How many darn jalapenos do I need to get a decent amount of heat in this salsa recipe?

A neighborhood friend shared a salsa recipe with me a few years back. From batch one, my family has loved the resulting salsa. It’s tasty. What it is not, however, is hot. And this girl likes some heat to her salsa.

The recipe calls for 6 jalapenos. All are diced, de-veined, and de-seeded with the exception of one. According to the recipe, only two are allowed to keep the veins and seeds where the main heat of the pepper is contained.

The first year, I followed the recipe. Sure, the salsa was good but it was mild. Like, baby food mild. The second year, I did half and half — half of the six jalapenos had seeds and veins and half did not. Eh. Still too mild. Year three, I decided to go all in and use everything those six jalapenos had. Maybe it was a little hotter? Still too mild.

Last year, year four, I got a little crazy and strayed slightly from the recipe by adding ten whole jalapenos — veins, seeds and all. I thought surely my research would pay off. Nah. It was just sort of tip toeing to a medium level of heat.

This year. This year is it. I threw all caution to the wind, and added 20 (20!) whole jalapenos. I’m going to wait a few days for the taste to develop but I’m thinking my data collection and experimenting is going to pay off this year. My hand had a burning sensation from the steam coming from the pot each time I stirred it so that’s surely a good sign.

Who says research is boring?

Feel free to carry out your own research:

Salsa Recipe

1 box of tomatoes

1 bunch celery

6 onions

6 green peppers

6 banana peppers

6 Anaheim peppers

6 jalepanos (seeds of 2)

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup salt

3 Tablespoons garlic powder

Blanch tomatoes, remove peels and core. Crush in large pot to desired consistency. Chop and food process all vegetables and add to the pot. Add remaining ingredients and mix. When dealing with jalapenos, wear gloves and only include a few seeds or it could turn out hotter than you would like. Bring to a boil uncovered. Once boiling, turn heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 4–6 hours. It will get chunkier the longer you simmer it.

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The Best Salsa…the research continues was originally published in Ecsell Institute on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is my son Ezra and his sixth grade teacher Ms. Chidester.

Ms. Chidester was also Ezra’s first grade teacher. Since we learned she had moved up to teach sixth grade a couple of years ago, we have had our fingers crossed that he would have her again as a teacher. I would seriously have done about anything to make sure he was in her class again — washing lunch trays, mowing the school’s lawn, cleaning gum from underneath desks — you name it. Why?

Because I know: “Nothing impacts growth more than coaching.”

Let’s be real. During childhood, and beyond the confines of the home environment, the biggest influencer of our kids is their teacher. Their teacher is really their coach and manager. Just like a manager in a business world, a teacher’s charge is to illicit as much performance, development, and growth from the individual as possible. Who you have as a teacher matters.

So, what makes this teacher so great? It’s the same things that make a manager in an employment setting great. The school year is still new but already I see Ezra benefiting from her awesomeness as a coach. Here’s why:

1. She gets my kid

In first grade, my (not so) little guy here had this phase where he would opera style sing. [Think, Adam Sandler’s SNL Opera Man character.] It was hilarious but probably not that hilarious for six hours a day, five days a week when you’re trying to lead a classroom of kids. It would have been easy for Ms. Chidester to squash that bad habit without batting an eyelash. But did she? You guessed it — nope.

Instead, she corralled it and used it as a classroom tool. Time for recess? She’d ask Ezra to use his opera powers to announce recess time to the class. Need to pack up for the day? He sang that it was clean-up time. You get the picture. She took his unique and individual quirk and figured out how to make it an advantage rather than a hindrance.

2. She pushes my kid

Again, in first grade, Ms. Chidester noticed that Ezra excelled at math. It would have been easy to just keep on keeping on with the first grade curriculum and what the class at large was doing. Instead, she fed this ability by challenging him with extra and harder math assignments. I credit this extra attention with his continued love and ability when it comes to math. Uh, Growth Rings, anyone? (If you don’t know what Growth Rings are, you should and can learn about them in the short video below.)

3. She cares for my kid

Ezra was bothered by something that happened at school the other day. She noticed, she addressed it with him, and she helped him work through it. He didn’t come to her with an issue or problem. Instead, she knows him well enough to know that something was up and cared enough to check in with him. She’s also quick with a joke, a hug, and a compliment. Gosh darn it, she just makes a kid feel cared for and special. Who doesn’t want that even now as an adult?

The list could go on and on but here’s my point. If you’re leading a group of people, how you engage with them matters. And it probably matters far more than you realize. So, here’s to Ms. Chidester — one of the best coaches I know my son will have in his lifetime and one to whom I’ll be forever grateful. And here’s to all those teachers out there who fall into the same category of top-notch, kick-butt, life changing coaches. They may not be leading a team of sales reps selling millions of dollars but the outcomes that are on the line are even more valuable.

— — — — — — —

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The Impact of High Performing Teachers was originally published in Ecsell Institute on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Want to hear a joke?

What do Nike and top performing sales managers have in common?

They just do it.

Okay, okay. That was a terrible joke, I admit. But at the same time, the thought behind this is actually sound. Recently, I wrote up the findings from some EcSell Institute research on the ways that top performing sales managers work and coach that make them successful. Here is my quick summary of what I found.

1. Top performing sales managers are better at coaching their team members.

Shocker? Not really. We at EcSell have a bit of a broken record thing going on when we say that “Nothing Impacts Growth More Than Coaching”. Top performers perform better because they coach better. They’re able to encourage, identify, develop, push and pull the little details from each of their reps that elevate their individual performance and, hence, their team’s performance.

2. Top performing sales managers coach their team members more.

Again, we’re not making logical leaps and bounds here. Sales team members perform, collectively, at higher levels when they are coached more often. This finding comes straight from the mouths of sales reps. When sales reps say they have more coaching interactions with their leader, they also have greater sales outcomes. This just makes sense. If you exercise more, you’ll likely lose more weight. If you practice piano more, you’ll likely be able to play more difficult pieces. If you receive more coaching from your manager, you’ll likely sell more.

3. Top performing sales managers document their coaching activities more.

Here’s where things get interesting. Part of EcSell’s offerings is the ONE-UP Coaching Cloud. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll just say it’s a tool to help sales managers keep track of their coaching activities. You can read about the specific findings of this research here.

Spoiler Alert! Top performing sales managers are much more likely to use this tool and document their coaching activities. And the difference isn’t minor, it’s huge. What this means is, when asked to do so by their organization, top performers take the time to account for the coaching they do with their team.

This last finding may be surprising, and let’s be honest, somewhat of a bummer for many. Raise your hand if you love the documentation aspects of your work. Anyone? Anyone?…….Bueller?

But try this.

Pick an average member of your sales team — not your best and not your worst — and ask yourself these questions:

• How many 1:1 meetings have you had with this team member this year?
• What, specifically, did you discuss with them during that first meeting of the year? How about during your most recent meeting?
• How, precisely, has this team member developed, improved or plateaued between the two points in time?

I’d wager a guess that coming up with particulars to these questions may not be easy. Why? Because you’re busy. Because you have multiple people that you coach. Because you have details and to-dos lined up all begging for space on your memory board.

4. Top performing sales managers have figured out that a way to assert some control over the list of things that can easily get out of control is to document their coaching.

By adding documentation to their coaching process, they have an advantage in the game. Recalling past events is easier. Holding reps accountable is easier. Seeing gaps in who and how they are coaching is easier. And demonstrating the power of their role is easier. Does it take some time? Sure. Is it everyone’s favorite thing to do? Not always. But top performing sales managers show us it’s a big game changer when it comes to improving sales and sales coaching.

Want to improve your coaching game? Want to improve sales? Document.

This was just a quick summary of the findings highlighted in our research. If you want to learn more about growing your coaching skills and becoming a top performer, read my full analysis here — Just do it.

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Top Performing Managers “Just Do It” was originally published in Ecsell Institute on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.