Inspiration, motivation, and success depend on why you do something. Not what you are selling.
Be clear about your purpose. Your beliefs. And be consistent with those purposes and beliefs.
Many companies try to prove their value before telling you what they believe. It’s like you telling people the benefits and features of a product or service without telling the customer why you started the company, why you continue to operate the business, etc.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
People buy on the emotional level, they buy based on gut decisions. We like to think it’s all rational, but it’s not.
Herb Kelleher of Southwest airlines said “it’s the responsibility of the company to look after their employees. Happy employees equal happy customers. Happy customers equal happy shareholders.”
Trust emerges when we realize that those around us are driven by something aside from self-gain.
Leading is not the same as being a leader.
Continental Airlines CEO took the company from worst to first by instilling the value of employees first. For example, he made sure employees cleaned the cabin, not for the customer, but for the employee after them who had to be on the flight next.
The world is made up of cultures. The USA has a different culture than France. New York City is a different culture than San Francisco. Why people make it in the USA or New York City is different than why people make it in France or San Francisco. Sometimes people just don’t make it because they are a bad fit for that culture.
Similarly, it’s the culture of a company that makes it successful. It’s the beliefs and values within that culture.
When Ernest Shackleton’s famous voyager to the Arctic wrote a want ad for employees to man his ships, he wrote the most honest and authentic copy. Simply: “low wages, dark most of the journey, bitter cold, and return voyage unlikely.” As a result, he got the most willing and best fitting employees. Shackleton only hired people who believed what he believed.
Wilbur and Orville Wright imagined the benefit for everyone else when they developed the first flying machine. That is why they succeeded over others with better funding.
Sam Walton of Walmart said, “if you give to people, they give back to you.” Walmart was about price but that’s not why they succeeded.
What gets measured, gets done. We know how to measure and manage our metrics for performance. Usually, that’s based on money but we don’t measure work-life balance.
