“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”
Richard R. Grant
Some time ago a local radio station announced that they were changing their format to news-only. I was delighted. For months I enjoyed being able to turn on that station knowing I would get just what I wanted: news. They had a slogan that they often repeated that promoted this focus.
But then they added football. Being far more of a news junkie than a sports junkie, I was disappointed. Now, when I needed my daily hit of news, I would sometimes get a football game instead. Making matters worse, they did not change their slogan, and would in fact tout that they were an all-news station right in the middle of a game! Evidently, this came to their attention, and they modified their slogan with an “except” statement. While at least now truthful, it greatly weakened their once clear and focused position in the market.
They have now gone too far: They now have talk radio for three hours each day! Their slogan has disappeared as has their clear position in the marketplace.
While in business school I remember learning about the “wheel of marketing”. The theory was that, wherever a retailer was on this wheel, they wanted to be someplace else, and they drifted in that direction. If they were a high-priced, up-scale retailer featuring brand names, they were concerned that they were missing the mid-price and low-price segment of the market, and drifted in that direction. If they offered bargain prices, they sought to create a more up-market image by carrying higher priced brand-name products.
No matter where we are, human tendency is to want to be someplace else. But the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence.
- What does your business stand for?
- Do your customers know this? Do your employees?
- What is the highly focused image that you want to consistently portray to your customer?
- Is it vague and ill defined?
- Does it change depending on the whim of the day?
- Do you chase the market or lead it?
- Do you find yourself chasing market segments only because you do not target them, or because your competitor does?
We have a log cabin on our property that is well over 100 years old. For some time it has had various ailments warranting attention, but they have not recently risen very high on our list of priorities. This past winter was particularly tough on the cabin, forcing repairs much higher on our priority list.
In planning the repairs, we will first crawl under the cabin and insure a solid foundation. It makes little sense to repair the roof if the foundation has issues.
Any business is the same way. There is never any shortage of things calling for our attention, but time and resources are limited so almost by definition, most of those things are low on our priority list.
Recent economic developments have an impact on our business much like the impact on our cabin during developments last winter. It always makes sense to be insuring the integrity of the foundations of our businesses, but in recent months, doing so has become a much higher priority.
Here are some questions to ask and things to do to insure you have sound foundations for your business:
- Why are we in business? In tangible, concrete terms, what is our purpose? Are we attaining that purpose?
- What is our unique definition of success? Are we achieving it? Are we doing all of the things necessary to lead to this success?
- What is it that we can do better than anyone else? Are we constantly working to make sure we retain or even improve that advantage? Are we fully capitalizing on that advantage?
- Do we truly understand the sources of our revenue streams? Do we understand the nuances of the ebbs and flows of those revenues? Do we understand and control to the degree reasonable the forces that drive revenues?
- Do we have a solid relationship with our key customers? Are we, on a daily basis, making it more or less difficult for our customers to do without us? Are we giving them an excuse to stop doing business with us, or are we giving them new and compelling reasons to make our relationship even more solid?
- Do we understand the cost components of our business? Do we understand the costs that are mandatory to just make it by, and the costs that are wise when they are affordable? Are we investing in the mandatory items first and the elective costs in order of financial priority?
- Are we meeting our mandatory needs in the most cost effective manner? Are there “out-of-the-box” alternatives for meeting those needs that I should consider?
- Have we designed in flexibility and responsiveness to our business model so that we can respond to both problems and opportunities when they arise?
- Do we have strategic relationships with our suppliers? Do they understand our business and the needs we need them to fill? Are we treating them in the manner we want our customers to treat us?
- Have we charted out the inflows and outflows of cash in our business? Have we determined our times of surplus and our times of shortages? Have we made proper arrangements to accommodate any times of shortages? Have we updated these since the credit crisis? Do we have contingencies? Have we looked long and hard at ways to improve cash flow?
- Do I have resources, internally or externally, that I can go to for help and advice when the changes and challenges necessitate additional expertise?
- Is our team on board on all of this? Do they understand our direction, our aspirations, our challenges? Do they know what is expected of them to contribute to our success, especially if those expectations are different as a result of economic changes?
- On a more grand scale, are we part of the problem or part of the solution?
I was 24 years old, a recent college graduate, and I was both the highest ranking and youngest employee of the company. Age was definitely something that played a role in getting my job done. It was getting in my way. This was exemplified once when I was at a trade show and an advertising salesperson that I had talked to on the phone came by and quickly tossed a rate sheet at me and said, “Give this to your boss.”
One day a copier salesperson came by to demonstrate the merits of his product, and used a sample document titled, “It’s What You Do – Not When You Do It”. I found what it said to be appropriate given my circumstances. Now, 30 years later, it is once again appropriate. I hope you enjoy it as I have.
Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat.
Mickey Mantle, at age 20, hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues.
Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel.
William Pitt II was 24 when he became Prime Minister of Great Britain.
George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was first produced.
Mozart was just seven when his first composition was published.
Now, how about this?
Benjamin Franklin was a newspaper columnist at 16, and a framer of The United States Constitution when he was 81.
You’re never too young or too old if you’ve got talent.
Let’s recognize that age has little to do with ability.
“Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.”
–Gretta Brooker Palmer
A seasoned manager once took over the leadership of an organization knowing that it had some internal challenges, notably, poor morale. He decided to spend the first year of his new position focusing on those internal issues and then shift focus to the external issues, specifically the customer.
One year led on to two, and morale had not improved, maybe even deteriorated. Two years led to three and the trend continued. He decided he had no choice but to shift the focus off of themselves and onto their customers.
They began to make progress with their customers. The customers had sensed the neglect of the past few years and responded favorably to the renewed interest in them and their needs.
But something else happened as well. The internal issues began to fade. Morale gradually improved, and eventually became quite strong. They learned from this and re-emphasized the focus on the customer. Customers loved it, and internal morale grew still stronger.
Yes, they still had some internal issues to deal with, but the difference in the two strategies was staggering. While it was a surprise at the time, in retrospect, it makes sense. The more attention we pay to ourselves, the more discontent we become. Questions like, “am I happy?”, or “what else do I want?” tend to emphasize those things that are not going as well as we would like and those things we don’t have. As we repeatedly ask ourselves those sorts of things we become less content, not more.
But when we direct those same questions to others, our own needs come into perspective. The goal is no longer to make ourselves more and more blissful, but to do that for others.
If we continually ask ourselves what is wrong with our circumstance, we will come up with an answer, even if it isn’t real.
Consider this for your organization:
* How much time do you spend focusing on internal morale, taking employee surveys, or improving working conditions compared to improving your customers’ experiences, learning more about what your customers need, and finding out how you are doing in the eyes of your customers?
* If you or a member of your team struggles with perpetual discontent, schedule a time to meet with customers to get to know them, their needs, and how your organization can meet them more fully.
* Do you find yourself engaged in conversations about internal discontent more than about customer discontent?
“One of the things I keep learning is that the secret to being happy is doing things for other people.”
– Dick Gregory
Correction does much, but encouragement does more”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I recently was talking to a small business owner about a tool that he developed for dealing with his staff and others. He calls this tool the 3 E’s: Empathy, Encouragement, and Empowerment. He makes a point at least once each day to cover each of the 3 E’s with each of the staff he encounters.
Empathy is shown when we demonstrate that we understand what the other person is dealing with; their challenges, concerns and dreams. Showing empathy shows you care about them as a person, not just in what they can produce for your benefit.
Encouragement is something we all need, and in regular doses. We show it by expressing our confidence in them and their abilities. It inspires and gives hope. Encouragement can make the unpleasant more pleasant, and the challenging more viable.
Empowerment leverages empathy and encouragement and enables people to grow, to apply new skills, to be more involved, to feel more worthwhile. It makes people feel more a part of the team, and at the same time strengthens the team.
Applying the 3 E’s has a direct and positive impact on this business owner’s staff, but he has found the 3 E’s to be contagious as well; the people that receive their daily dose of empathy, encouragement and empowerment are more apt to offer the same to others with whom they come in contact.
Some application tips:
- Be authentic. Don’t feign empathy. Don’t mislead in your encouragement. Don’t give false hope in your empowerment. Don’t run around the office hurriedly passing out 3 E’s as if you have a long check list to finish.
- Listen. Don’t just dump your E’s and run. Capitalize on the inevitable conversations that ensue. You will learn something, and they will be validated.
- No favorites. Make sure you offer the 3 E’s to those that you may not feel as good about. Giving those people empathy, encouragement and empowerment may be just what they need to become a favorite as well.
- Be creative. Try to offer new input each time, for each individual. If you are sincere, this will come naturally.
- Prepare. As information becomes available that would indicate an opportunity to be empathetic, a need for encouragement, or a time for empowerment, make a note of it and be sure use those opportunities in a timely manner.
- It’s for everyone. Don’t forget to offer the 3 E’s to people up the corporate ladder, as well as your peers and those that report to you. Friends and family too!
