Time & Money. Sonja Becker

also have a knack for selling it.

      Unfortunately, the image of salespeople that carried over from the last century is terrible. Hard selling came into fashion after World War II because managers were put in charge of marketers. By demanding “numbers” at all costs, managers pressured marketers into pressuring customers. Today, as business evolves into a more balanced game, marketers are earning equal authority. As they return to their true natures, they are bringing about a whole new kind of sales and marketing based on educating people.

      Marketers are the doers. While visionaries dream about what attracts customers, marketers pick up the phone. While managers prepare for the problems of dealing with a lot of people, marketers bring those people in. These individuals act first and think later.

      Marketers are more than salespeople. In addition to selling the company’s image to the customers, they also sell it to the team. Their inspiration keeps everyone inspired and working. Their firm belief in others creates the mighty engine that powers a business. The marketer transforms ideas into action.

      Modern marketing is the craft of discerning what people want and then helping them to obtain it. In an entrepreneurial organization, everyone sells. But marketing types bring special ability to the task. Their love of people gives them a natural affinity for service. When the marketing department is staffed by people who have a talent for service, it is a happy place, abuzz with excitement.

      Sometimes visionaries and organizers get drafted into sales and marketing positions. They are taught the skill and may use it well, but they never glow with the task. They don’t light up at the sight of a telephone. Marketers, on the other hand, live and die by the phone. They are also the masters of e-mailing, faxing, sending post cards, and even an occasional letter in a bottle. They just want to reach out and sell someone. Connecting and connections are the center of their universe.

      Marketers are born communicators. They have a gift for moving people. Marketers are upbeat. Their energy and positive attitude inspires others to enroll in their projects. They want to help people fulfill their desires, and they are willing to force the issue. Yet, the natural sensitivity of marketers lets them know intuitively when to pressure people and when to allow them some room. With their honest enthusiasm and belief in people, they easily resolve conflicts that put the rest of us in gridlock.

      Marketers are people of action. They don’t get bogged down in the details that are best left to managers. Unlike visionaries, marketers don’t need to understand the underlying theory or implications of a product. It either works or it doesn’t. You want it or you don’t. Their direct approach is refreshing, and it gets things done.

      Even the finest people have weakness, and marketers are no exception. These delightful, generous folks often see so many great things to sell that they fail to become loyal to one product or system. Many marketers reach the end of their career to discover that a great fortune has passed them by while they were hopping from one project to another. Despite this slight handicap, marketers are the most likely to have a successful career, and when they lead organizations, those companies usually achieve outstanding results.

      MANAGERS

      It takes a certain kind of personality to properly organize a project or put together a new business. Completing such a complex endeavor requires tedious attention to detail combined with an unusually high degree of courage. The managerial role demands a tough individual who thrives on enforcing the rules and procedures. Management means manipulation, and few people have the stomach for it.

      Every business needs a champion, a fighter who does the dirty work. Managers are the kind of people who thrive on battles and their details. They are rare birds in the game of business, pragmatic organizers who see present events in light of the past. While the visionary needs control, the manager needs order, and where the marketer sees opportunities, the manager sees problems.

      Bill Gates is the ultimate organizer. His genius stems from his willingness and ability to fight for his system. His courage and strategic brilliance enable him to face challenges from even the mightiest opponents.

      The best managers know how to delegate and build teams to carry out their mandates. They are tough-minded people who thrive on bringing out the best in teams and individuals. Military generals are managers. They don’t decide to make war; they carry out the details. Colin Powell will do whatever he can to avoid battle, but once it becomes inevitable, he will lead with brilliance and courage. Generals don’t mind offending people, and they are able to make sacrifices that others could never face. Managers have that same quality of expediency. All true managers are realists who recognize and accept that a few may have to pay the price for the good of the many.

      Logistics are the domain of managers. Every business is limited by its ability to create, store, transport and deliver goods and services. Managers are the people who tend to all of the systems that must cooperate to get the goods to the market.

      Managers organize. Organization relates to the rules and procedures that define the game of business. In general, people with organizing personalities are drawn to careers as accountants, lawyers and supervisors, but they are also scattered throughout a wide variety of other rule-oriented careers. In an entrepreneurial business the manager builds the systems that enable the company to grow.

      If a manager decides to start up a new business, he must assemble a team in advance that includes a visionary and a marketer. But few managers are so adventuresome. Most prefer to join an established organization. Franchises are tailor-made for managers. Here the meticulous organizer can buy into a system that doesn’t require, or even allow, variation from a fixed formula. The rules are clear. The systems are proven. A conscientious person only need stick with the manual and enforce the rules without exception.

      Good management gives a business the kind of aggressive stance that enables it to survive in the marketplace. It pounces on details that would interfere with growth. Murphy’s Law prevails in business. Anything that can go wrong certainly will. Always make sure the manager checks out every detail before you let the marketers show a new product or service to your customers. Managers are there to clean up the messes made by the visionaries and marketers.

      When managers fail, it is because they become too rigid and dogmatic. When rules matter more than people, workers rise up against leadership. When organizers engender resentment by putting procedures and profits above humanity, they invite a backlash from within their own system.

      HOW THEY FIT TOGETHER

      Your business or project starts with you. When you can balance your inner visionary, marketer, and organizer, you can create, sustain, and complete the projects that will eventually grow into your career. Your competence in all three areas will attract specialists in each of the three disciplines. When you speak the language of other people, they tend to trust you more, and to accept your business competence.

      As your business grows, you will want to find specialists who can perform each of the three essential functions separately without extinguishing the efforts of other players. When you have a visionary, marketer and manager working together, the necessary ingredients for a powerful money machine are there. But the machine will only work if all of the leaders understand their duties and how to coordinate overlapping responsibilities with the others.

      To be successful, you must estimate your strengths and weaknesses in order to discern which role you play best. Be careful not to delude yourself. Examine your past performances. Ask your associates where you are most effective. Pay attention to which of your tasks leads most directly to an influx of cash in your business. Know your weaknesses so you can find the right people to fill in the gaps you leave.

      Think of your business as a professional sport. Begin to notice the actions of your co-workers and what they do well. Make a profile of each person to help you remember what they do best. Assign players to the position they can perform best. Supercompetent people can do many things well, so be sure to assign responsibilities according to both the individual’s ability and their level of attraction to the task. When people love what they do, they don’t burn out.

      Once you recognize the necessity of all three complementary functions in your business, you can construct each role to work harmoniously with