I had the pleasure of presenting for CANA in 2009, and the past ten years have seen changes across the business world. What’s new or different about leadership today? And what are the biggest challenges leaders face in their businesses and communities?
In my work I advise hundreds of leaders each year. From their experiences, questions, hopes and fears, combined with the assessments of those they lead about what their leaders do well and what they do poorly, I’ve compiled eight challenges I hear most often and some suggestions about what to do to find your solution:

1. USE OF OUTDATED TIME MANAGEMENT THINKING.
   The research is clear: multitasking is a myth – switching between two tasks can take up to 40% longer to complete both. Life balance doesn’t make sense either. It is about life design: devoting the right number of hours and energy to the most important things. It is time to reexamine outdated beliefs about time management and productivity. The ability to focus intently (“single-tasking”) on what is important should be at the top of your productivity list. And don’t feel guilty if your life isn’t balanced if it is well designed.
2. TREATING THOSE THEY LEAD AS “FOLLOWERS.”When asked what I think is the biggest change in leadership, my answer is followers. Those we lead increasingly resist thinking of themselves as followers, and for good reason. This is a limiting term that poorly represents the relationship we need. Employees want to be (and deserve to be) thought of as contributors, colleagues and team members. The concept of “following” to those we lead is as negatively tinged as referring to those in customer service as “servile.” Unless you’re a religious guru, you are better served leading a team of contributors than a band of followers.
3. FEAR OF THE GREAT UNKNOWN.No leader likes uncertainty but today the size and impact of the unknown can be more devastating than in the past. Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote the definitive book about overconfidence in our ability to predict, anticipate and plan. He describes the improbable black swan: an unpredictable or unforeseen event, typically one with extreme consequences. Many leaders act as if black swans never happen, or can be avoided, but leadership is as much about taking action in the face of the unknown as it is gathering information to eliminate the unknown and mitigate consequences. No leader is clairvoyant, so he or she must accept the real limitations of knowledge about the future and act accordingly.
4. A FALSE DICHOTOMY OF ETHICS.Trying to separate personal ethics from professional ethics is a bad idea. There are just ethics, and trying to apply two different standards isn’t just confusing, it is wrong. Why would you trust someone at work that you know to be a conniving liar in his or her personal life? And why would you allow something that you know is wrong to happen at work? One psychologist calls it the normalization of deviance: making it acceptable to do at work what is wrong to do outside work. Leaders work hard to create what I conversely call the “normalization of integrity.” Without clearly defined values that are lived and observed by others, ethics slip dangerously.
5. OVEREMPHASIS ON GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES.Not that long ago leaders often seemed to ignore generational differences. The pendulum has swung to another extreme. There seems to be a belief that everyone is so different we can’t effectively lead! Generations are different, and understanding those differences can provide effective tools for communication and collaborating better. At the same time people regardless of age share much in common: the need to belong to a winning team, meaning in their work, satisfaction in the jobs they do, and much more. Leaders must balance understanding and using differences and unifying their teams with shared interests and beliefs.
6. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT.It is as important as competing for talent, a common dilemma according to my clients. One of the biggest myths I encounter is the belief that if you just get the best people on your team, your job is done. John Wooden wisely noted that he didn’t want the best players on his team. He wanted the players that made his team best. That points to the importance of engagement and teamwork. Talent is a start, but it is never enough. Divisive star players and disengaged genius are both liabilities. Good leaders find the best people and then focus on keeping them engaged.
7. LACK OF PREPARATION TO SUCCESSFULLY LEAD.My research shows that only one in four leaders feels prepared when they assume formal leadership positions. Leaders need to learn to lead before they get their marching orders, not after. And that isn’t accomplished just through books and coursework but through real world projects and assignments where leadership skills are developed. If you don’t give your team members a chance to lead before they become formal leaders, they will lack the skills and confidence to lead when they move into management.
8. BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION.While speaking to a global technology company, I learned that their executives were more worried about innovation in business models than the impact of technology. A business model is the way a company makes money, and can be used defensively against competitors, to reinvigorate revenues in declining markets, or as a way of exploring new opportunities. Few business models are exempt from the need to be revisited and revised regularly. Business model innovation is increasing at lightning speed and may well be the single greatest high level business challenge leaders face.

Which of these challenges are you facing? And what are you doing to meet them head on?
Here’s a final thought: no challenge + no change = boredom. You might wish for fewer challenges than you currently face, but ultimately dealing with challenge and change is the essence of leadership.

Superstar sellers, unreliable incomes, infighting amongst staff, confusing metrics… the list of problems in the world of preneed sales can be exhausting. The world of preneed is full of myths, misnomers, and fake news. These things can foster unrealistic expectations, or worse, can create significant barriers for managers responsible for their preneed programs and for regular folks seeking a meaningful career in funeral sales.
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To find the solution, let’s take a look at the following formulas:

But let’s digress for a moment.

Most readers will have seen or heard of the movie Moneyball. The film dramatizes the real-world example of how, in 2002, the Oakland Athletics baseball team radically changed the traditional game of baseball by using statistics and mathematics (called sabermetrics) to scout and analyze players.

What they realized was that traditional methods of scouting relied heavily on biased or incomplete information. This led other teams to overpay players in the hopes of buying success. In contrast, the Athletics adopted sabermetrics to build formulas using quantitative analysis of different player abilities. By building the right formulas, they were able to put the right pieces together to build success. This new method translated to on-field success; the newly-built Athletics tied the longest winning streak in American League history, and clinched the 2002 American League West title.

How does this concept translate to preneed sales? To quote a line from the movie: “Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players (i.e., counselors), your goal should be to buy runs (i.e., appointments).”
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Using statistics and mathematics, a successful preneed program can be developed to reliably predict success and take the mystery and magic out of the game of preneed.

When developing a preneed team, many people are overlooked for a variety of perceived reasons: they’re too quiet, they aren’t motivated, funeral directors aren’t good at sales, etc. However, it is unrealistic to expect that one person can bring all of the necessary traits or skills to develop a successful preneed program. In the same way that the use of sabermetrics in Moneyball proved that a baseball team doesn’t need to have a superstar to win, the game of preneed doesn’t need to have a superstar seller to be successful.
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Once you have figured out your closing percentage, you can safely estimate the number of appointments you need to book to reach your goals. This formula looks something like this:

This means that if you have an 80% closing percentage and your goal is to sell 200 contracts, you need to book 250 appointments to meet your goal.
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Working backwards, you then need to know how many calls you need to make in order to book those 250 appointments. This can be tied to your call conversion percentage, which can be calculated by using the following formula:

Using these formulas, or designing your own, can reap huge benefits for your organization. Using a reliable and consistent approach will put an end to the “feast or famine” results that are often seen when working campaign to campaign. Year after year, your contracts and volume will stabilize and your success will become much more predictable.

For more information on how “hacking your process” can improve your preneed business and help the families you serve, check out my session “The Art (and Science!) of Creating a Successful Preneed Program” at this year’s CANA Preneed Summit!