Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
I get it. People are a pain. Employees. Customers. Random people in the store.
Not you, of course. You’re perfect. But everybody else is so annoying sometimes!
So how do we deal with this reality? Well, first, it’s about recognizing that this is the human condition. We’re all flawed and make mistakes.
Read the rest of this entry »Customers are the lifeblood of a business. You’re delivering value to someone, and in return they pay you for that value.
So why do so many companies make it hard for an interested person to connect? It’s almost as if they don’t really want the business.
Sure, customers can be a pain sometimes. They … want stuff. They’d rather have it their way than the way you currently do it. But I assume you’d rather have customers than not. Right?
Read the rest of this entry »I recently had the opportunity to lead a workshop about building marketing from a strong foundation of mission or purpose. But there was a sticking point for many in the room: They weren’t the business owner, so they didn’t feel they had the right, or the power, to declare what their company’s mission might be.
And they were right. This is the kind of stuff that gets created by owners and executive teams and such.
But that’s not the end of the story!
Read the rest of this entry »I talk with employees all the time who are a bit lost on this concept of “mission.” They can’t bring anything to mind when I ask them what the mission of their company might be, and it doesn’t seem to have any relevance to their job even if there was one.
This is a problem.
Honestly, I don’t really care if you call it a purpose or mission or values or goal. I don’t mind if it doesn’t have a name at all. And I don’t care if it’s in highly refined words which precisely capture in a beautifully wordsmithed paragraph.
Read the rest of this entry »I heard an interesting article on the Innovation Hub radio show recently, talking about how riskiness affects people’s decisions. It got me thinking, because I’ve wondered for many years about the connection.
When we’re working on connecting our products and marketing to the customer need, we often start with their needs and desires. The customer desires a phone which is functional and attractive, with long battery life and easy-to-use apps.
That’s fine as far as it goes, but it’s a pretty surface-level way of thinking.
Read the rest of this entry »I was recently asked about what to do when it feels like you need to change the core purpose of your business. Another person answered that “your core purpose is always to return money to your shareholders, that never changes.”
I believe that attitude is fifty years out of date.
Sure, if you choose to create a company which is merely about extracting money from your customers and giving it to your investors, fine. But that’s not the people I’m working with.
Read the rest of this entry »We’ve all been learning things during our entire lives. That’s called experience, and it’s what helps you build valuable skills and teach others.
But wisdom is more subtle than just stuff you know.
It’s about putting choices into a larger context: namely, your values. And the values of the larger community you operate within.
Read the rest of this entry »How single-minded are you? How focused is your business?
I view this attribute as a continuum, ranging from spineless to monomaniacal. But I’m liking the concept of being fierce, because it combines elements of focus, intensity, and persistence.
So what does it mean to be fierce in your leadership?
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve seen a growing number of conversations recently about certain industries which tend to be collaborative. Here in northern Colorado, one of the most popular is the micro-breweries, who tend to be open, sharing, and generous.
That might seem odd because there’s a high concentration of these businesses here, but it’s still the mindset of how they work. It’s attractive, energetic, and creative.
Others have noticed that our community of startups seems to be MUCH more collaborative here than in, say, the San Francisco Bay Area. When people travel there, they notice that the environment seems much more competitive and protective.
Read the rest of this entry »Wouldn’t it be nice if plans always worked? But they don’t.
The problem, of course, is that Reality continues to do what it wants, despite the best planning. It sure would be nice if the rest of the world lined up the way I want, but rarely does it work out that way.
So why bother? Why not just spend every moment just responding to whatever’s thrown my way, with all the cleverness and energy I can muster?
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The Values-Based Business 