There is magic in the air

We should focus our gratitude exercise on the meaningful things in our lives of which we are certain, such as our friendships, passions, or family, thereby reminding ourselves that while uncertainty exists in some aspects of our lives, certainty still prevails in many others. I think that there is magic when organisations can inspire people to align their own personal passion, self-understanding, and desire for growth with the common organisational ambitions.

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

Don't blow your own trumpet

There’s no greater human experience than the experience of being understood. The final deliverable of a strategy is not a document as people don’t follow documents, they follow leaders and ideas. I think great leadership is always about a powerful narrative and the bigger the change, the more important the story becomes. Good stories engage people emotionally through vivid metaphors, examples, and images. Stories create meaning and people are in the search for meaning in their lives and in their workplace.

“The task of a leader is to be the trumpet that sounds the clear sound.”
— Peter Drucker

No one cares about you!

It’s a fact that people talk about stuff that raises their status, builds connections, and helps them get to the emotional place they seek to get to. People only talk about you because it helps them not because it helps you. When someone buys a brand, for example, 13, it’s not because they like the brand. In reality, it’s because they want their friends to feel inadequate and they want to raise their status. Will your life really be better if you have more Instagram or Facebook followers?

By trying to fit in with the crowd means changing who you are to avoid attention or criticism.  Any time you allow someone to have a negative influence over the way you think, feel, or behave, you give them power over you. Giving away your personal power drains you of the mental strength you need to be the best version of yourself. Please do not give other people your power as by giving away your personal power, you sabotage your chances of success.

Ignite your enthusiasm

How do you sell your products and services effectively?
Some people are better than others at telling their story. You have to keep pushing as the resilience and perseverance is what will drive your company and they are the key characteristics of entrepreneurs. We must never forget that our customers are our sales force, and we will need to get our customers talking about our products and services and sharing those experiences.

 

How will you communicate the vision behind your company?
I think passion is everything and it starts from the leader whose vision it was to build that company. Passion is contagious, and I am passionate about building self-esteem and this comes across in every conversation. I think it takes courage to be simple.

Think smart

Yesterday was the longest day of the year (summer solstice). And this time of the year in Denmark marks the end of the school year as well as gymnasium graduation rituals. The young me and old me agree on a few things here and there, and this is one of them...

“If your success is predicated upon the notion of unanimity then you will always be a slave to public opinion of your work. Seeking validation is rooted in having no sense of self: Self-respect. Self-empowerment. Self-agency. Self-identity. Art is unfortunately surrounded by the pretext of validation and approval. So much so that we see it as “the way things are supposed to be.” If we are to create art that is meaningful then we must delve inward not outward.”
— Safi A. Thomas

Figure it out

It’s not a matter of whether you will succeed, it’s a matter of where you are choosing to take your talents. We can always get more money, but we can’t get any more time as there are only 24 hours in a day, so therefore, time is the most valuable asset. Wherever you go, you already know that your talents include the ability to succeed. I think organisation incentives are not always aligned with what is best for the employees.

Here are a few questions:
·      Where do you want to succeed?
·      How are you going to spend your time?
·      And how do you want to succeed?
·      What are your success criteria going to look like?

Remember things don’t get harder, you just get better at them. The test doesn’t get harder, you just get smarter. Contact me via e-mail for a free, “Where do I go now?” evaluation.

Why it’s always about you?

If people do a lot of things for others and it makes them feel good about themselves, are they doing it for selfish reasons?

Customers will only ever buy from you because they care about how the product or services will make themselves feel. For example, if Princess Mary is wearing XIII and you wear XIII, you are not wearing XIII because you like Princess Mary. You are wearing XIII because you think you’ll look better in the eyes of your friends and family because you are wearing something that Princess Mary is wearing. It’s for you that you are doing it, it’s not because of Princess Mary, it’s your narrative.
For more about XIII, see www.xiii.dk

You can't have one without the others

There are two things that you have to do in order to grow your business:

  1. You have to have a really good strategy based on your understanding of the market and competition, future technology, and anything else that is happening in your landscape.

  2. Execution and implementation. I think executing your strategic plan is as important, or even more important, than your strategy itself. Implementation is the process that turns strategies and plans into action in order to accomplish strategic objectives and goals.   

 

Strategy, implementation, and execution are synonymous and we need all three if you are to succeed as an organisation or business entity. One is about the plan and the others are about how to get the plan done, I don’t think you can have one without the others.

To serve as a leader

c/o Dallas Cowboys archive

A leadership vision statement is a declaration of a leader's values, beliefs and purpose, as it defines how they lead and who they are. I think a powerful leadership vision can help motivate employees' performance. According to the legendary coach, Tom Landry, an heroic leader is someone… “who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.”

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Success is a skill

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One way that racism consistently shows up for me as a black man is in constantly being underestimated, and there’s something exciting about being underestimated. I know that success is a skill and the traits that led you to be successful where you are will lead you to be successful wherever you go. This is because the traits always include how to intellectually evaluate opportunities and figure out what forces to bring to bear on them. If you have succeeded before in whatever field, take a moment to evaluate and see what happened. I think that your evaluation process will always end up at some combination of observation, planning and execution. And in all these combinations, there is a thread of flexibility, intelligence and sticking to your values.

NB: Today is the first anniversary of my mother’s death and this blog is dedicated to her. It doesn't mark the end of grief, but it does mark a transition in my mourning process. See it > Say it > Write it ❤️

It’s a symptom not a tactic

Many years ago, I heard Seth Godin say, “You should always start with the minimum viable audience, and the minimum viable audience (MVA) is the smallest group of people who we can imagine serving. Once the MVA have been identified, then we can be specific and if we can be specific, we will create something worthwhile and when we create something worthwhile, it’s easy to sell because it’s worthwhile.”

 

Social media isn’t the way you become popular, it’s after you are doing something important that people talk about you on social media. I’m a big fan of “word of mouth marketing”, I know it’s old school, but nothing beats the process of actively influencing and encouraging organic word of mouth discussion about a brand, organisation, or event. So, I think that if we can change the lives of 50 people then they will tell their friends and family. Imagine being a specific, unique entity that connects with people at a really deep level, just start by being really special and then the word will spread, and you will add more people.

Pleasure is a treasure

I started my presentation with “Generosity is scarce and generosity scales!” I think that generosity does not mean you give away things for free, it means you showed up with emotional labour to make things better and this can be expressed in many ways. For example:

1) Act like a caring person and not like a company. Show up with your version of the truth by being consistent and personal about what you believe.

2) Be generously persistent meaning when there is a way to make things better, continuously show up with it.

3) Earn permission, own the privilege position of being able to communicate with your audience. Don’t give away your power to Facebook and Instagram, own the connection with the people you seek to serve.

We have to be really clear

As a former sportsman I think strategy is about winning, not just about competing. Winning the game is about creating a measurable margin of difference in the value that we offer customers that gives them a compelling reason to choose us.

“A differentiation strategy is a way to stand out from the noise and give people a reason to choose your business over others. ”
— Burrellism

There are two ways of being unique:
1) By doing something that nobody else is doing, or
2) By doing what everyone else is trying to do but doing it materially better in the eyes of the customer.

No negotiation required

At the front of the curve are the early adopters, these are the people who are playing with new ideas in the culture, they are not people who are trying to preserve old ideas. If you are selling, get the value proposition identified and sell to the value. Sell to the customers problem, solve the problem, and then ask for the money, no negotiation required. Now if you are buying then it’s the other side of the coin. As a buyer you have to work out how much you want to spend, what the value to you is and then tell the supplier how much you want to spend, no negotiation required.

Guiding entrepreneurs

Sometimes being an entrepreneur can be really lonely. Mentors can help to open hives of thought that an entrepreneur may not have considered. Mentoring is an age-old practice of transferring knowledge and experience through personal relationships. The benefits of having a business mentor is often overlooked by eager entrepreneurs who want that instant gratification. A mentor can help entrepreneurs learn how to navigate many of the challenges typically faced by social entrepreneurs.

Mentors have been present in all walks of life and all disciplines for thousands of years and a good mentor will teach you how to think, not what to think. Contact me via e-mail if you are looking for a business professional with the experience to provide personalised support, sound business advice and encouragement to help you develop your own abilities and insights.

Design your process

As salespersons when we are in front of clients if we don’t have a process, I mean a system of doing things via repetition or preparation, then we will stumble. Remember that your process does not have to be rigid. Have you ever left a meeting and then 10 minutes later you say to yourself, “Why didn’t I say this or that?” This is because when you have had time to relax and you are not under pressure, you can evaluate and reflect on what has been said – and boom, you had a better answer.

 

There is a huge difference between preparation and repair. Sales is a preparation or prevention profession, and for some reason we are all sitting around trying to repair stuff. Preparation takes a little bit of work, work which we don’t know for sure whether it will pay off or not, so we are really on a loose limb. Alternatively, we can put in a little bit of work and prevent falling into the trap. There is no doubt that you are going to succeed because you already have because you are reading this blog. Contact me via e-mail for an appointment when you are ready to design your process.

The customer always has the last word

As a marketer your job is to tell stories that are true and will change people, this all depends on what brand message you are trying to convey, and how you intend to drive revenue. I think the message is: “We are building a brand that stands for something, and when we think about where this brand is going then it’s about building a brand that is going to drive revenue for a long time and is worth something.”

 

If you don’t provide an experience, then you won’t have any customers. The question is whether you will choose to matter because that is the path that you really signed up for and if you do that work, everything else will take care of itself.

Just respond

We often react without thinking as it’s a gut reaction, often based on fear and insecurities, and it’s not the most rational or appropriate way to act. Responding, on the other hand, is taking the situation in, and deciding the best course of action based on values such as reason, compassion, cooperation, etc. I care enough to show up and say, “I notice this, I think it’s this and we should do that.” We have to listen and then respond, not react, just respond.

“Always doing things in a calm and confident way.”
— Burrellism

Big picture before details

In my experience it’s important to make an emotional connection with people and you have to share what you are passionate about. The first question you have to ask yourself when you are creating your brand, product or service is, “What is it that I am truly passionate about?” I think that you have to appeal to the heart before the brain as our brains crave meaning before details. Back in the days when we were running around in the Savannah, if we saw a sabre tooth tiger, we never thought about how many teeth it had. Our first response would be, should I run, or will it eat me? Our brains are hardwired to process information this way and that’s why we need the big picture before the details.