Maurilio Amorim

Author: Maurilio Amorim

Red Flags Your Business Relationship is in Trouble
The most important work I do as a consultant is to help my clients with strategies in communications, business systems and even creative output. A lot of very cool tools and initiatives come from the work and many of these, my company, The A Group, gets to produce. Recently during an interview, I was asked: “in your consulting work, what are the red flags your deal is in trouble?” It’s not a hard question to answer, but it’s a painful place to be. Whether you’re a consultant, a freelancer, an employee or a partner, the following red flags could mean your deal is in jeopardy:
- Communication Blackout. Your emails, phone calls, text messages and even Twitter direct messages are not being answered in a timely matter or not at all. When people “go under” often means there’s trouble ahead. You better figure out what’s causing it before the deal is completely derailed.
- Justification Inquisition. There’s a healthy amount of information your client needs about what you’re doing, especially if you’re charging them by the hour; however, when you hear something like “I need everything you’re doing for us documented,” brace yourself. Usually this comes about not because your client wants to send you a thank you note for all the hours you’re working on his projects. Trust has been lost and your work is under scrutiny.
- Internal Teamer. Someone figures out they can replace you with an internal position for less than what you cost. Even though it hurts being replaced, sometimes that’s the best thing for your client. A lot of times it’s a bad move for them. They might get cheaper labor but they often discount the true overhead cost of a new hire and the lack of expertise and objectivity they bring to the job. Play nice. I’ve seen clients do a 180 once they realize that the internal position was a bad idea. If you don’t burn bridges, then they’ll come back to you.
- More for Less. Times are tough, so now you’re asked to lower your fees and increase your output, because, well, times are tough. If your margins are healthy and you want to make concessions, that’s an acceptable compromise, but the moment you devalue your work to hold on to a demanding client and acquiesce to an unreasonable request, you have embarked into a non-returnable trip. Your client will depreciate your work while you risk losing money in hopes you can return to a profitable position sometime soon. But you never will.
In your experience what other red flags have you seen before a relationship went bad?
November 8, 2010
An Intentional Love

The old man was out of control and out of order. His wife was taken to the operating room 30 minutes before she was scheduled and we were not there in time to pray with her before the surgery. Now his angry words echoed through the hospital waiting room for all to hear: “you’re the worst preacher ever. How much do we pay you anyway? Whatever it is, it’s too much.” As I was about to defend my boss and put the old man in his place, Ron reached over and waved me back. He knew that the man was in pain and that his outburst was not about us, but about his fears.

A few minutes later the elderly gentleman broke down and began to cry. Ron consoled him as he asked for forgiveness almost immediately. I was 21 years old and I was in my first year of ministry, but I have replayed that scene back in my mind so many times. That day I came to grips with the fact people in crisis, in pain, or in fear, might push me back or reject my help, but they desperately need my love.

The experience at the hospital waiting room has had a profound impact on me over the years. As I make my way to my church today, I know that hurting people will struggle to make their way to a church service, if they make it there at all. One of them could even sit next to me or you. They might not be friendly or engaging, and might be operating out of anger or fear, but like the rest of us, they all need hope.

For the past few months I have made a commitment to be intentional in seeking out a person I’ve never met and to introduce myself to them at the end of the service. It’s amazing how many broken hearts are all around us. Sometimes the walls are up and they don’t even make eye contact. Other times the smiles hide the disappointment that lives within. But no matter the reaction, I’ve learned long ago that my job is to reach out and just love.

What ways are you being intentional about loving others?

November 6, 2010
Men, You Don’t Need Designer or Expensive Clothes to Look Good
Monday evening I was sitting at the City of Brentwood Planning Commission Meeting when an architect approached the podium facing the commissioners’ bench. His pants drooped down the back in large folds as if he were wearing a big diaper underneath. I tried not to pay attention but my mind kept asking the question: “Didn’t he look at his back when he bought these pants?” The answer was obviously, “no.” Today’s Friday Fashion post goes beyond labels. It’s not even about style. It’s about one of the foundations of western apparel. It’s simple and yet one of the most neglected men’s fashion rules in America. Why don’t we wear clothes that fit?

I have seen people take expensive, designer clothing and make them look cheap because they were the wrong size. I have known physically fit and well-proportioned men look frumpy and disheveled because their pants, shirts or coats were too big or too small.

Fellow men, consider this next time you’re buying clothes:
- Always look at what’s going on behind you. You might not see it, but everyone else does. That’s why the Chinese invented the mirror.
- Make sure your shirts taper with your body. If you have large shoulders than buy athletic cut shirts or have them altered to take off the excess material on the side. If you’re working out and have an athletic built, the extra shirt material will make you look bigger in the stomach. And, no, don’t bunch it up and tuck the excess fabric on the back of your pants. Again, we can see your backside.
- The same applies for your suit or sports jackets. But beyond tapering on the sides, make sure the jacket arm length shows just between half and an inch of your shirt cuff underneath. Put your arms down to your side and curl your fingers slightly. You should feel the edge of your coat as your fingers get half-way up your hands. The bottom of the coat should rest on your knuckles. A well-fitted sports coat will make most guys look sharp with little or no help.
- As far as pants are concerned, I wrote about how I prefer flat fronted pants here. But regardless, make sure that the seat of your slacks, the seam that attaches both legs of the trouser together, is not droopy. Otherwise, you’ll get the “junk in the trunk” or “diaper” effect going on behind you.
If you want to see what well-fitting clothing is supposed to look like, watch Daniel Craig in James Bond’s Quantum of Solace. I don’t think he wore anything that didn’t fit him well in the entire movie. Even after fighting the bad guys all night long and blowing up a bunch of stuff, he still looked great, mostly because of his well-fitted suit, as you can see in the picture below.

What other tips do you have to keep a man well fit?
November 5, 2010
You Need a Heart for Business

The man to my left leaned in and with intensity in his eyes asked the question: “I’m contemplating a strategic business partnership; I want to lead my business into outliving me.” Across the table from us sat a veteran CEO with years of experience in multi-billion dollar business. The answer surprised me, but, again, it should not have. The delivery was deliberate and the words were kind but firm: “Check your heart. What kind of person do you want to entrust your clients to?”

For some, this is the kind of answer you expect when one searches for a mate at a dating site. I cannot get passed that statement because it resonated with me in everything I’ve learned about business. Yes, business. A flood of thoughts with tangled emotions attached to them are still swirling around my mind as I think about the times I “checked my heart” and went against the status quo, or the times I ignored it and went with just the business bottom line. I’ve never regretted trusting my feelings.

If you don’t lead with your heart, you’ll run the risk of being deceived by your mind.

I’ve been in meetings with potential partners or clients where my feelings spoke a different, dissonant message than the potential profit number at the end of the spreadsheet:”great numbers, but do you respect and believe in this person?” After so many years of failures, some monumental and costly, by choosing the wrong answer, I am learning to listen and trust my heart in the matters of business more and more.

Interestingly that happens in ministry as well as in business. Everything looks great on paper, references and interviews all have gone as well as they could, but there’s still a murmur in your heart and you are not at peace. Listen to your heart.

Are you in a place where your heart is saying something different than your mind?

November 3, 2010
Why I Vote Today

Today I will vote. I haven’t been voting long, not because of my lack of interest, but because I became an American citizen in late 2004. Prior to that, I could express my opinion and comment on candidates and issues, but I could not cast my vote. Our political system is not perfect and our elected officials often disappoint, but America is still the place where the world comes to find freedom and opportunity, and I, for one, will exercise my privilege to cast my vote. Here’s why I vote today:

To honor the lives of the men and women who fought for freedom. People have given everything so I could be free to cast my ballot.

To preserve the opportunities that the huddled masses of immigrants like me have been given over the years.

To make sure my children and their children will be able to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

To say to public servants that what they have done or not done is more important to me than what they have promised.

To live with the knowledge that I stood for my beliefs and didn’t abdicate my privilege.

Before becoming an American I had an opinion but I didn’t have a voice. Today, I speak only as one, but I will speak indeed.

Do you believe your vote really matters?

November 2, 2010
Are You Ready for a CSO? (Chief Social Officer)

A few years ago, social media was mostly an annoyance to most businesses IT directors who tried to keep employees from accessing social networks during working hours. Well, that still goes on today. However, most organizations have began tapping into the power of online communities. Dell has made millions from its Twitter account over the years and that number continues to grow. It’s hard to find any organization without a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page. But as social media has grown and developed has your online strategy grown as well?

Fast Company’s latest issue features an article on CSOs (Chief Social Officers). These are not interns who “play around” the internet for companies such as Ford and Virgin Atlantic. These are highly skilled, highly compensated professionals who are setting strategies and directing teams to harness the power of online networks. So if you haven’t taking this thing seriously yet, you’d better wake up. And Soon.

If you’re thinking about taking your social media strategy to the next level, and perhaps hiring or creating a position, even a CSO, here are a few things to consider:

Find someone who likes people. Social Media is a conversation, not a monologue. Success here means more than just messaging. It’s the most important customer initiative you will probably ever undertake.

Find someone who’s already doing it well. You can empower, train and grow talented people much easier than you can train someone who might never perform to the level you need. I’m not convinced you can even train people to do social media well. Do yourself a favor and recruit someone who’s doing it already.

Find someone you trust. Social media is messy. Even the best of conversations can go awry and your CSO and her team will be your voice at the front lines. If you don’t trust them to speak for you, then don’t hire them.

Find someone who cares. Conversations begin at all times including night and weekends. This is not a 9-5 job. If you’re not part of an important discussion about your organization when it happens, then you miss the opportunity to make an impact. In my experience, you cannot teach people to care beyond the work-day clock. They either do or don’t.

What’s the next step for your organization’s social media strategy?

November 1, 2010
I’m Lowering My Expectations

You go the extra mile. You reach out and give beyond what you thought you should give, and yet, there’s nothing in return, or at least not the return you expected. Have you been there with a friend, a family member, a spouse? We all have, and some of us seem to live in a place where we resent people’s lack of gratitude more than we appreciate our relationship with them.

It’s difficult to be completely altruistic. It’s not in our human nature. Deep within we are always having the inner conversation that says, “what am I getting out of this?” We do it with God all the time in our bargaining prayers: “God if you let me have such and such, I promise I’ll do ____” And so we do it with people we love; people we wish would love us back with the same intensity, appreciation and commitment. That seldom happens.

So today I’m going to try as hard as I can to set my reasonable as well as my unreasonable expectations aside and see what happens. I’m going to love those around me because I’m being loved by God. I’m going to let them off my relational “hook” and give it a try. Could God’s love for me be enough, even for a day? Sounds rhetorical, but it’s a real question.

What would happen if we lowered our expectations for those around us and raised our expectations for how we serve them?

October 31, 2010
Bad, Really Bad Church Signs, Part II

For the Friday post I’m going back to a place where I know and love well and where fun material abounds: the church. How many times have you driven by a church sign that, while well intentioned, it was, let’s just say, poorly executed. These signs speak for themselves even when we wish they wouldn’t.

I don't know about you, but this sign depresses me

I like this sign because Pastor Manning is letting me know that he will offend me when I come to the church by offending me on his sign. Brilliant!

Hanuk, Hanneka, Hannecka. Aagh, forget this, I'm becoming a Christian!

I've got nothing

is that a million Christian Dollars? Like Disney Dollars? Will I be able to upgrade to a bigger mansion in heaven? Sign me up!!

What?!?

Isn't that from Lame-attentions 5:22 (Ok. If they can do it, so can I)

Where was that sign when Oedipus decided to kill his father and marry his mother?

What’s the worst church sign you can remember?

October 29, 2010
Is Your Team Blocking Your Opportunity?
It’s happening all over the place: leaders are hijacking critical projects from their internal teams and implementing a “bypass” play in order to get things done. While you might question the non-conventional leadership style, the wisdom or the potential fall-out inside the organization of such tactics, these leaders are more worried about missed opportunities, missed revenues or loss of ministry impact than trying to protect the organizational pride and inefficiency.

Lately, much of my consulting has been with key leaders who find themselves in endless meetings, studies, and discussions of projects that have been stalled for months and even years because of organizational inertia. As leaders they see the opportunity and want to seize the moment, but cannot make forward progress with their teams.

Fear, incompetent, ignorance, philosophical differences, and so many other issues often play into this organizational paralysis that keeps a lot of good businesses and ministries from making a strategic move. However, in my experience organizations have a window of opportunity in which to leverage a new technology, a new venture or a potential outreach. But then enters the obligatory company buy in. And trust me, I understand the need for the widest acceptance possible, but sometimes that’s the kiss of death. I’ve sat in meetings where I knew the project at hand would never get done: too many people, too many opinions, too much fear. Somewhere along the road, leaders have bought into the idea that they lead a democratic organization and if the majority is not excited about a project, then they will not pursuit it. That’s bad thinking.

If as a leader, you cannot dismantle the machine and start over, then it’s time for your “bypass” play. Here’s what I’ve seen work:
- Keep your team as small as you can: two to three people is ideal
- Make your scope focused and manageable. Think delivery in weeks, not months.
- Understand the project’s critical mass: What’s the minimum we need to make this work.
- It’s more important to deliver it fast than to have it fully right. Trust me on this one. Nothing is perfect. People remember the first in a class, not necessarily the best.
Take inventory. What project or initiative you have been trying to get done that has dragged on and on? What about something cutting edge that you just know your people will torpedo it before it even gets born? Maybe it’s your bypass time.

If you could call a bypass play at work, what would you do, or create?
October 28, 2010
Could Art Be Your Best Business Tool?

Most of the day had dragged on, slower than my fast-paced norm. But suddenly I looked up and two hours had passed without my knowledge. Instead of tired and restless, I felt energized by the task at hand. I had just spent time doing something artistic. I had offered to take head shots of a friend and had lost myself in getting it ready. While I can’t quantify it, the pursuit of art for its own sake transcends my mind from tasks and deadlines into the realm of infinite possibilities. I’m convinced that an artistic endeavor will make you a better professional, no matter your field.

I shot this portrait of my friend Mitch Ebie for his blog

I remember dreaming up what became The A Group during a week-long beach vacation. I had purchased 5 business books and was ready to start on my first one when a stranger walked up to me and said, “you’re not going to read this on vacation, are you?” Shamed, I decided to pick up a nearby stick and build sand sculptures. I began with a simple turtle and five days later and five sculptures later, I was up to the elaborate 7 feet long mermaid with Medusa-like hair. These sculptures took 4 to 6 hours to make, but I was lost in time. Somehow during the course of that week, the idea for my new venture was formed.

I did this head shot for my friend Billy Williams is for his board picture at the Jenn-Air Advisory Board

I’m certain science can make a correlation between how people use their right brain activities (creative, conceptual) to impact their left brain decisions (processes, systems). I just know that whenever I find myself lost in photography, painting, sculpting or even cooking, I seem to have my best ideas.

What’s your artistic outlet?

Is there an art form you’ve always want to try?

October 27, 2010