It’s the Power of Love – in Business
When we infuse love into our business, this is something that Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot take away. At least not in the near future.
What does Love in Business mean? Barbara Fredrickson (Author of Love 2.0) defines love 2.0 “as a micro moment of shared positive resonance”.
Let’s look at that from the viewpoint of a client or customer. Why do they buy a product or service? Obviously, because they find value in it. And in case you haven’t heard me say it before, value is NOT price. Your clients and customers resort to price when they can’t distinguish value.
I am reading Seth Godin’s Book Song of Significance. He points to the Industrial approach to capitalism – squeeze value from all of your resources in an extractive manner to gain efficiency and profitability. He contrasts that to a Market approach. This approach is not so much about squeezing resources and efficiency to make profit as it is about solving problems to make a profit.
Ask yourself why do you choose your barber or hairstylist? It is because of the relationship you have built together. How about your favorite restaurant? Do you have a favorite server? (Hey Blanche). OK, I hear it. This is hospitality, what about less personalized products and services?
Have you heard of Zingerman’s Deli or Wegmans Market? These are a Deli and Grocery stores that are world-famous for service AND profitability. When you look at their values you will note they are not about dominance, or competition, or efficiency. They are about connection, community, and love.
Whether you are an Attorney, an Accountant, or a Software Engineer, you can create micro moments of positive resonance with your clients. As a car-wash, a call center, or a hardware store, you can do the same.
Now contrast that with THE model of efficiency – Amazon. In 2022 Engadget reported that Amazon lost $8.0 BILLION due to employee turnover. Their profit in 2021 was $33 Billion. They were efficient, they got the most out of their human resources. Was it worth $8.0 Billion?
We saw in the pandemic that Wall Street doesn’t care about our communities. We saw the government was inefficient. And we saw how our local small businesses adapted and contributed to the community. AND this is important we saw how our communities responded in kind.
That’s what love in business is all about.
Everything is Hard Before it is Easy
Everything is Hard Before it is Easy ~ Goethe
One of my teachers, Brian Johnson, shared this the other day and it reminds me to accept the hard stuff. It is working through the hard that makes it easy. Think about it.
When you were a kid, it was hard to learn:
- How to walk
- How to tie your shoes
- To Swim
Then there was school, and it was hard to:
- Do math
- Learn to write
- Make friends
Then you got into business, and it was hard to:
- Make a decision on your own
- Hire your first employee
- Balance the books
- Provide feedback to an employee
And then through practice, repetition, and learning, it got easier. Like Jim Rohn used to say, “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better”. By getting better, the hard gets easier and then you get to scale up to the next level. What hard thing are you putting off? Check out the resources at https://ras-squared.com
Do you want to win? You need to embrace your fear now
Do you remember the first risk you took and it WORKED?! It could have been executing a play in a sporting game, your first kiss, or perhaps landing your first job. Can you remember your exhilaration?
Now think of the last thing you put off because you were afraid. Were you really afraid or were you uncomfortable? This phrase from Author and Coach, Steve Chandler, is echoing through my thoughts over the last few weeks.
“Just because you are afraid, does not mean you can’t achieve it”.
It made me reflect. How much have I put off or what did I not even attempt because of fear or discomfort? (We often mistake discomfort for fear).
And then I remembered my “Successes”.
- Youngest member of the sales team to hit quota
- Earning my Black Belt
- First public speech
- First PAID public speech
- First sale
- Biggest sale
- Marriage
- I Could go on and so could you
I was terrified in each of these situations. After all, I had not successfully done any of them before. Yet, when I followed the process, when I trusted myself and believed that I could figure it out -SUCCESS was on the other side.
If you are a business owner and you are honest with yourself, there are things you are holding back on. Things you are not doing. Typically, it is because you are either afraid or it’s uncomfortable. You’re afraid of what you might have to give up for that next evolution in your business.
Now remember your successes and the fear and discomfort you felt then. Now remember the feelings when it worked!
Pick one thing you know you have been putting off and act now. And break through the fear to experience your next level of success.
If you would like to explore some support resources, check out the tools at www.ras-squaredcom
Five Ways to Win at Accountability
“I am so frustrated, Steve just won’t do what I asked him to do. He is always late and I don’t know what to do”. This is what one of my clients recently shared. Actually, most clients share some version of this frustration, they feel their team is not being ACCOUNTABLE.
You Can watch the video here
What is accountable? Common expectations of the term means there is someone to blame if things go wrong. I’d like to suggest it is as simple as keeping our word to ourselves, our colleagues, and our roles. It is really about making and keeping commitments.
What I have learned is that there are several things that must be in place for accountability or ownership to be present.
The first is clarity of expectations. Is everyone clear on what is expected and when? You would be surprised at how often we are not clear. Ivan used to always promise a result by the close of business on Friday. That sounds specific, doesn’t it? Let’s dig deeper.
- Is that East coast or West coast time?
- Is it 5:00 PM or is it when Ivan stops working?
For me, close of business is 5:00 PM MST… for Ivan it was midnight PST. See the problem?
Next, does the employee have the capability to achieve the goal. You may think they do but do they feel they can? One of the biggest de-motivators is feeling like you can’t do the job. Ask yourself and them:
- Have they performed a task like this before?
- How do they plan to approach the task?
- Are there resources they need or obstacles in the way?
Have you all agreed on what the measurement of success will be? Are you really measuring the right things? I can remember a sales team where the only measurement was $2.5 Million in new revenue per sales rep, per year. This sales team had a 76% annual turnover in the two years I was with them primarily because they were measuring the wrong things. They could have been measuring the activity that leads to $2.5 Million in sales. Number of calls, number of presentations, number of proposals, etc. You really can’t control your results you can only control the activity you put in , in pursuit of your results.
Continuous feedback. We’ve all heard practice makes perfect. That is Bull S^%$. Deliberate practice makes perfect. Deliberate practice is executing the activity and then learning and adjusting the activity. It’s like a baby learning to walk. They stumble, they fall, they crawl they take a few steps, and then they are walking. If they just practiced stumbling over and over again, they would never have made it upright. They were getting constant feedback from parent, and from the activity to move themselves forward. What makes you think that as an owner or manager that you don’t need to give your team feedback?
And then there are consequences. When the job is well done, everyone can move forward. Sometimes it leads to bonuses and promotions. If the job is not well done… Well, there can be negative consequences ranging from write ups to demotions to being given the opportunity to find a job that better suits one’s temperament and capabilities. There you have it. Five steps you can take to help your team be accountable and to get stuff done. If you would like to learn more about how you can build, grow, and scale your business, check out the resources at https://ras-squared.com
Leverage your Algorithm and Protocols to Overcome Overwhelm
Lately, many clients and colleagues are complaining of overwhelm. With too much to do, they feel like they are on the hamster wheel.
This is crazy. If you google productivity and time management, you will get 495,000,000 results. Clearly, there are a lot of tools. I have recently reviewed John Wooden’s book on Leadership. For those that don’t know, he is one of the winningest coaches in college basketball ever. In his book and legend, he was famous for protocol.
Day one of training was how to put on your socks so as not to get a blister. For Coach Wooden it was not about if you “won” the game, it was about how you played the game. Did you play your best game. That was his standard.
Taking that now to the subject of overwhelm. We live in a world of distraction; there are so many shiny, interesting things.
- The News
- The Chore List
- Emails
- Phone calls
- Social Media (the average person uses 6.6 social media platforms)
- Networking events
- Coffee meetings
I can go on. The point is where is your work in here?
One of the best metaphors that I have found useful in this last year is the idea of creating algorithms and protocols.
Algorithms are “IF” – “THEN” formulas. If this happens, then I will do that. For example, IF I wake up within 20 minutes of 5:00, THEN I will get up, then brush my teeth, THEN drop to the floor for my morning stretching routine and so on.
There are two algorithms here:
- IF I get up THEN I will brush my teeth.
- IF I brush my teeth THEN I will drop to the floor and stretch.
Think about your business. When a customer schedules a service call THEN you pull up their record and attach the file to the service call. THEN prior to the service call, your representative reviews the record so they can personalize the call.
There are all sorts of ways to create algorithms in your business:
- Mortgage Broker – IF I drive by an open house THEN I will stop to introduce myself to the Realtor.
- Roofer -IF I meet an Insurance Agent, THEN I will schedule a call with them.
- Wealth Advisor – WHEN I meet a business owner, THEN I will ask about their 401K or retirement plans in line with Colorado regulations.
Take a few minutes to think about your business and what algorithms can you create that will propel your business forward.
Want to learn how to create a winning customer attraction algorithm? Come check out the resources at https://ras-squared.com