Are you a “thought leader” or a “get actual stuff done” leader?
Well, with the U.S. Department of Energy announcing a new $20 billion "Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations" yesterday, what better time to ask yourself whether you're better at TALKING about your theoretical value or DEMONSTRATING your actual results.
So, to help answer that question, today's live episode of The Energy Detox turns to the personification of CLEAN ENERGY DEMONSTRATIONS: the late Pittsburgh native and OxiClean spokesman Billy Mays.
The headline: 𝐃𝐎𝐄 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰
The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:
💡 Do you have a clean and clear vision of the results your audience expects you to produce?
💡 How well are you protecting and promoting your prior successes?
💡 What are all the ways you can demonstrate your current and future impact on the "real world?"
SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS:
Transcript
(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the energy detox a petroleum based blend of leadership conversations guaranteed to boost your professional and personal output by flushing away the hidden and often toxic barriers to peak performance. I'm your host, Joe Sinnott, a chemical engineer, executive coach and 16 year energy industry veteran helping you tap into the same resources fueling today's most successful and sustainable leaders. And today, we're going to talk about how those leaders are adept at demonstrating their value demonstrating but they and their teams in their organization bring to the table instead of merely talking about their value, and theorizing about their value and, and basically calling themselves a thought leader instead of a get it done leader. And to drive today's conversation, we're going to talk about a new $20 billion dollar office within the Department of Energy, Matt is intent on doing just that demonstrating the power and the value in the real world application of certain clean energy technologies. And in particular, those technologies are at least I think half of that $20 billion are dedicated towards hydrogen project production and you know, putting putting in place for hydrogen hubs that will, again prove whether or not it is a viable economic sustainable option for producing energy. Some of the other billions of dollars that are going to be put in place there are related to carbon capture, of course, small scale nuclear energy generation and a host of other things. But as is often the case, we're not going to dive into all the details of yesterday's announcement suffice to say $20 billion will be, you know, put to use and at least the mission of this new office within Department of Energy, again, is to, in their own words, demonstrate real world application of these different technologies. But more importantly today, for you, as a leader, we are going to talk about the ways in which you might be unwittingly again, talking about what you're able to do talking about, you know, potential results, instead of focusing on what you have actually done and what your team actually does and what you can and will actually do moving forward. And to drive today's conversation. We're not going to turn to Senator Jennifer Granholm yesterday, the Department of Energy who course made the announcement regarding this new $20 billion office, we're not going to step through, again, the details of that office. And if you're curious, you can find the updated org chart for the Department of Energy here and and this tiny little red circle here that represents the $20 billion new office of clean energy demonstrations. But no, we're going to kind of step aside from the world of government. And we're going to go back in time, to a world where Billy Mays the chief demonstrator, if you will, of these United States roamed the TV airwaves, if you will, pushing certain products, most famously OxiClean. And Billy Mays, who died about 12 years ago, unfortunately, was adept at demonstrating the value of his product of OxiClean. He showed what it could do and in many ways, you know, Billy Mays, who of course, was filled with lots of energy, you could argue that he was in many ways the the chief clean energies are, if you will, he was the chief clean energy demonstrator, and would have made a perfect head of this new office of clean energy demonstrations. But alas, Billy Mays, his energy, unfortunately, was fueled in many cases by drugs that led to his untimely death at the age of 50. Due to, again, a unfavorable combination of drugs in his system. But again, this is not the season of doom and gloom, of course. So we're going to bring this up a level here, we're going to try to channel the energy of Billy Mays, to help demonstrate to you that it is possible for you to show to the world show to your stakeholders show to your audience, your value without having to sound like some sort of salesman, but instead, by going out and actually showing what you've done, showing what your team has done and doing it in a way that, again, is aligned with what the ultimate mission is of your stakeholders. So with that, we're going to jump into the first question today, which is, do you have a clean and clear vision of the results that your audience expects you to produce? Because obviously it wouldn't do Billy Mays any good if he was trying to sell a product that again, didn't have any value for anybody, you know, if he wasn't trying to target people who you know are like me and like most you beings have the occasional stain on their shirt or stain on their tablecloth, whatever the case might be. If he knew that that wasn't a problem for people, and that they struggled to get these stains out, well, then what the heck good would he be doing trying to hawk something like oxy clean? No, he had a clear idea of what was going to generate value what his audience was interested in. And so to the question for you is, what is your audience interested in, you
05:20
have a clear vision of what your stakeholders whether it's your investors, your employees, your customers, board members, from a personal standpoint, your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings, whatever the case is, you know, what do they want? What is it that they need? What is it that they're looking for, from you, and again, not just here, what are we three days away from Christmas, we're not just talking about the gifts that they're expecting from you, or the things that they you know, that that are going to make them happy for a brief period of time on Christmas morning, when they unwrap whatever it is that you happen to give them? No, we're talking about some some deep seated, not staying, but some deep seated goal, some deep seated mission that they have that you can help solve, and you can help chief and you can help, you know, move them closer towards. And again, in the world of the Department of Energy, clearly, their focus their mantra, the the people basically signing their checks now and paying their bills is the Biden administration who is focused on these clean energy projects and moving them along. And therefore, again, they put together a $20 billion office based on the 60 or $70 billion that were set aside in the infrastructure bill to do just that they have a clean and clear mission. And in forming this office, they're going to demonstrate how they're going to get there. But that's where it starts, right, we're not going to go through the rest of this conversation today. And talk about the ways in which you can demonstrate your value the ways in which you can prove what you've done. And what you will do without first getting crystal clear about what it is your stakeholders want from you. So ask that regardless of where you are in your career, whether you're getting transition, you're looking for a new job, or whether you're the firmly established CEO of a company, if you don't have a clear understanding of what your stakeholders want, what they want you to sell to them, if you will, what they are anxious to buy with their time and their money and their attention, whether again, they're looking to hire you, or they're looking to pay for your product that you're selling, or whether they're looking to to pay you and the bonus that you're expecting as again, some sort of leader get clear about what they want, and have that in mind at all times.
07:22
And don't get distracted by other salesmen who might have similar skills to Billy Mays, but are out there trying to sell things that don't actually matter, regardless of the price. And regardless of how flashy it seems or sounds, if what they're selling and the product that they're they're talking. If it doesn't deliver results that matter, then it doesn't do you and your stakeholders, any good. So again, ask yourself, do you have a clean and clear vision of the results that your audience is expecting you to produce? Which brings us to the next question, which is basically, what results have you produced? And the way this question is where to today is how well are you protecting and promoting your prior successes, your prior results, because in many cases, again, regardless of where you are in your career, there's a temptation to wipe the slate clean, if you will wait, right, wipe your resume clean and start fresh, and ignore so much of the value so much of the gold, if you will, that you've mined over your course of your career in your life. And, and for those who are just leaving school, you know, even in your educational journey, there's a temptation at times, in many cases, unconsciously, to set those things aside and to just start, you know, spinning things based on what you think you need to do and what you think you can do or will do. And what that leads to is softer language, it leads to you again, becoming, you know, maybe more flowery in your prose about yourself, instead of focusing on concrete results that you've achieved. And the reason that a lot of people slip into this trap, if you will, especially those who I work with, again, on the the career transition side, it's, again, it's human nature, it's this fear that what you've done isn't directly applicable, you know, the results that you've achieved, in some cases over, you know, 1020 30 year career aren't directly applicable. And you get into this rut of trying to, you know, respect things, or, you know, again, talk about your potential and what you can do, which is, you know, there's a time and a place for that. But instead, can you go back to your key results that you're proudest of, regardless of how you feel they're connected to, you know, your ultimate mission or your new mission or the new job you're trying to get come up with that, again, half dozen things that you have done, you have done well you have achieved and get crystal clear about what those are. And then promote them. Push them yell like Billy Mays was very good at he was he was quite good and in using his his powerful voice, and again, his energy, regardless of whether it was driven by cocaine or some, you know, natural genetics, the reality is that Billy Mays was very good at shouting out the results that his products could achieve. And it's important for you to be able to do that to first and foremost to show that you can achieve results and then then apply it to your new mission, your new goal, whatever the job is, whatever the new, again, directive is from from your stakeholders. But again, don't fall into the trap of setting aside what you've already done, protect them, protect those former results, protect those those, you know, things that you've accomplished, and you put time and energy into. Because again, one of the biggest fallacies I see over and over again, is people who don't think it applies. They don't think it matters. They don't see the connection between again leading teams leading a project and generating results, and leading a new team waiting a new project, generating new results. And again, when you when you get in this mindset, it almost seems laughable. But the question for you today is simply to ask yourself, in what ways you're not protecting your prior successes, you're not elevating them, you're, you know, unfortunately dismissing them and setting them aside. So answer that question for yourself today uncover even just one thing that you've done in your past that you're proud of that, again, might not seem to apply directly to your new goal, your new mission, but in reality, probably has a lot more application than you might imagine. So with that, moving on to the third and final question today, which is, what are all the ways you can demonstrate your current and future impact on the real world? And I liked the release from the Department of Energy yesterday, because again, it talked about real world results. I think I have a quote here, up exactly. But, you know, the question was, what what exactly does it mean to have an office of, you know, demonstration projects, and again, I
11:35
do have it here, demonstration projects, this is quoting directly from the Department of Energy demonstration projects prove the effectiveness of innovative technologies in real world conditions at scale, in order to pave the way towards widespread adoption, and deployment. And again, that's, you know, I don't know who came up with with that wording. But it's one of those things that I think even a bipartisan group of individuals for this, you know, money that came from the bipartisan infrastructure bill could kind of get behind, and I'll read it, again, demonstration projects, which is the focus of this new office demonstration projects prove the effectiveness of innovative technologies in real world conditions at scale, in order to pave the way towards widespread adoption and deployment. And again, whether or not the $20 billion that is going to be invested in all of these projects will lead to the you know, the the end results that everyone is hoping for who is pushing for this new office, and this new, you know, use of $20 billion, it doesn't matter. The reality is a statement like this addresses so many of the concerns, and so many of the stones that are being cast at the government, because, again, it talks about the real world, not just theorizing, you know, this department theoretically, however, it's going to be measured. Again, there's It was soft on details of how you know, the success of this department, or this new office, I should say will be measured. And quite frankly, I think when it comes to the government, I don't know how many good measures are actually in place to measure how well they're doing. But setting that aside, again, it speaks to the fact that this needs to be applicable and needs to be applicable to the real world. And it needs to be scalable. And it needs to be something that can be adopted and deployed beyond the confines of basically a lab demonstration. And bringing this back to Billy Mays again, it needs to be something that is clear cut, if it works, then it works. And people are inclined to buy it and move forward to be excited about it. And if it doesn't work, and it leaves your stone, you know, your clothes still stained and Nazi clean, you know, it didn't work well wouldn't be the multibillion dollar entity that it is today. So again, the question for you is, what are all the ways that you can demonstrate your current and future impacts on the real world? Is what you're doing and have done and will do? Is it scalable? Does it matter? Can it work in conditions that go beyond simply talking and thinking? So answer that question and the prior two questions today and come up with some ways that again, you might be, you know, unwittingly underselling yourself or selling yourself and what you can do to an audience that really doesn't want to buy what you're pitching. So with all that being said, as always, I appreciate the time and attention you've taken to listen to me and to ask these questions. And I certainly hope that this helps fuel you towards a more sustainable and successful future that, you know, helps demonstrate to others your value and what you of course, bring to the table. So with that, have a great rest of the day, and thanks again for tuning in.