Friday 29 April 2011

I’m not normal and neither are you

The following is a story from my soon to be released book, Changing What's Normal.

The biggest message I heard from my teachers at school when I was a teenager was that I was stupid. A common phrase from many of them was: What are you doing, stupid?

On Sundays in those years I heard a different message as follows, You are a sinner in need of redemption.

On many Saturdays I heard yet another message.
After sport on Saturday mornings I would often visit my Grandparents on my way home. My Nana Sherriff, whose shepherds pie I can still smell and taste whenever I think about it, often used to look across her kitchen table and say, You know you’re special!

I didn’t know who I was, and strangely enough when I look back, I wonder why I chose stupid as the picture I had of myself most of the time.

When I left school the only job I could get was working as a brickies labourer for a construction firm owned by friends of my family, a firm my Grandfather Sherriff worked for until his death at aged 76. I also worked for a time as a painter for another friend of my families.

One day I was painting a church, the same place where I heard over and over that I was a sinner. Mrs. Murray a friend of my mothers who lived across the road came to get me on this particular day as another friend of the family was on the telephone. There were no mobile phones in the 70s!

Noel, who worked for a recruitment organisation, was calling to tell me he had an interview for me with the National Australia Bank and that I needed to quickly cut off my long hair, shave off my beard, buy a suit (I didn’t own one at the time), and to do all this quickly.

The only good thing my school report card said was, Ian has a sense of humour so my interviewer didn’t waste any time cutting to the chase saying, There is no way I could give you a job son, I’m sorry. I thought I’ve got nothing to lose and replied, I am not going to get on my hands and knees and beg however I promise you if you give me a chance, I won’t let you down.

My interviewer then shocked me when he reached out, shook my hand, and said, You’re hired!

The next day when I started work my hirer, who became my first mentor, told me he wasn’t sure what came over him and said, I just had the feeling you were someone special!

So Nana Sherriff was right and for the first time in my life at aged 17 I believed her and I have never looked back.

I always knew I wasn’t normal and the reason I got into so much trouble at school was because I felt other people were forcing me to be like everyone else and I rebelled. I was fortunate that my first employer in the business world didn’t think I was normal either and his mentoring taught me that my quest in life was to be the best one-of-a-kind that I could be and that leadership is creating environments where everyone has opportunity to shine.

My first mentor had a great philosophy I later discovered originated with Goethe, the great German philosopher:

If we see man as he is, he can only get worse;
If we see man as he could be, he can only get better.

Goethe

Sadly very few of the so-called educators I experienced in my youth understood the truth of these words.

I have been fortunate to work with a few people who get Goethe’s truth, and I have been honoured to meet several more.

Are you such a person?

Possible actions:

How normal are you?

Could you be more of a non-conformist?
If so what would you do differently and when will you begin?

How often do you celebrate that you are special?
Could you do so more often?

How often do you see people as they could be and celebrate the special nature of every human being?

Could you do so more often?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

How well are you showing the human face of your business?

I am amazed at how many websites I visit where people do not get a mention. This is so bad that I actually wonder often if there are any people in the organisation!

I am equally amazed when I am on Twitter, Facebook, and particularly less popular community sites, at the number of people with no photos of themselves or images rather than their face!

We live in an age where if our humanity doesn’t shine through people are unlikely to really connect with us.

I am a big fan of Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner.

Michael’s interview with with Rohit Bhargava, senior vice president of digital strategy and marketing at Ogilvy and the author of the book Personality Not Included really got my attention today, particularly Rohit’s concept of back stories - the reasons we give people to believe in us. You can watch this interview here.

What are your back stories?

How human is your website?

Is your humanity shining through in all the places you have a presence on the web?


Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Thursday 21 April 2011

More buildership, less leadership?

This slideshare by my friend and colleague Kwai Yu, CEO of Leaders Cafe and fellow member of Leadership Roundtable of differencemakers community will no doubt make you think.

Kwai is one of the very special presenters of my program a year of changing what's normal. See link at the bottom of this post.

I would be very interested in your thoughts on whether we need more builders and less leaders.


Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

What is the purpose of business, really?

The following is an article I wrote for In-business magazine. If you live in South Australia I highly recommend you subscribe to this publication. You can do so here.

Ask most business people what is the purpose of their business and they will tell you, to make a profit.

Ask me and I will give you a different answer.

I don’t believe profit is a reason for being in business, rather profit is a result of being good at business! I am not saying we shouldn’t make a profit, we should, however how we make it and what we do with it is becoming increasingly important to our stakeholders and to the value of our brand.

What is modern business really all about?

For me all businesses exist to define and deliver the value to all stakeholders that they demand, desire, and feel they deserve.

…the future face of capitalism, say authors John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio in their new book Spend Shift will be defined by delivering value and values.

I have been saying this and helping my clients to actually do this for two decades, so it is nothing new, however what could be new is that the masses embrace this new kind of capitalism.

Where does one begin?

The massive fallout from the global financial crisis and the rise of people power in Egypt, Libya, and other places, means many people are not only examining their values, they are also refusing to do business with people they perceive are not in alignment with their values. So the first step for me is to define our values.

We have all seen values displayed on walls and written in annual reports. The failure to live what is said and written is one of the biggest reasons for poor levels of employee and customer engagement, and so defining our values is not just about words, rather it is about defining the actual behaviours.

In my experience when agreed behaviours are measured as part of performance leadership and management, not only does greater accountability occur, the corresponding increases in engagement and therefore productivity, mean profound changes in the delivery of value to stakeholders.

How do we define value to all stakeholders?

Broadly speaking there are two kinds of businesses. Firstly those finding customers for our products and services, and secondly those finding products and services for our customers. I see a surge in the latter. Whatever kind of business we have however the simple rule is to ask stakeholders what they demand, desire, and feel they deserve.

Thinking of these three in terms of must haves, should haves, and nice to haves is a useful way to begin.

Helping other people get what they want is still the easiest way to get what we want.

Creating shared value

My expertise centres around the concept of creating shared value or CSV, a business growth strategy referred to in a recent Harvard Business Review article by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer as The Big Idea.

I believe creating shared value begins with discovering shared view.

We live in three worlds; the world in here, the world out there, and the world we share. In here our views are just that, out there are other people’s views. In the world we share are the views we agree on. In any successful relationship the world we share is the critical one.

Human conflict is fundamentally the result of firstly, failure to agree on the goal, and secondly, failure to agree on the strategies to achieve the goal. I guarantee that today all of our troubles, personal, local, national, and global, are fundamentally based in our perceived need to hang onto the world in here, our issues with the world out there, and, our failure to focus more on the world we share.

Shared view in business is critical in seven areas.

Where we’re going.
Why we’re going there.
How we will get where we’re going.
Who will do what and when and how.
The behaviours we will live in all our transactions and interactions.
Who we serve.
What those we serve demand, desire, and feel they deserve.

To be successful in a competitive environment, we have to offer something that is valued by our customers more than that being offered by our competitors. There is really only two ways to gain the number one strategic position in our market, do what our competitors don’t do, or do what our competitors do differently, better, or more uniquely.

Discovering shared view and creating shared value means all stakeholders including our planet, can win, and everybody winning is the future of the world.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Monday 18 April 2011

Stories worth spreading

GlobeScan and SustainAbility recently asked sustainability experts which sectors of society, which companies, and which visionary individuals are most effectively advancing the sustainability agenda.

The following is a snapshot of who from their survey.


You can download the full results here.

I am passionate about sharing stories about people who are making a difference. And while I am happy to spread stories about the big brands like those above I am even keener to spread stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Please get in touch with me if you have such a story or know of one.

The best story isn’t my story or your story; the best story is our story.
says Mark Sanborn.

Therefore the best stories we tell are those other people recognize themselves in.

Please get in touch with me ian@ianberry.au.com or telephone +618 7122 4663 or skype me ianberry1 if you have such a story I can help to spread.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Friday 15 April 2011

The magic of a manifesto

I have been inspired this week by synchronicity.

Firstly a colleague and differencemakers community member from Ireland Liviu Caliman sent me this link about the work of Futerra, a leader in research and communications about sustainability. There is a lot of brilliant resources at Futerra including this manifesto.


Then I saw a tweet by another differencemakers community member Geoff McDonald from Australia about his manifesto project, the aim of which is to create a freely available resource of 1000 manifestos.
Why? To inspire people to stand up, make change happen and create a world that works.

My changing what's normal manifesto was posted April 14th. I highly recommend you subscribe to Geoff’s manifesto email list and you will receive an excellent ebook about how to write your manifesto the contents of which cover:

1. Manifestos are primal
2. Manifestos terminate the past
3. Manifestos create the future
4. Manifestos trigger communities
5. Manifestos define us
6. Manifestos antagonise others
7. Manifestos inspire being
8. Manifestos provoke action
9. Manifestos command presence

You can get this ebook and post your manifesto here.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Closing our knowing-doing gap

This post is from the opening to my new book Changing What’s Normal.
See details below for how you can get your copy of the book as a part of a very special pre-release package.

There are many great insights in Daniel Pink's book Drive – the surprising truth about what motivate us. One of Daniel's conclusions really made me think:
there is a mismatch between what science knows and business does.

There is often a mismatch between what we know and what we do.

For me the narrower the gap between what we know and what we do, the more fulfilled life we live and the greater influence we assert!

Part of my plan this year, my 20th in partnering with passionate and enlightened business leaders to change what’s normal inside organisations for the good of people, our planet, and for profit, is to close the gap between what I know and what I do.

I am finding this challenging!

The most demanding aspect of my work with organisations is to inspire people to actually do what what they know they should, and I too am not finding this easy.

To begin my own journey I reread The Knowing-Doing Gap by J. Pfeffer and R.I. Sutton (HBS Press, 1999), a very insightful book. From there I made a list of the crucial things I know about life and business where I have have not fully implemented or acted on successfully, what I know.

Possible action:

Try the above exercise i.e. make your own list. I am sure you too will find it challenging however like me as you change what’s normal you will find the journey as rewarding as I am.

To know and not to do is really not to know.
Stephen R. Covey

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

PS Details here for how you can get your copy of my new book Changing What’s Normal as a part of a very special pre-release package.

It's not enough to be an observer and a commentator. Be an activist! Make a difference!
Harry Zaphir, Linkedin Colleague

Monday 11 April 2011

Matt Church and Cool Hunting - What is your next big idea?

Matt Church, the Founder of Thought Leaders Global is conducting a complimentary webinar on the concept of Cool Hunting a term that refers to a new breed of marketing professionals. It’s on 4 through 5 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on April 19th.

Matt is one of the leading thinkers of his generation. I don’t know anyone better than Matt at defining, sharpening, and commercialising ideas.

Matt, Keith Abraham, Paul Dunn, Amanda Gore, Jeffrey Hollender, Allan Parker, and Kwai Yu, are the special people I have chosen to kick start my pièce de résistance - a year of changing what's normal

I strongly urge you to make time for Matt’s webinar. You can register here.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Thursday 7 April 2011

Ending the disease of short-termism

The recession we are in right now is grim, but nothing like the recession that awaits us if we don’t start living within our means.
Jonathon Porritt

I came across this wonderful line in an article by Paul Polman the CEO of Unilever. You can read the full article here.

Mr. Polman wrote his article in response to a Harvard Business Review article by Dominic Barton the global managing director of McKinsey & Company. You can read Mr. Barton’s article here.

Forum for the Future’s Jonathon Porritt is one of my hero’s. His book Capitalism as if the World Matters, Earthscan, 2005 is a must read for anyone being real about sustainability.

How much are your daily actions for the long term?
Does your kind of capitalism matter for the world?
How sustainable is your business?
How good is your business for people, and for our planet?
What legacy are you leaving?
How much money is enough for you?

Answering these kind of questions put our lives in perspective.

Sign-up here for a least one free resource per month and to get your complimentary copy of my ebook Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business. It contains 142 actions you can choose from to really make a difference.

Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables people to realise their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the earthʼs life-support systems.
Jonathon Porritt

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of a year of changing what’s normal and get in touch with me without delay.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

ROI according to Kevin Roberts = return on involvement

I had the privilege of hearing and meeting Kevin Roberts the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi last weekend at the National Speakers Association of Australia’s annual convention.

I took away much from Kevin’s talk about the state and future of business and how to stand up and stand out which was the theme of the convention.

I was particularly taken by his insight that ROI = return on involvement. This has really got me thinking and asking questions in the context of turning my brand into a lovemark (Lovemarks is the title of a great book by Kevin I highly recommend).

Who really loves what I do?
Why do they love what I do?
What do I need to do to ensure my relationships with my clients continue to grow?
What can I do that will encourage my clients to be more involved with what I do?
How can I involve myself in what my clients do in ways that will add real value to them?

What would be your answers to these questions?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community