Our culture, and every modern culture since the Age of Enlightenment, praises reason above all else. Reason and logic became the salvation of mankind and ushered in the industrial, technological, and information ages. When humans praise one thing, they have a tendency of doing so at...
Do you notice that setbacks tend to occupy your mind more than victories?
Do you sometimes struggle to stay positive about your business?
Employees expect their leaders to be enthusiastic, energetic, and positive about the future. But on a day-to-day basis, maintaining a positive outlook and inspiring others can be challenging.
Even if everything in your business is going smoothly, a problematic issue in your personal lifeâwith your spouse, child, friend, or relativeâcan throw you off your game.
Leaders must inspire their people amidst professional and personal challenges. Research-based methods for counteracting negativity and fostering optimism give leaders the resources to inspire themselves and uplift others.
How can you inspire others if you donât feel inspired?
This reminds me of a (possibly apocryphal) story I heard about a shoe company back in the 1800s that sent a couple of their employees to a distant land for a month to scout the region and determine the market opportunity there. One of the employees came back and said, âNobody there wears shoes! Thereâs no opportunity there!â The other employee came back a week later and said, âNobody there wears shoes! Thereâs so much opportunity there!âTony Hsieh[1. The Employees of Zappos and Mark Dagostino, The Power of WOW: How to Electrify Your Work and Life by Putting Service FIrst, 2019.]
Like many people in the business world, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Tony Hsieh last week. Not only did I have a lot of respect for Tony, but I was fortunate to call him a friend.
If you ever met Tony, youâd know he was definitely like the second employee in the story he recounted. Tony saw potential everywhere, not just in businesses, but also in people. Whether it was empowering Zappos employees to pursue their passion projects or listening to an artist friend around a campfire in the yard near his airstream, Tony saw possibility where others would just see half-baked ideas.Â
Here are eight steps you can take to begin building brand loyalty.
Build your business around your best customersâwhat we call Brand Loversâinstead of trying to aimlessly drive sales. Over time, your return on marketing and innovation efforts will rise.
If someone told you your company is a cult, how would you take it?
Instead of getting offended, you may want to feel a sense of pride. It all depends on how you look at cults and the role they play in creating your corporate culture.
Your customers are human beings. Your employees are human beings. And yes, you are human too.
But what does it mean to be human?
As humans, we are conscious of certain names, dates, memories, beliefs, concepts, and aspects of our identity.
This collection of details are all above the surface. They are available to our conscious minds, retrievable by our thinking brains.
Below the surface, however, a vast reservoir of energy and instincts exists of which humans are not aware. Psychology calls this subterranean the subconscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Businesses that succeed in the long-term have leaders with a long-term perspective. They have an inspired vision. They can see the latent potential in their people and within the enterprise itself.
The customer is vital to the actualization of this vision. Ideally, the customer is at the heart of it.
âGood morning city!â
Emmet Brickowski was a construction worker, your everyday guy. He followed printed instructions on how to fit in, have everyone like him, and always be happy.
But Emmet had a greater destiny: to become a Master Builder. Master Builders donât have to follow instructions. Inspired by others, they create from whatâs inside of them.
If you donât know Emmet, you may have heard of The Lego Movie. The Lego Movie premiered in February 2014, grossing $468 million worldwide at the box office.
Your job isnât to create needs for your customers. Customersâhumansâdo a fine job of that on their own.
Your job is to make your customers aware of their existing needs. When you do this successfully, you trigger motivation in your customers. This motivation leads your customers to take action.
A customer named Lisa walks into your store.
As she roams the aisles, her eyes gaze at an endless sea of colors and forms. She isnât overwhelmed; sheâs accustomed to endless choice.
Her mind is elsewhere. Something her daughter asked her this morning amuses her. She feels joy. Now she wonders if her husband kissed her before he left for work. A feeling of disconnection comes and goes.