The Unlikely Key to Inspiring Your People

The Unlikely Key to Inspiring Your People
THE BIG IDEA: Inspiring others doesn’t require charisma; it asks us to relate to our fellow human beings. To become more effective at moving people, improve your ability to take another person’s perspective.

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Robert was appointed CEO of a regional chain of banks three years ago.

As an executive of this financial institution for over a decade, he knew the strengths and weaknesses of his organization when he took the helm.

He was excited about his company’s potential, passionate about improving his organization’s culture, and saw ways of capitalizing on market opportunities.

Now, after three years at the helm, without seeing any measurable improvements in his company’s performance, his enthusiasm is fading. (And his board is questioning their decision.)

Robert wonders: Am I not the change agent—the inspiring leader—I saw myself to be? He can’t help feeling like he’s letting himself, his team, and his board down.

Thankfully, all is not lost for Robert.

Inspiration Starts with Vision

First and foremost, Robert must make sure he has established a compelling vision for the future.

Without this image of what his banking business can become, he has little chance to bring his organization together and collectively move it in a positive direction. He has no way of getting his people excited about the future possibilities.

As it says in Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

A compelling vision starts with a big idea. If you need help clarifying your big idea, read this.

The Key to Moving People

A primary role of the leader is to move people, to inspire positive action in a desired direction.

This is where Robert needs help. He needs to get his vision to stick, to sell the vision to his organization so that they are inspired to realize it through consistent action.

The key to moving people is not through overt persuasion or coercive means; those methods have deleterious long-term effects.

Instead, the secret to moving people is to be able to take their perspective.

Perspective taking allows you to see the world from another person’s point of view and to speak to them from their viewpoint.

The idea is simple enough, however, in practice, most people don’t do it often enough. Our egos are conditions to see the world through our own lens.

Three Vital Perspectives

Right now, as you read this, you can be aware of multiple perspectives.

Notice your own thoughts and feelings as you’re reading. This is your first-person perspective.

As you read these words, you’re also interpreting what we’re trying to communicate. This is the second-person perspective.

Where are you right now? Become aware of your environment: other people, lighting, temperature, sounds, and so on. This is the third-person perspective.

We are always experiencing the world from at least these three perspectives.

Perspective taking as a skill requires us to consciously take the second-person perspective in our communications with others.

How to Build Your Perspective-Taking Ability

Here’s a simple practice to help train yourself to take the role of others:

  1. Decide whose perspective you’re going to take. It could be an employee, a board member, a peer, or a customer.
  2. Allow yourself to be curious and let go of wanting to judge this exercise.
  3. Imagine that you are this person. As fully as you can, step into their point of view.
  4. Look out at your environment. What does it look like? What do you notice? What do you see? What do you think? What do you believe? How do you feel?

Maintain this perspective for two minutes. To help integrate what you’ve learned, invest a few minutes reflecting on the experience: What did you learn about the other person? What did you learn about yourself? Did you pick up a new perspective?

Becoming a More Inspiring Leader

Imagine if you practiced this exercise at the start of the day, before an important meeting, or before communicating your vision to a key team member.

Might you discover a superior way of communicating your ideas, of making them more meaningful to the people you’re trying to move?

When you feel like someone understands you, don’t you feel more connected with them? Doesn’t understanding help establish trust? And isn’t trust the foundation for getting people to work well together and move toward shared results?

Follow this procedure at least twice per day until perspective taking becomes effortless.

February 3, 2015 by

A Crash Course in Social Marketing

THE BIG IDEA: The study of Cult Brands reveals a wealth of information about human behavior and the mechanisms behind effective social marketing. Today’s article is a launchpad for chief executives interested in expanding their understanding of this discipline.

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Do you sell products or experiences?

Do you focus exclusively on profits or inclusively as a community?

Do you try to copy your competitors or demonstrate courage and dare to be different?

These are some of the questions that assess if your company is moving closer to your customers or further away.

The topic of social marketing is important to chief executives because it puts a magnifying glass on the companies that most excel at moving toward their customers. This specialized study brings meaning to concepts like “customer loyalty” and “brand loyalty.”

Some of the most successful social marketers are Cult Brands because they draw from the power of humanity. If you’re new to this topic or interested in deepening your knowledge, here are a selection of past articles that will give you the competitive edge:

Social Marketing Fundamentals

A host of defining principles enable businesses to tap into the social and psychological lives of their customers:

What Are Cult Brands

A closer look at what Cult Brands are (and what they are not).

Seven Rules of Cult Brands

All Cult Brands knowingly or unconsciously adhere to these seven powerful principles.

How to Start a Cult

Explores five psychological reasons people join groups and seven steps to creating a cult, tribe, movement—whatever you’d like to call it.

Why Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is Crucial for your Business

Psychologist Abraham Maslow has greatly influenced our understanding of Cult Brands. His categories of human needs help explain both consumer motivation and organizational behavior. Psychologist Clayton Alderfer’s adjustments to Maslow’s theory of motivation are insightful too.

What Social Marketers Do Differently

Customer-centric businesses harness the social forces of their customers in specific ways:

A Big Mistake Most Retailers Make

Cult Brands sell experiences and lifestyles, not products.

How Cult Brands Tap into Higher Values

Cult Brands go beyond just helping customers meet basic human needs to helping them realize higher level needs as well.

How to Draw Power From Your Enemies

Cult Brands sell freedom.

How Cult Brands Create Loyal Customers

Cult Brands give their customers a sense of belonging and more positive self-esteem.

How Cult Brands Create Magical Experiences for Customers

Many Cult Brands set up the conditions for “participation mystique” that enables customers to express a deeper part of themselves and forge strong bonds with each other.

A Masters Degree in Human Nature

In the final analysis, the study of Cult Brands is a study of human beings: their needs, tensions, desires, dreams, motivations, and values.

Reading the above articles won’t win you any business degrees, but it will profoundly alter how you perceive your customers.

It may even alter your organization’s approach to serving your fellow human beings who graciously give you their business (thereby fueling your business).

When this relationship between company and customers is fostered consciously, it forms a symbiotic exchange of value. Both company and customer are elevated. Everyone wins.

Onward!

January 26, 2015 by

The Invisible Force Behind Thriving Organizations

Golden Egg
THE BIG IDEA: Cohesive organizations and customer communities are created by the same mechanism. If you know what’s at the heart of both, you can build a thriving organization that fosters passionate customers.

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Like a hand full of marbles pouring into a bowl, when you put a bunch of people together, there’s chaos.

Egos bump heads like marbles colliding.

But then, a group begins to constellate around the center.

This center can take various forms.

In sports clubs and political groups, the center is a common goal, like winning a championship or an election.

In activist groups, the center is a cause, a slogan, or a set of beliefs.

In religions, the center is a God-image.

In corporate cultures, the center can be an inspiring vision, mission, or set of core values.

In destructive cults, the center is a charismatic leader with narcissistic and messianic qualities.

In Cult Brands, the center is usually an ideal, a set of values, or a theme of interest.

What Draws Groups Together

The group’s center acts as a magnet, attracting members to its core. The more powerful the center, the more cohesive the group.

Here’s the secret to transforming your organization and your customer relationships: the more archetypal the center, the more solid, enduring, and cohesive the group.

Archetypes draw people together. They inspire loyalty and connectedness.

As inherited dispositions in every human being, archetypes cause us to react in typical (instinctive) ways. Archetypes bind us together as members of the human family.

An Illustration of Archetypes in Action

Historically, world religions have kept the largest groups of humans together. The center of these religions (Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad) is the archetype of the Anthropos, the cosmic man, a collective soul that unites all people.

Destructive cults, too, constellate around this God image. Its members project this powerful archetype—what Jung called the Self—onto the leader.

The Self, as well as God or Nature, has been described by many ancient philosophers as an “infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” (We can all ponder that on our lunch break today.)

Symbolic images that point to the Self, like the circle, the apple, the star, the tree, and the egg, are found in countless religious narratives, myths, fairy tales, and individual dreams.

The Self, in its masculine expression, often takes the form of the wise old man, the guide, the mentor with supernatural aid. This archetype is expressed by characters like Merlin from the Arthurian legend, Gandalf in the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series, and Yoda in the Star Wars franchise.

In its feminine expression, the Self may take the form of an earth mother or love goddess. Southwest Airlines, for example, is aligned with the feminine expression of the Self. Their organization is guided by the principles of relatedness, care, and love—all attributes of the feminine Self.

Putting Archetypes to Work in Your Organization

How do you put archetypes to work?

Start at the center. The center is unique for each organization. Your strengths hint at it. Your organization’s passions point you in the right direction. The forces that drive your customers to do business with you provide invaluable clues.

This center should be expressed in your ultimate vision, your core values, and the language of your corporate culture.

How will you know when you’ve found your center? Your heart will awaken. Your employees will come together as teams. Innovation will increase by virtue of the passions of the men and women guided by archetypal forces deep within them. Your stakeholders will observe it. Your customers will hear the call.

Remember: the more archetypal, the more essential, and the more human your center is, the more cohesive your organization will become. And, the more easily you’ll attract customers who want to join forces with you.

January 20, 2015 by

The Invisible Force Behind Thriving Organizations

 

THE BIG IDEA: Cohesive organizations and customer communities are created by the same mechanism. If you know what’s at the heart of both, you can build a thriving organization that fosters passionate customers.

__________________

Like a hand full of marbles pouring into a bowl, when you put a bunch of people together, there’s chaos.

Egos bump heads like marbles colliding.

But then, a group begins to constellate around the center.

This center can take various forms.

In sports clubs and political groups, the center is a common goal, like winning a championship or an election.

In activist groups, the center is a cause, a slogan, or a set of beliefs.

In religions, the center is a God-image.

In corporate cultures, the center can be an inspiring vision, mission, or set of core values.

In destructive cults, the center is a charismatic leader with narcissistic and messianic qualities.

In Cult Brands, the center is usually an ideal, a set of values, or a theme of interest.

What Draws Groups Together

The group’s center acts as a magnet, attracting members to its core. The more powerful the center, the more cohesive the group.

Here’s the secret to transforming your organization and your customer relationships: the more archetypal the center, the more solid, enduring, and cohesive the group.

Archetypes draw people together. They inspire loyalty and connectedness.

As inherited dispositions in every human being, archetypes cause us to react in typical (instinctive) ways. Archetypes bind us together as members of the human family.

An Illustration of Archetypes in Action

Historically, world religions have kept the largest groups of humans together. The center of these religions (Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad) is the archetype of the Anthropos, the cosmic man, a collective soul that unites all people.

Destructive cults, too, constellate around this God image. Its members project this powerful archetype—what Jung called the Self—onto the leader.

The Self, as well as God or Nature, has been described by many ancient philosophers as an “infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” (We can all ponder that on our lunch break today.)

Symbolic images that point to the Self, like the circle, the apple, the star, the tree, and the egg, are found in countless religious narratives, myths, fairy tales, and individual dreams.

The Self, in its masculine expression, often takes the form of the wise old man, the guide, the mentor with supernatural aid. This archetype is expressed by characters like Merlin from the Arthurian legend, Gandalf in the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series, and Yoda in the Star Wars franchise.

In its feminine expression, the Self may take the form of an earth mother or love goddess. Southwest Airlines, for example, is aligned with the feminine expression of the Self. Their organization is guided by the principles of relatedness, care, and love—all attributes of the feminine Self.

Putting Archetypes to Work in Your Organization

How do you put archetypes to work?

Start at the center. The center is unique for each organization. Your strengths hint at it. Your organization’s passions point you in the right direction. The forces that drive your customers to do business with you provide invaluable clues.

This center should be expressed in your ultimate vision, your core values, and the language of your corporate culture.

How will you know when you’ve found your center? Your heart will awaken. Your employees will come together as teams. Innovation will increase by virtue of the passions of the men and women guided by archetypal forces deep within them. Your stakeholders will observe it. Your customers will hear the call.

Remember: the more archetypal, the more essential, and the more human your center is, the more cohesive your organization will become. And, the more easily you’ll attract customers who want to join forces with you.

January 20, 2015 by

An Executive’s Guide to the Ultimate Foursome

Executives-Guide-to-the-Ultimate-Foursome
THE BIG IDEA: Goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics are four powerful tools for providing organizational direction and achieving results when chief executives can clearly differentiate between each of them and know how each one relates to the whole.

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On the third move of a chess game, nine million positions are possible.

This is only a board game. Imagine how many more options you and your team face in the normal course of business.

New campaigns, new markets, new customers, new product launches, repositioning … your options are endless. In this confusion, you can sink into a vast ocean of to-dos, of action for action’s sake.

When this happens, you start confusing motion with progress, busy-ness with business.

We live in get-it-done-now world. The temptation will always be to become tactical first and fast, to focus on getting things done ASAP.

If this cycle is not understood correctly, you can unknowingly trap your teams in endless meetings and empty tasks with only marginal progress on the horizon.

In order to avoid this maze of confusion, infuse your thought process with four simple distinctions: goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics.

  1. A goal establishes your target—the end picture of what you want to achieve.
  2. A strategy sets your basic guidelines and approaches to realizing the goal.
  3. An objective is a key result you set in order to execute a strategy.
  4. A tactic is an action step or tool used to achieve an objective associated with a strategy.

These four elements are great companions in leading your organization because they give you the cohesion to keep everyone on your team moving in the same direction.

Goals: Establishing Your Desired End Picture

The team whose coach says, “We are going to make it to the super bowl,” makes it to the big game … then loses.

The team who wins never intended to just get there. Their coach said, “We are winning the whole damn thing!”

When setting goals you have to state exactly what you want.

Southwest Airline’s primary goal is to operate a low-cost business in order to offer low-cost fares to their customers.

Walt Disney World’s primary goal is to make attendees (of all ages) of their parks happy.

Strategies: Determining the Best Approach

Once you know the end picture, you need to develop your strategies.

Your strategies are how you grow and manage your business. There are three core categories of business strategies: operations, marketing, and innovation.

There are countless strategies in each of these categories. We conjured up 52 of them for marketing alone.

Strategies developed in each of these key areas should help the business realize its primary goal.

Everything you and your employees do—every single activity that influences the business and affects your customers—should push a defined strategy forward.

All employees need to clearly know, understand, and internalize these key strategies so they are empowered to make decisions and take actions that will move the organization closer to the goal.

One of Southwest’s key operations strategy is built into its goal: operate a low-cost airline. Only if they can operate a low-cost airline can they hope to offer low-cost fares, which they have been doing successfully for over 30 years.

Disney’s key operations strategy is to create a magical experience for every customer who enters their theme park.

Objectives: Defining the Critical Results

To execute your strategies effectively, there are certain conditions that must be in place for your end goal to be realized. Your critical objectives are these conditions.

Southwest realized that they make money when their planes are in the air; they spend money when their planes are on the ground. They created an objective to get off the ground fast.

But to make objectives actionable, they need to be specific and measurable. You need to be able to clearly determine if the objective is achieved or not.

Southwest invented the “10-minute turn” to get their planes in the air quickly. Their objective was to get off the ground in under 10 minutes. Today, with larger aircrafts, their turn time is now 25 minutes, but this on-going objective still helps them keep fares low.

Disney executives realized that every employee of the park will likely interact with customers at different times. And these chance encounters either help create magic or kill it. In order to create a magical experience for every customer who enters their park, they set an objective that every employee must help create this desired experience.

Tactics: Deploying Effective Actions

Having a strategy won’t automatically make the tactics apparent, but understanding your critical objectives will help make these choices clear.

Executives who solely focus on tactics too easily abandon the overall strategy and its objectives when a tactic fails. They confuse a tactic with the objective.

When a coach loses a game, he doesn’t change the objective of winning the championship. He simply changes his approach after learning what he can from his prior failure.

Tactics often fail. You still have to spend endless hours testing and retesting, refining and thinking about your tactics.

Southwest deploys numerous tactics to execute their low-cost strategy. For example, it only flies one type of aircraft: three models of the Boeing 737, which creates efficiencies in training and maintenance. Their open seating initiative helps passengers flow onto the aircraft faster, reducing Southwest’s turn time (how quickly they get back in the air). A faster turn translates to a more profitable airline.

One of the most effective tactics Disney deploys to help ensure that their customers experience a magical day is their employee training. Disney University is a three to four week training that every Disney employee in their park system must go through, whether you’re a janitor or a park executive.

Leading with Vision

If you want to steer your business toward a new, compelling, and sustainable future, you first need to have a clear vision in mind.

You can’t expect anyone to understand your vision unless the direction is clear within yourself.

Goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics provide a top-down approach to leading and managing your organization. They are four invaluable friends on your journey to growth and outperformance.

May this New Year bring you inspiration, passion, and clarity for the adventure that lies before you.

December 28, 2014 by

Five Tips to Hone Your Mentoring Skills

Hone-Your-Mentoring-Skill-Telemachus-and-Mentor1
THE BIG IDEA: Mentoring is a cornerstone skill of any chief executive committed to fostering a learning organization with a culture of continuous growth. This article highlights five things leaders can keep in mind to improve this vital skill.

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Before departing for the Trojan War, Odysseus leaves his son Telemachus in the care of his old friend Mentor.

Years later, when Telemachus is around 20, he is guided by Mentor in the search for his lost father and his true heritage.

It is from Homer’s mythological tale, The Odyssey, that we get the word mentor, which now means an experienced and trusted advisor.

The Mentor’s Role in Organizational Leadership

In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, mythologist Joseph Campbell illuminates how the hero, reluctant to engage in his quest, often meets a protective figure with supernatural aid.

This important character—personified by Merlin, Gandalf, Yoda, Morpheus, and Dumbledore—provides a magical amulet or sage-like advice the hero will need along the journey.

This archetypal figure resides in each of us. Business leaders, in particular, are uniquely positioned to actualize this role for the benefit of the organization and individuals under their guidance. In fact, we identified the Mentor as one of the seven archetypal leadership styles.

Embedded throughout any thriving organization, you’ll find a healthy exchange of mentor-mentee relationships.

5 Tips for Becoming a More Effective Mentor

What are the keys to being an effective mentor to your team members and subordinates?

#1: Be a guide, not an instructor.

An instructor tells you what to do. A guide provides moral support, but only advises when appropriate—like when you know the person is going in the wrong direction.

#2: Give the mentee space.

Your role as mentor is not to keep the mentee from failing. Failure often represents the fastest avenue for learning and growth. Your supportive presence is often all that’s required.

#3: Become an active listener.

Avoid formulating your response while a mentee is explaining an issue even if you know what the solution might be. Learn to be with the mentee. Deep listening requires us to not just listen to words, but to pay attention to feelings too. Your mentees will be more receptive to listening and acting on your advice once they feel they’ve been heard and understood.

#4: Lead by example.

This might sound obvious, but it warrants emphasis: You earn the respect of your mentee not by what you say—or even your rank and title—but by how you show up at work each day. Your own commitment to improvement will inspire a profound willingness to develop in your mentee.

#5: Let go of your narcissistic ego.

There’s simply no place for ego within the mentor’s role. It is all too easy and seductive to project “specialness” into this role, like any other title. If you approach mentoring with humility and a sense of servitude to your fellow employee—like any good Level 5 leader—you’ll naturally become more effective. It’s not about you; it’s about them.

Mentoring is a role each of us plays in supporting and uplifting the whole of the organizations we represent. The more you sharpen your mentoring skills, the more effective and inspiring a leader you will become.

Happy Holidays from your Cult Branding team!

December 21, 2014 by

How to Give Feedback

Business people talking together
THE BIG IDEA: Giving feedback is an important skill for anyone managing people. This article highlights seven principles for providing feedback that gets results and explores ways of overcoming resistance employees have to receiving feedback.

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A sports coach stands on the sidelines, peering over all of his players in movement.

When he sees a player doing something suboptimal, he pulls that player aside to offer feedback. The coach’s objective it to improve the performance of his players. He sees things the players on the field can’t see.

Outperforming chief executives likely have this coaching style of management in their repertoire. Coaching or mentoring is one of the seven archetypal leadership styles.

Offering feedback is a skill. Like all skills, this skill can be learned and continuously improved.

Seven Principles for Effective Feedback

Here are seven principles to keep in mind when offering feedback to your subordinates:

Feedback is continuous and in the moment. A good coach understands that the most effective feedback is given right at or near the time the issue requiring feedback is raised.

Feedback is honest and conversational. A good coach doesn’t talk down to his players, but he is real with them. This means no office politics and no backhanded comments.

Feedback is inquisitive instead of forceful. A good coach empowers his team members with self-directed questions. He guides with questions instead of instructing through demands. He looks to have team members take ownership for their own work.

Feedback is based on a larger vision. The team’s ultimate vision is what fuels the feedback, not a drive for personal gain or power over others.

Feedback is specific, not general. A coach offers specific feedback with clear action steps directed toward achieving an objective or increasing performance.

Feedback is descriptive, not critical. Critical and judgmental comments destroy performance as it reduces motivation. Effective feedback is highly descriptive and points to ways for improvement.

Feedback is mainly focused on building strengths instead of highlighting weaknesses. If your feedback is always focused around the person’s weaknesses, it’s going to frustrate both of you. A good coach knows how to work around certain weaknesses and capitalize on the player’s best qualities and attributes that ultimately serve the team.

How to Overcome the Feedback Barrier

Even if you master the above seven principles, the stark reality is that most people don’t like hearing about their flaws. Additionally, many of us in leadership roles don’t like telling people about their flaws.

The human ego is fragile. It likes to think it’s perfect; it hates hearing that it’s not.

How do you offer feedback in a way in which others will be receptive to hearing it?

To overcome our innate resistance to feedback, help your employees come to the necessary conclusions on their own. Whenever possible, allow them to take ownership for improving their own performance.

One way of accomplishing this is through the artful use of questions.

When you’re reviewing an employee’s proposal, for example, you might ask:

  • What’s the primary objective of the proposal?
  • Do you feel this proposal has achieved this objective?
  • Do you see places where the proposal may be improved?
  • If there was a primary message that needed to be clarified, what might it be?
  • What is the ideal response you’re looking for from this pitch?
  • How else can you help ensure that it will receive that response?

This line of questioning allows the person to become aware of areas of improvement and take ownership for the changes. Well-crafted questions circumvent the ego’s defense mechanisms.

Of course, your tone and intention in engaging your employees is another important factor. If you come across as arrogant, all-knowing, and impatient, it doesn’t matter how well-crafted your questions are.

If, however, you genuinely want to see the person succeed, he will intuit your intention and push for higher performance.

To overcome the feedback barrier: Don’t command, criticize, or dictate. Instead, ask permission. May I offer a few suggestions on this project?

Compassion, not criticism reduces people’s defense mechanisms. Ask questions with the intention of bringing out the best performance and best qualities in your people. If you do, everyone wins.

The Art of Effective Feedback

Finally, a good coach is always available and listens to his players. He owns his own feedback. Yes, you can ask for feedback on your feedback. If your team members trust you, they will feel comfortable giving you honest comments upon your request.

Players listen to good coaches not because they are authority figures, but because they respect their coach and know that the coach has the players’ and the team’s best interest in mind. If you genuinely care and want to support your employees, your feedback will be welcomed and received.

All effective communication comes from the heart. Business may be business, but people are still people. When people know you genuinely care, they will genuinely listen.

December 16, 2014 by

How Symbols Serve Inspired Leaders

THE BIG IDEA: Leaders throughout history have used symbols and metaphors to move people to action. This article explores the significance of symbolic imagery and how it can be applied in business for effective communication.

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With wings spanning over six feet long, the eagle soars over the trees. Its powerful, flapping wings sound like the mighty wind. Its strong feet and curved talons comfortably grasp prey twice its size. Landing gracefully, it remains perched at the summit in all its majesty and glory.

The eagle—the king of birds—is a symbol of strength, vitality, power, and omniscience. Its greatness has inspired comparison to the sun, earthly rulers, and imperial nations.

The eagle appears on the United States Presidential Seal as a symbol of power. This eagle holds an olive branch in one talon to symbolize peace and 13 arrows (for the original 13 colonies) in the other, representing the willingness to defend the country.
US-GreatSeal

Symbols and their Meaning

We question things. Our inquiring mind is the distinguishing feature that separates Homo sapiens from the rest of the animal kingdom.

We question our existence. Why are we here? What happens after death? What is the meaning behind the phenomena around us?

Through our questioning, we have developed systems of belief. At the core of these belief systems are symbols.

A symbol is a visual image that represents an idea. Water, for example, symbolizes the moon, the feminine life-force, and the unconscious. Fire symbolizes the sun and the masculine life-force that surrounds us.

Every image—everything you can see with your eyes and in your mind’s eye—has symbolic counterparts.

When you see a ladder, your conscious mind sees a tool for climbing to higher places. Symbolically, the image of a ladder serves as a reminder of a psychological climb toward self-awareness or a spiritual climb to a higher truth.

Most of us are not conscious of symbolic meaning. We see a ladder as a ladder. But that symbolic meaning lies deep in our minds, at subconscious and unconscious levels.
Symbols-Caduceus
The caduceus is the symbol of the medical profession. The center is the mythical wand of the Greek god Hermes who used it to bestow sleep. The twin snakes coiled around the wand symbolize healing and poison, health and illness.
Symbols-Olympic_Rings
The five Olympic rings symbolize the union in sports of Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The colors represent competing nations. (One color was on each nation’s flag when the rings were conceived in 1913.)

Symbols in Modern Business

Brand logos is not a new phenomenon. The Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese all stamped their goods, like bricks, pottery, and bags of herbs, with symbols to indicate who made them.

But in the 19th Century, trademarks became more than marks of origin, they became badges and symbols, representing the personality of the brand.
Symbols-Southwest-Airlines-Logo
Southwest Airlines flies its passengers with a big red heart at the belly of their planes. The heart is a symbol of the spiritual and emotional core of a human being, widely associated with love. (Not surprisingly, love is one of Southwest’s superpowers. It’s also their ticker symbol: LUV.)
Symbols-Apple-logo
A few months ago, we  discussed the symbolic significance of Apple’s logo. The apple is a symbol of knowledge, awakening, creativity, and beauty.
Symbols-Mercedes-Benz_logo
The three-pointed star in the Mercedes-Benz logo reportedly came from inventor Gottlieb Daimler’s dream of building motor vehicles for land, air, and sea.

But the star itself is an ancient symbol. For thousands of years, stars have oriented humans wandering in the darkness. The star represents something inside of us that is visionary, starlike. It is a symbol of the Self—a higher part of us—of wisdom, guidance, and destiny. Mercedes owners are guided by this symbol whenever they get behind the wheel.

Symbolic Images and Feelings

These symbolic images of our collective nature are found throughout the world, in our myths, dreams, and fantasies. Polymath Adolf Bastian called them elementary ideas. Jung called them archetypes.

For Jung, archetypes aren’t just elementary ideas. They also represent elementary feelings, fantasies, and visions.

Archetypes are simultaneously images and emotions. An image becomes dynamic when it is charged with emotion. Without emotion, the image cannot speak to us.

Symbolic images act as doorways to the inner worlds of both your employees and your customers. This inner world is the home of our fantasies, imagination, and emotions. They are the source of life’s richness. Without emotions, life is, well, lifeless.

Archetypes, Jung explains, “are the pieces of life itself—images that are integrally connected to the living individual by the bridge of the emotions.”

Images tap into the emotions of our inner worlds and give life a sense of meaning. Symbolic images are powerful because they provide this shortcut to meaning.

How Inspired Leaders Use Symbols to Move People

Remember that human beings—both your employees and your customers—are not moved, persuaded, or influenced by thoughts and words. We are moved by feelings, emotions, and images.

Inspired leaders communicate with passion, purpose, and vision. They use metaphors, analogies, illustrations, stories, and anecdotes to convey their ideas. Metaphors, in fact, are how archetypes first express themselves.

A metaphor, if you recall, is a figure of speech that uses an object or idea to represent a specific meaning that is otherwise difficult to convey. A metaphor suggests a resemblance; it uses a symbol to transfer meaning from one idea to another.

A study on presidential leadership and charisma examined the use of metaphors in the first-term inaugural addresses of 36 presidents. Each president was independently rated on their level of charisma. The researchers found that charismatic presidents used nearly twice as many metaphors as non-charismatic presidents.

Metaphors intrigue cognitive scientists because they are so effective at changing the way people think and behave. Metaphors allow large amounts of information to be assimilated, retained, recalled, and applied quickly.

Lincoln and the Power of Metaphor

Aristotle writes in Poetics, “To be a master of metaphor is a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.”

Abraham Lincoln used the persuasive power of metaphor and symbols liberally in his speeches. His Gettysburg Address is a 270-word testament to his mastery of metaphor.

For persuasive impact, Lincoln used metaphors of birth, death, and resurrection in his address. It begins, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

In this powerful opening sentence, Lincoln calls forth imagery of birth in four places (italicized above).

Harnessing the Power of Symbolic Imagery

The right symbolic image or metaphor can evoke a powerful sensory experience in your team members, igniting a desired pattern of behavior. They can help establish a thriving corporate culture, infusing passion into your organization.

The right symbolic images can also become powerful attractors for a certain breed of customers: your Brand Lovers for whom your business is especially for.

Business leaders that harness the power of symbolic images can forge ahead with clarity, humility, creativity, and inspiration.

December 9, 2014 by

Close Encounters of the Customer Kind

 



THE BIG IDEA: Customer obsession is a fundamental characteristic of long-term, outperforming leadership. Inspired leaders find practical ways to keep their top executives connected to the front lines of their business.


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Sitting in their corner offices with unfettered views of the city skyline, like the untouchable professors hiding away in their ivory towers, it’s all too easy for chief-level executives to become far removed from their customers.


Outperforming leaders of Cult Brands and other businesses with loyal customers, however, demonstrate a desire to know their customers. The great ones, like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, obsess about them.


How Inspired Leaders Stay Connected to Their Customers 


Sam Walton, the late founder and CEO of Wal-Mart, scripted one of his ten rules of success:


“Listen to everyone in your company, and figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front line—the ones who actually talk to customers—are the only ones who really know what’s going on out there. You’d better find out what they know.”


Walton kept his sights grounded by communicating directly with the associates working the floors. He also democratized the corporate structure through his “cross-pollination” efforts where managers from different departments swapped jobs, to keep them challenged and on top of the market.


Like Walton, Colleen Barrett, retired president of Southwest Airlines, understood the value of cooperation, teamwork, and empathy in bridging divides. In the early 1990s, Barrett established the Culture Committee to preserve and enhance the airline’s unique culture.


One project was the “Days in the Field” program where executives and managers spend a day every quarter doing front-line work. You might see senior officers serving as flight attendants, baggage checkers, or ‘appearance technicians,’ working through the night to ensure that the planes are clean for the next day’s flights.


IKEA’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad, instituted a similar initiative to foster egalitarianism, stave off the bureaucratic mindset, and keep decision makers in touch.


During “anti-bureaucracy week,” executives are required to leave the comforts of their corporate offices and work the front lines of IKEA’s stores for an entire week. During the week, you’ll see chief officers manning registers, hauling furniture, and helping customers in the showroom.


Yet there is one caveat.


“All of the executives must be there on weekends, when the stores are the busiest, teeming with shoppers of all kinds,” explains IKEA country manager Kent Nordin. “It’s not enough to check in on a Monday and out on a Thursday afternoon. You have to be there when the heat is on.”


If you’re a retailer, can you imagine working the registers this Friday? Does the thought terrify you or excite you? Imagine how much you can learn about your customers on the biggest shopping day of the year?


The Art of Listening to Your Customers 


Being on the frontlines has several advantages. It increases managerial empathy while decreasing bureaucracy. It improves cooperation and strengthens the corporate culture. It provides intimate customer knowledge, leading to more effective decisions in marketing, product development, and corporate strategy.


Listening is the cornerstone of the world’s best businesses because it leads to the discovery of what will surprise, amuse, and reward its customers.


Turning a deaf ear to the life blood of your business will keep you sheltered from the day-in-day-out realities of your company’s operations. In today’s competitive and constantly changing marketplace, you can’t afford to be deaf.


Are you willing to get onto the frontlines?


Can you hear what your customers are saying?


Happy Thanksgiving from your Cult Branding team!


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P.S. BJ Bueno was recently interviewed by The Customer Edge to find out how to extend the buzz beyond Black Friday. Read the interview here.

		
				
								
	

	
	

		
		
			
						November 23, 2014						
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Archetypes and the Fate of Your Business

				
	

	
	

		
		
THE BIG IDEA: All businesses are run by archetypes. Some know it. Most don’t. When you understand how archetypes work, you can better position your business in the marketplace, attracting the right employees and loyal customers.


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Why do tens of thousands of riders flock to Milwaukee for Harley-Davidson’s annual rally?


Why do hundreds of customers camp outside of IKEA’s latest store opening?


Why do over a thousand Motorers drive over 5,000 miles across the United States in MINI’s Take the State tour?


What are these brands doing to create cult followers? And what can it teach us about creating customer loyalty?


Needs: The Biological Drivers of Human Behavior


These unusual businesses—Cult Brands as we call them—achieve this unusual level of loyalty because they do more than just sell products or services.


They help fulfill their customers’ human needs, creating experiences steeped with emotion.


These human needs stem from instincts and operate at the deepest level of our biology.


Much of human behavior is a consequence of our attempts to meet these needs.


As you’ll recall, psychologist Abraham Maslow arranged these human needs in a hierarchy, with higher-level needs less likely to be fulfilled.


These needs, in ascending order, are biological/physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and transcendence.


The lower level needs, sometimes called existence needs, are fundamental and essential to daily life. Humans focus on meeting these needs first.


Higher Level Needs: What Cult Brands Do Differently


While most businesses help customers address lower level needs (as a supermarket provides food and water at the biological level), Cult Brands leverage higher-level needs to develop mutually beneficial relationships with their customers.


Cult Brands like Harley-Davidson, Vans, and Linux play to the esteem needs for freedom.


Nike and Under Armour hit on the esteem needs for dominance and mastery.


Apple supports the aesthetic need for creative self-expression. Oprah champions the self-actualization need for personal growth.


Maslow’s hierarchy helps explain why customers love their favorite brands, but it isn’t the whole story.


Archetypes: The Psychological Drivers of Human Behavior


In addition to the biological motivations categorized by Maslow, there are also psychic influences. In psychology, psyche means the totality of the human mind, including both conscious and unconscious processes.


Psychiatrist Carl Jung observed that the psyche consists mainly of images. Many of these images are of a collective nature. They are found all over the earth in our myths, dreams, fairy tales, and legends. He called these primordial images archetypes.


Archetypes explains consumers’ love for their favorite brands at the level of the psyche.


Archetypes are universal mental images. They set the patterns of behavior for our interaction with the world. We inherit these images in our brain structure.


Instincts: The Forces Behind Archetypes 


Jung described archetypes as “instinctual images” or “the forms which the instincts assume.”


Instincts are physiological urges. Our senses perceive them. But simultaneously, instincts come alive in fantasies and in symbolic images, that is, in archetypes.


This means that archetypes and instincts go hand in hand. For this reason, archetypal images trigger set patterns of behavior designed to actualize the images.


No matter what image of the Hero you hold in your mind, for example, certain patterns of behavior and personality traits come to mind like bravery, valor, persistence, and action.


Examples of archetypes include the Mother, Father, Warrior, Sage, Hero, Caregiver, Genius, Outlaw, Magician, Mentor, Actor, Athlete, Philosopher, Peacemaker, Prostitute, Artist, Adventurer, Maverick, Monk, Entertainer, Jester, Villain, and Vampire. But, ultimately, every word or image can represent an archetype.


When you think of archetypes, think of instincts or set patterns of behavior shared by all of humanity.


Archetypal Clusters: Nike and Under Armour


Archetypes don’t operate in a vacuum. Archetypal images tend to cluster together, like a constellation of stars. These archetypal clusters share certain personality traits.


The archetypes of the Warrior and the Athlete, for example, share many of the same qualities, including strength, endurance, courage, and fearlessness.


But each archetype also emphasizes certain traits: The Athlete has a disciplined mindset with a persistence toward a certain achievement. The Warrior, in contrast, emphasizes conviction and dominance.


Both Nike and Under Armour play to this archetypal cluster. In the ads of both brands, you’ll find serious, rugged expressions; Warriors and Athletes aren’t jovial and lighthearted.


Nike predominantly capitalizes on the Warrior archetype by using battle imagery in its depiction of athletes. They tend to use top professional athletes in their campaigns, playing on the projected ideal of the dominant Warrior archetype.


Under Armour hits on the Warrior, but focuses more on the Athlete. Instead of using celebrity athletes, Under Armour uses everyday athletes in their advertisements (which arguably make the brand more accessible to its customers).


Ultimately, customers who buy Nike and Under Armour products associate themselves with both the Warrior and Athlete archetypes, to varying degrees. They are also fulfilling their esteem needs of dominance, mastery, and achievement.


Remember, human needs and archetypes dance together, one supports and uplifts the other.


Long-term Success: Know Your Business’s Archetypes


Knowing your business’s archetypes is like knowing the DNA of your organization. It is from these fundamental symbolic images that all of the desired behavior for employees and customers spring.


Under Armour’s Baltimore, Maryland headquarters houses a 10,000-square-foot state-of-the-art gym that hosts group fitness classes and competitions. Athletic warriors need a training ground. Under Armour is a company of athletic warriors serving athletic warriors. (They call them “empowered athletes.”)


Creating an irreplaceable position in your customer’s mind takes conscious effort and consistency. When you know your archetypes, you can ensure consistency throughout all of your marketing efforts, including product development and communication.


Your goal is twofold:


    

  1. Uncover the symbolic images and emotions that best express what your business is about in the context of your customers’ lives.
    2. 

  2. Determine the humans needs your customers are trying to fulfill when your archetypes are active in their minds.
    3. 



These are key consumer insights that can transform the future of your business. Once you have these insights, find creative ways to consistently play to and express these images and needs in ways that are meaningful to your customers and your employees.


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P.S. Listen to BJ Bueno discuss the future of retail with SAP’s Global Vice President’s Nancy Case and best-selling author Scott McKain, titled, Retail Relevancy: Distinction Trumps Differentiation.

		
				
								
	

	
	

		
		
			
						November 11, 2014						
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