psychological dimension. In the physical expression of many martial arts and other physical endeavors, one seeks to create a grounded connection with the earth, often manifested in the manner in which weight is distributed and the body’s center of gravity is rooted. While some pundits have observed that the successful use of force is the imposition of one’s will on another, I would argue that an alternative explanation is the imposition of one’s center on another. Since two objects cannot occupy the same physical space, the object whose center is most rooted and connected with the universal energy at the moment the paths intersect is the one that will prevail. Perhaps this interpretation seems rather metaphysical and/or mystical to some, but physics seems to bear this out.

Psychologically, finding one’s center implies achieving balance, and “balance” is often an adjective used to express how a healthy psyche is described in layman’s terms. We all instinctively understand that when something, or someone, is unbalanced that there is danger of a loss of control, often with unfortunate consequences.

The inescapable conclusion is that our success as individuals (no matter how we personally define “success”) and in turn, the success of organizations, is dependent upon the ability to “find center” and maintain this no matter what obstacles appear in the path. In a world of illusion and obfuscation, deliberate and consequential, being rooted in one’s center is the only way to live one’s purpose and find contentment. It’s a challenge to be sure, but it is part of the journey that we all must undertake…

5 Critical Factors for Building Meaningful Business Relationships

Business relationships, like personal and romantic ones, are fundamental to our lives, whether we are freelancers or employees (I especially urge the latter group to understand that in this day and age, unless they belong to a union or have an employment contract, they have little more security or assurances than the former category). While all of these relationships share some commonalities, and all require constant nurturing, a key differentiator is “financial consideration,” a.k.a. “money.”

Don’t kid yourself — money does change everything, and failure to acknowledge and respect this fact can lead to disastrous results. Disputes over money can destroy friendships and marriages, so it is certainly understandable that in any form of business relationship, sensitivity towards one’s economic future, earning ability, cash flow or the continued viability of a venture is very high.

There are 5 critical factors that can go a long way in helping to identify, form and cultivate over time business relationships which have real value and substance for the involved parties. This goes beyond mere “networking,” which when awkwardly approached is transparently insincere and self-serving. Ultimately, if you wish to be successful, you need to invest very real time and energy into the process of building these business relationships, and you must honestly care about the outcome.

So here are the Zentropist’s 5 Critical Factors for Building Meaningful Business Relationships:

1. Open Communication
2. Trust
3. Synergy
4. Aligned Ethics & Values
5. Reciprocity

Let’s briefly comment upon each of these.

Open Communication. I strongly believe that inability or failure to clearly communicate what each party wants out of a business alliance or partnership up front, or during the course of the relationship, is a leading cause for dissatisfaction and dissolution. It is vitally important to set expectations early, and to be frank and forthcoming about what the parties each bring to the table, and how they might positively influence each other. It is understood that businesses exist to earn money, and to be profitable they must earn more than they spend, so there is no shame in couching discussions in potential return on investment (ROI) or “How can we each make money by working together in some capacity?” But with that being said, remember that businesses, much like nation states, don’t have “friends” but rather have “interests,” and where these are in agreement and not mutually exclusive, opportunity exists to work together as allies.

Trust. Trust is essential to any form of relationship and in my opinion, is generally earned over time. Trust can take a long time to build, yet can be destroyed in an instant. Fundamentally, however, I do not believe that you can have a meaningful business relationship with a person or entity that you simply do not trust. At best, you may have some form of “understanding” or “relationship of convenience,” but such constructs are fleeting. You must be open to the notion of allowing another party to earn your trust, but not so giving as to be taken by the charlatans that will abuse this generosity of spirit. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Be willing to trust, but verify.”

Synergy. This is a term that often pops up in discussions of strategic partnerships. Rather than being a trite expression, it actually has very real meaning, predicated on the very definition of the word (the Greek syn-ergos, or “working together”). Situations in which two or more entities mutually cooperate in order to facilitate an advantageous outcome can be described as “synergistic.” Synergy can be derived from offering services which complement each other; from shared methodologies or approaches; from offering solutions which address different aspects of the value chain, etc. At the end of the day, every business should be looking at initiatives and deals in one of two ways: is this something that allows us to make more money, or to save money? As a product or service provider, part of your sales process is to convince the prospective customer that your offering addresses this need. In a business partnership, you not only must analyze this from the prospective of the working relationship with the partner, but if mutually closing a prospect together, how your joint offering will be perceived by the would-be buyer.

Aligned Ethics and Values. It is my contention that a business cannot successfully maintain a relationship with another that does not fundamentally value the same things or view the world from a similar ethical construct. Like oil and water, inconsistencies in theory and especially in practice simply do not mix. During the course of my professional career, I have been involved with entities that, diplomatically speaking, had a far more loose definition of what is ethical and right behavior. Whether that is organizations that value the sale more than the honest fulfillment of the agreement (and devote their energies and resources accordingly), or those that believe in delivering only to the level of the client’s sophistication (“good enough” versus doing your best for each and every client), I’ve witnessed it all. Far too many people and organizations pay lip service to ethics or claim to embrace certain values, and then betray this in their actions. If a prospective or existing business partner does not “walk the talk” in this regard, I believe it is incumbent to disengage. If they are willing to cheat or short change a customer, or to misrepresent themselves or their capabilities and accomplishments, there is little reason to believe they will be (or have been) straight with you. Trust matters.

Reciprocity. Business relationships, like other types, can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical. By this I mean that the balance of power and capabilities may be evenly distributed in a bi-lateral arrangement (i.e. “symmetrical”), or may be weighed in favor of one party (i.e. “asymmetrical”). In either case, the willingness to reciprocate is extremely important, although it takes on even more meaning when the more powerful entity treats the junior party with respect and consideration. It is not enough to ask, “What’s in it for me?” but rather, you must ask, “How can I bring value to this relationship and benefit the other party?” Because in doing so, you are essentially building “equity” in the relationship, and if the other party is honorable, trustworthy and committed, you will be directly or indirectly enriching your business either now or in the future. Hence the necessity of ensuring that the other four factors are present; if they are not, it is unlikely that good faith efforts will be reciprocated, and you cannot define the relationship as “meaningful.”

Black Rock Consulting is always willing to explore meaningful relationships with like-minded business owners. Give us a call or send us an email and let’s see where the rubber meets the road. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship…

What “The Need to Win” Reveals About Process

The modern world is a very competitive place. Many of us buy into the notion, consciously or not, that life is often a “zero sum” game in which our gain must come at someone else’s expense or loss. Perhaps this is true in some circumstances and not true in others. Certainly if this is the prism through which we view the world, we must be prepared to deal with the stress of competition and find a means of emotional detachment from the outcome, lest we “choke” or fall victim to our own nerves.

Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) was a Chinese philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period, in approximately the 4th Century BCE. His writings are Taoist in nature, taking the position that some things are simply unknowable or relative, and that perceptions are largely based on past experience.

Chuang Tzu addressed how the “need to win” could negatively influence an individual and the resulting effort to secure a favorable result in a passage entitled “The Need to Win.” The Thomas Merton Translation of this piece follows:

When an archer is shooting for nothing

He has all his skill.

If he shoots for a brass buckle

He is already nervous.

If he shoots for a prize of gold

He goes blind

Or sees two targets –

He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize

Divides him. He cares.

He thinks more of winning

Than of shooting –

And the need to win

Drains him of power.

It is ironic that the more deeply emotionally invested we become in an outcome, the more likely our performance will suffer for it and perhaps cause us to fail to achieve our objective. Hence the concept of “detachment,” or letting go of the emotional capital that we invest in obtaining the objective so that we can better focus on the process itself. This often seems counter-intuitive when we are counseled to “follow our passions” and we seek to translate this expression of energy into something more substantive. In effect, we must walk the razor’s edge between passion and dispassion. And it is oftentimes process which enables us to successfully pull off this feat.

Those that are high achievers in any field tend to be very process driven, whether they realize or acknowledge this fact, in part because having an effective process helps to ensure consistency and excellence once the individual is “dialed in.” Process helps to ensure that desired results are repeatable and not simply due to luck or a confluence of fortunate events. In some situations, process may help mitigate the impact of external factors that may be beyond our direct control.

However, process can be difficult to successfully implement if we allow emotions to cloud our judgment. This is not to say that instinct and “gut feelings” can never be trusted; truthfully, such inputs are a manifestation of our subconscious and awareness of our environment and can be vital in decision-making. The difficulty lies in reconciling such stimuli with a time proven process that focuses our full intent on the achievement of the objective.

Perhaps a key to the solution is disregarding this notion of “winning,” which is laced with powerful emotional baggage, and replacing it with a simple, matter-of-fact visualization of having obtained the result we are seeking. By de-coupling the euphoria and self-satisfaction that we associate with the concept of being the “winner,” and instead focusing on the effort necessary to reach this objective in a non-judgmental fashion, we actually increase the likelihood of finding ourselves standing at the pinnacle of success.

That’s something for the Zentropist within us all to remember…

The Virtue of Stillness

For many of us in the modern world, we live in an age of information overload and frenetic activity. It seems that everything moves at breakneck speed, and failure to comply with this unwritten imperative spells potential disaster. Coupled with this cultural mandate which often values speed over substance is a noticeable reduction in attention spans and inability for many to focus and live in the moment.

Yet it is this moment which is most real to us. The past is behind us, an ever growing collection of once present moments which recede into memory. And the future is at once malleable and inescapable, in part perhaps influenced by our actions in this moment and those past, yet far too unknowable to simply conform to our will.

Amid the pressures of our lives, we must seek moments to engage in stillness. For it is in stillness, both actual and metaphorical, that we can most connect with ourselves and the universe, which are all intertwined. In being “still,” and allowing our senses to reach out and process with minimal filtering the pulsation of the energy around us, we are most “in tune” and plugged into a vast reservoir which can be tapped and utilized to our advantage. This concept of a universal energy is found in widely divergent cultures worldwide, although it is perhaps most famously associated with the concept of chi or ki in the martial arts. For some, such a notion is far too metaphysical, so let’s counter with a real world example of the application of such theory…

I have heard it said that having children allows parents to experience childhood once again, albeit from a different perspective. My toddler son, like his parents, happens to enjoy being out in nature. These days he is rather captivated by searching for the fast-moving lizards which can be found all around his grandparents’ property.  Although it is possible to potentially outrun these lizards, for the most part they react to movement, and a toddler has yet to master the art of stealth and stalking.

But a child can learn (within reason) to be still. I am teaching my son this lesson in several steps. He has learned that the lizards like to bask in the sun, and there are always certain spots, at certain times of the day, where lizards tend to congregate. He has learned that rather than rush towards a lizard, it is better to approach slowly. Eventually he will learn that the best option may be to lie in wait, embracing the stillness, and let the lizard come to him. By blending with his environment, and settling into the flow of energy in a specific locale, he can experience stillness and reap the reward (getting close to the lizard) that he seeks.

In my practice of the martial arts, I have experienced stillness in many forms. Within all branches of Wing Chun Kung Fu, for example, there is an exercise termed chi sao, which translates as “energy arms.” Although it is often misunderstood by outsiders, this form of “touch sensitivity” training is designed to hone the reflexes, specifically for close quarters fighting, in which visual information is processed too slowly to counter rapid attacks. Rather, one is trained to first understand what it feels like when energy is in equilibrium (i.e. the parties engaged in the chi sao training are balancing each other via the extension of the ban sao / tan sao combination in one arm and the fuk sao of the second arm). Everything must be “just right.” Excessive forward energy or force is just as detrimental as insufficient forward energy or force.  Imprecision in the structure and positioning of the arms triggers a lack of equilibrium which invites immediate attack.

Because the arms, in effect, serve as antennae, the Wing Chun practitioner must learn to “listen” to the opponent through his body, searching for the lack of equilibrium which signals vulnerability while mindful of his or her own “center.” To do this, the mind must be “still,” in a relaxed frame rather than one which wishes to impose a specific outcome. The same is true in sparring — watch any experienced fighter and there is a stillness and calm until the moment when explosive movement is called for.

Experiencing stillness allows us to find our center. It is our center which “grounds us” and allows us to tap into not only our own internal energy, but the energy surrounding us. For those walking the Path of the Zentropist, this is an essential skill to cultivate.

So take a few minutes each day to experience stillness. Find a quiet place free of distraction. You can choose to stand or sit. Close your eyes. Focus on the breath. Be aware of each inhalation and exhalation. If you are trained in proper diaphragm breathing techniques (from Yoga, martial arts, etc.), put that breathing into practice. Inhale deeply through the nose. Allow your lungs to fill. Slowly exhale, forcing the air through the nostrils with the goal of equalizing the length of each inhalation and exhalation. As you settle into this rhythm, focus on the sounds around you. Next open your eyes, allowing your visual sense to return as you continue to breathe deliberately, which should also feed information via the sense of smell. Continue to remain attuned to the sounds in your environment, processing these auditory clues as well. Spend a few minutes in this state and notice the change in energy which you will experience. All in the practice of stillness.

It is in this deliberate stillness that we are most aware, and arguably, most alive…

Mastering the Art of Living

As John Lennon famously remarked, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

Perhaps now more than ever in recent memory, we need to concern ourselves with the “Art of Living,” which is as important (if not more so) than the “Art of Making a Living.”

Nothing in this world is permanent. There are both shadows and light. Periods of feasting and periods of famine. There is great Good in this world, and there is unmitigated and unrepentant Evil. It has always been this way. Certain theological beliefs and arguments aside, there is little reason to believe it will ever not be so.

The Zentropist walks the Path of Mastery, and it has been observed (quite accurately in my opinion) that this is a path with no end, a journey whose destination is always beyond the horizon. This teaches us that it is the journey that shapes us, as we face various obstacles, obstructions and challenges, and in overcoming such adversity, we learn things about ourselves that we otherwise would never have known.  Perhaps we do get knocked down, and there are times when we are convinced that we cannot possibly go on, but this is an illusion. We can go on, and there is always a way.

Rather than batter ourselves mercilessly against an unyielding foe, sometimes we must flow around it, or find the means to re-direct the opposing energy so as to realize our own goals. As my own Sifu likes to observe, “In a given moment force can only have one direction at a time.”

This is true in the application of martial arts to a particular situation and it is true on the larger playing field of life. While it is probably a natural human desire to want to compartmentalize life, to artificially construct firewalls between the various aspects of our existence, this too is an illusion. How we approach life is expressed in our actions and attitudes, and the good news is that we have the power to adapt and change. We may not be able to always control what befalls us, but how we react and adapt to such opportunities and challenges is paramount.

The pursuit of Mastery is really about the pursuit of Excellence. Many are afraid to pursue Excellence because of self-imposed limitations, or because they are not willing to invest the time necessary. Make no mistake. Mastery only comes through the dedicated and consistent application of work over time. And not just any work. Focused and detail-oriented work. The most difficult of all.

Even those blessed with natural abilities in a given endeavor must do the work. There are no shortcuts. There are no “quick fixes.” Sometimes the rewards are external, such as recognition among one’s peers or even the general public, and sometimes they are monetary. All too often, the rewards may be internal, or will only manifest externally over a far longer timeline.

All that we have in this world is time, yet ironically, it is not our place to know how much of it we have. How we invest that time is ultimately how we are measured, and something that we do have control over.

Heed the wisdom of the late writer James A. Michener, who said:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”

So master the time that you have been given. Pursue excellence in all aspects of your life. Master the Art of Living in all its various expressions. Unleash the Zentropist within…