Posts Tagged ‘leadership’
No Success Without Fear
When Elon Musk unveiled his audacious vision to colonize Mars this week, commentators had as much to say about his hubris and lack or fear as they did about the plan itself. They remarked that Musk’s greatest strength is probably that he has never been afraid to fail. That’s just not true. Of course he…
Read MoreHow We Drive Change
When we want to improve our diet we monitor what we eat and how much we exercise. When we want to change a toddler’s behaviour we look for opportunities to praise the good, instead of constantly shouting down the bad. We measure and reward the behaviour we want. In organisations, the things we measure and…
Read MoreOwning The Story
The little deli around the corner just started opening an hour earlier on weekday mornings. Of course, it makes sense for a business located in a walkable neighbourhood to serve commuters who will grab a coffee on the way to work and maybe even buy a sandwich for lunch later in the day. The last…
Read MoreBecoming Indispensable
Every business wants to be indispensable to its customers. Every brand aspires to be the one people turn to without question. Indispensability is the holy grail of customer loyalty, just as fine summers are the secret longing of the Scottish. When we lived in Scotland it felt like it rained every day. If it wasn’t…
Read MoreThe Instructions We’re Looking For
It was probably Stephen Covey’s ‘7 habits’ that got us addicted to the idea that success had a formula, one that could be pinned down by a number and executed in stages. Now we’re wired to seek it out. The headlines we see in our digital publications are proof. We are tempted by the notion…
Read MoreQuiet Success
Success for my parents, was having a fair day’s work to do, for a fair day’s pay. Success was having money left in your pay packet at the end of the week after the bills were paid. Success was having the wherewithal to take care of your family and contribute to your community—often in ways…
Read MorePatient Growth
My trusty blender died a couple of weeks ago, or rather I killed the thing with overwork and by overloading. The new blender had a lot to live up to. On the advice of the sales assistant I bought the most powerful one on the market, but was still frustrated by its performance. Why wouldn’t…
Read MoreThe Power Of Promises
“You’ll have it by Friday.” “I’ll call you tomorrow.” “We’ll be there by 3pm.” How many times have promises like these been made to you in the past few weeks, only to be casually broken and replaced by a fresh set soon after? Doing what you say you’ll do is the fastest route to building…
Read MoreThe Value Of Customer Questions
Every day our customers give us clues about what’s important to them and what they really want. Often we ignore them. Questions like the one asked of a running shoe manufacturer, which was followed up with this response: “Thank you for your email regarding shoes for a mud run. Unfortunately, we don’t stock a shoe…
Read MoreWhat Are You Here To Do?
When Deborah Thomas, newly minted CEO of Ardent Leisure, was asked if she knew how to operate a roller coaster, she probably gave an inward sigh along with her considered response. “I’m not here to operate the roller coaster; I’m here to make sure that people queue up and want to spend their money to…
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