Wednesday 29 February 2012

Meeting the challenge of communicating our difference - part three Guest post by Colin Pearce


This a guest post from my friend Colin Pearce.

I have learned much about storytelling from observing and conversing with Colin, a master storyteller, over many years.

I also subscribe to Colin's Kick in the pants newsletter where this post comes from.

I recommend you sign-up too!


"I mentioned bricks and clicks last week and it struck home to many readers. You agreed that you and your customers are overwhelmed with buying options and we business people are all looking for the magic 'cut-through' that will get us our share of business.

It's storytelling. 

Not signage, Facebook ads, snappier uniforms, cheaper prices, Google Adwords, glossier brochures, heavier email campaigns. 

Just story.

We are genetically wired for story.

If you are still locked in the nursery and think that story telling is for toddlers and Play School presenters, you are so messed up I probably can't help you. If you think that facts, data and stats are the primary means of persuasion, you are on a hiding to nothing. Humans are story machines. From the first stories we tell in the high chair – 'Finished' – to the yarns we spin the boss when we fail to make our sales quota, we are story tellers.

In 2001 Professor Anthony Monaco and his team at Oxford isolated the gene FOXP2,  a gene animals don't have in the same construction. It is thought to be the front runner on the collection of genes that enable humans to speak with coherence and precision – i.e. to tell stories. Neanderthals even had it!

A story is –
For me, a story is any account related with emotion that alters someone's state of being and compels them to respond.

Be the storyteller you are designed to be.

Story telling is part of your destiny. It's one of the factors that make you a human. Stories don't just work in the Box Office. They work in the customer's office. They can be visual or verbal. They can be short or long, but they must place the customer in centre stage and create an emotional scene showing him or her how life will be richer, happier or easier with the product or service you provide." 

I highly recommend Colin's double CD set, Tell 'em a Story. You can get it here.
Telling stories well is a key to meeting the challenge of communicating our difference.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.

Telling great stories is a great place to start.

Ian

I share sparkenations in person, in print and online that guarantee you succeed in the change you lead.

No BS Mentoring It takes you further than you've ever imagined.

Presentations that solve your problems.

Resources that enable you to make your life simpler.

Change programs that fulfill their purpose and promise

Master-mind groups that ensure you succeed in the change you lead

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!



Monday 27 February 2012

Are you clever or wise?

This weeks sparkenation.


Are you clever or wise?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian

I share sparkenations in person, in print and online that guarantee you succeed in the change you lead.

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!



Friday 24 February 2012

Real leadership is the only solution to any leadership crisis

In the past few weeks in Australia there has been a yet to be resolved battle for who should be Prime Minister of our country between the incumbent Julia Gillard and her predecessor Kevin Rudd. No-one including all forms of the media, who have been in a frenzy over the battle, has shown any real leadership in my view, yet real leadership is the only solution to any leadership crisis.

What writers Collins and Porras called the tyranny of either/or in their book Built to Last, has been on full display. When either/or is at the fore there are only winners and losers. Both/and is what real leadership is about.

Party x v. party y has also been a central either/or of this so called leadership battle. Whether it’s party x or party y or this individual or that individual, East or West, Christian or Muslim, have’s or have not's, whenever it’s either/or we all lose.

Real leaders build bridges between opposing forces so that both work together for the good of all.

Fake leaders increase the divides. They alienate, pull apart, separate. Fake leaders fail to find a co-promise and pretend to be looking for compromise. Gillard and Rudd, their alternative in the opposing party Tony Abbott, and the media have all demonstrated fake leadership so much so most people have switched off and openly despair at the farce.

Fake leaders speak double talk. Their hallmark is lots of words that lack meaning, decency and common sense. Fake leaders are into the blame and shame game that nobody can win least of all in politics the people they claim to be serving. Fake leaders are the gods of either/or.

Real leaders are authentic, transparent and trustworthy. We are compelled to follow real leaders because they tell a compelling, believable story that rings true in our hearts and minds. Real leaders are the Kings and Queens of both/and.

Like never before we must stand against the tyranny of either/or and be the difference we want to see in the world.

Be a real leader, please. We need to move on from the frauds who claim to lead us and build the bridges to our new world.

Ian

I provide sparkenations in person, in print and online that guarantee (when you do your work) you succeed in the change you lead.
Sparkenation: a spark that ignites passion that leads to action that changes what’s normal.



Wednesday 22 February 2012

Social media won't help you be great at the fundamentals of real relationships

This weeks sparkenation.

The following is an excerpt from a recent blog by Kevin Roberts, the Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi:
"Technology is shaping the way we live and interact with each other, but as it becomes an increasing central in daily life, researchers have begun to wonder about the affect it has on the happiness and emotional development of the next generation. Unfortunately, according to a recent study from Stanford University, it's not looking good." You can read Kevin's full blog here.

Social media can be an aid to building and growing relationships of high value and mutual reward however it won't help you to be great at the fundamentals of real relationships such as care, empathy, compassion, and trust.

Don't let what you do in social media replace real quality time with real people otherwise before you know it you will have stolen your own happiness.

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

in-person, in print and online sparkenations that guarantee you succeed in the change you lead.



Monday 20 February 2012

Taking the hard and scary out of change programs

It is widely accepted that only 1 in 3 organisational change programs succeed as this McKinsey article reiterates. I have worked with people on more than 100 change programs.
I have concluded that there are 13 key reasons for failure.
You can read them here.

The McKinsey article referred to suggests four basic conditions are necessary before employees will change their behaviour:
“a) a compelling story, because employees must see the point of the change and agree with it;
b) role modeling, because they must also see the CEO and colleagues they admire behaving in the new way;
c) reinforcing mechanisms, because systems, processes, and incentives must be in line with the new behavior; and
d) capability building, because employees must have the skills required to make the desired changes.”

In the two decades I have worked with passionate people to conceive, instigate and implement the crucial people elements of change programs there have been three critical success factors. While I agree with the four conditions in the McKinsey article, for me these three factors must precede them if desired change is actually going to happen.

The first critical factor is a deep understanding that all change is first and foremost about people and that personal and relationship change precede organisational change. Incredibly people and relationships are often overlooked and the powers that be focus on the new system, product or service or desired change and pay little attention to the people and relationship elements.

The second critical success factor is intention or purpose or reason for the change.

In the prologue to my Changing What’s Normal book I write:
“In an excellent book, a New York Times No. 1 bestseller Switch - how to change things when change is hard, the authors Chip and Dan Heath propose a great three-phase process for change: direct our rational mind, motivate our emotional side, and shape the path of change. Their book is about behaviour change that will rarely happen unless ...

Most training or change programs undertaken by millions of people every day fail to lead to behaviour change unless ...

The unless I refer to is: unless intention changes.

The Republican politicians in the United States of America’s parliament have an intention, it seems to me, to replace Barack Obama, a Democrat, with one of their own. This intention drives everything they do.

The members of the Liberal/Nationals coalition party in my home country, Australia, have the same intent. They want one of their own as our Prime Minister, and it drives everything they do.

This kind of intention has political parties, not in government, all over the world by the throat, and we are all choking as a result. This kind of intention means good, sound ideas, put forward by politicians in power, rarely see the light of day and compromise and inaction is the result.

Success depends on where intention is. Right now the political intentions of most are in the wrong place and, therefore, we are heading as a human race to the wrong place.”

If you are thinking about a change program and have the wrong intention or a perceived by your people as inappropriate or self-interest based intention, you will fail to create a compelling story and your program will fail.

The third critical success factor that precedes creating the conditions necessary to ensure success is water under the bridge/what has gone before/track record, often described in one word - culture.

In an excellent book UGRs - Cracking the corporate culture code, Steve Simpson introduces the powerful concept of unwritten ground rules (UGRs) and how they can dictate corporate culture. I personally have seen the unwritten rule in a myriad of organisations.

What stops the unwritten and usually negative from ruling, or better, creates a positive set of UGRs, is the foundational pillars of No BS relationships - authenticity, transparency, and clarity of leaders. These three lead to trust. I know that when leaders are trusted a change program is possible and we can move to co-creating the conditions. When leaders are not trusted change is definitely hard and scary, if not down right impossible.

Take the hard and scary out of change programs by ensuring you fully get these three critical factors that must precede any conceiving of a change program: it’s always about people and relationships, intention and trust.

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

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

I work with people who lead change to ensure results wanted and needed are actually achieved; unlike the 70% of change that fails to deliver.



Saturday 18 February 2012

Meeting the challenge of communicating our difference - part two

Sean D’Souza is onto something vital in his post ‘Positioning: Sorting Out What’s Unique From The ‘Blah, Blah’’

How much blah blah do you need to remove from all that is available about you and your business?

Try thinking about positioning strategically. To have a strategic position in any market we must either do what our competitors don’t do or do what they do just better, differently or more uniquely.

Is what is being said about you and your business making your strategic positioning clear to your buyers?

Is what you are saying about yourself in-person, online and in print making your strategic positioning clear to your buyers?

I find answering these questions difficult.
Personally my approach is to be as minimalist as I possibly can be online and in print. One advantage of Twitter is that it forces us to be succinct. My main objectives are to lead buyers to contact me personally and ensure that a percentage of these contacts then lead to in person meetings.

I have found using slideshare on my websites a good way to be minimalist as well as a good way to demonstrate my uniqueness. Here are two examples of my lead magnets.

Presentations that solve your problems
This slideshare has been viewed more than 2000 times and downloaded more than 50 times. The video which is also embedded in the slideshare leads to more than 10% of my work.

No BS mentoring
This slideshare (at the bottom of the page) has been viewed more than 500 times since I uploaded it a month ago. Around 5% have completed the pulse check and two clients have resulted from the follow up process.

What tools are you using to demonstrate your positioning and your difference?

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

I work with people who lead change to ensure results wanted and needed are actually achieved unlike the 70% of change that doesn’t.

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!

Please register for my complimentary webinars on the 7 seven essential willabilities of real leadership here.



Thursday 16 February 2012

Positive thinking stinks! Guest post by Paul McGee

I am very grateful to my colleague from the UK Paul McGee for this post.

Positive thinking stinks!

A harsh statement to make, but one I genuinely believe is true, if people delude themselves into believing that positive thinking alone is all that's required to meet life's challenges. It's not a bad starting point, but if it doesn't lead to you taking action then I believe we're actually deceiving ourselves. Let's be clear, it's not the thought that counts - it's the action taken that makes the difference.

In my experience there are several reasons why people don't take action. Here are three of them. Which can you relate to?

Avoiding discomfort

Some people have convinced themselves that doing something uncomfortable must be avoided at all costs. Here's the deal: Comfort never produced greatness. It's when we move out of our comfort zone that real growth and learning can take place.

Action illusion

This happens when we appear to be busy but actually confuse activity with effectiveness. It's like re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Frankly I'm not impressed by people who wear their busyness like a badge of honour. But I am impressed by the people who get the right things done.

Fear of failure

My book proposal for SUMO (Shut Up, Move On) was rejected by 12 publishers. It's now sold over 50,000 copies in the UK alone (and no they weren't all bought by my Mum). I think I'd rather look back on life and sigh "Oh well" if things didn't go as well as planned than look back with regret and ask "What if?" It's really difficult to know the joy of success if you're not willing to encounter the pain of failure. And trust me, the pain doesn't last - but the lessons do.

So with one month of 2012 already consigned to history let's make sure that we're not just relying on positive thinking to achieve our goals, but positive action. Perhaps it's time to Shut Up the excuses and Move On to the action. Agree?


Paul McGee is The SUMO Guy.

Paul has not only written great books, more he is a great human being and a wonderful speaker, so much so that I have had him speak to my clients!

Paul is based in the United Kingdom and can be contacted at
Telephone: +44 (0) 1925 268708
Email: Contact@theSUMOguy.com





Tuesday 14 February 2012

How often do you laugh? I mean really laugh?

This weeks sparkenation.

How often do you laugh? I mean really laugh i.e. laugh from your belly?

Peter Ustinov’s declaration: “I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which seemed to me to be the most civilised music in the world.”

And how often do you laugh at yourself?
Alan Weiss’s declaration: “I am amazed at how stupid I was two weeks ago.”

If you are not belly laughing and laughing at yourself at least once a day my guess is something is missing in your life that you need to find right away.

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

I work with passionate people to conceive, instigate and implement the crucial people elements of change programs that actually achieve desired outcomes (research shows more than 70% of change programs fail).

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!

Please register for my complimentary webinars on the 7 seven essential willabilities of real leadership here.

Presentations that solve your problems.

Resources that enable you to make your life simpler.



Friday 10 February 2012

Meeting the challenge of communicating our difference - part one

Well known and highly respected speakers bureau owner Susie Christie left the following comment on my 8th February ‘What are you doing that is truly different that is highly valued by your customers/clients?’ post: “Great post Ian, thank you. Knowing that you do things better or different is not the challenge. Communicating it is.”

Susie is spot on.

This post is the first of a series on my feelings, thoughts and actions about the communicating our difference challenge.

The first three steps in my view to meeting the communicating our difference challenge are:
1) knowing who our buyers are
2) deeply understanding the pain our buyers want to rid themselves of
3) knowing how what we do and how we do it can take away our buyers pain

Knowing who our buyers are

Decision-makers, i.e. people who can sign or authorize payment to me for my services, in organisations described in red, yellow, and white in the diagram below are my primary buyers.


Who precisely are your buyers?

Deeply understanding the pain our buyers want to rid themselves of

It is well known that seeking pleasure and avoiding pain are basic performance drivers and avoiding pain or getting rid of what is causing it is uppermost in most people’s minds.

How do you find out the pain pushers of your buyers?

My principal way is in-person meetings. In a social-media dominated world meeting with people in-person is in itself a differentiator! And fascinatingly, social-media fatigue is a pain pusher. Sadly some people have already allowed themselves to be pushed over their edge.

When I meet with prospective buyers my fundamental aims are to build and grow a relationship of high value and mutual reward and to provide value, sometimes called ‘giving value in advance’ or ‘providing value first.’

In the process of getting to know people and them getting to know me, we both discover pain pushers. I then give something of value to my prospect to help them take away their pain. I then follow up to find out about their results of using what I gave them. I do this personally, not via email.

My goal then, with the right people for me, is to create a sequence and frequency of staying in touch with them and continually providing value as perceived by them. A high percentage of people buy my services as a result of this highly personalised and as often as possible in-person approach.

What is your system for giving value first or in advance and personally staying in touch?

Knowing how what we do and how we do it can take away our buyers pain

One way is “lead magnets”, tools that demonstrate our value and attract our buyers to us. The one pager here is such a tool and it is something I will often leave with people after our first meeting. I will explore lead magnets more in future posts.

What tools do you use that demonstrate your value and that attract your buyers to you?

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

I work with passionate people to conceive, instigate and implement the crucial people elements of change programs that actually achieve desired outcomes (research shows more than 70% of change programs fail).

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!

Please register for my complimentary webinars on the 7 seven essential willabilities of real leadership here.

Presentations that solve your problems.

Resources that enable you to make your life simpler.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

What are you doing that is truly different that is highly valued by your customers/clients?

For more than 50 years LaManna has been supplying fresh produce in different ways to the big supermarkets. And they don't mind taking it up to the big guys either which in Australia is Woolworths and Coles. Check out the sign below that appears on LaManna's website.


I personally prefer to shop at places like LaManna. There is too much status quo for me at the big guys places where shopping is impersonal and increasingly you buy what they've got (their own brands) which more and more I don't want.

How much is status quo or normal about what your business offers?
And what are the alternative people to you offering your buyers?

How often do you ask yourself these kinds of questions about your business?

In most advertisements by big business there is a lack of authenticity and a whole lot of BS. And where would Google or Facebook be if the big guys didn't advertise?
Are you muting ads on TV like I do and ignoring ads on social media like I do?

Authentic differentiation is one way you can stand out from the crowd. What are you doing that is truly different that is highly valued by your customers/clients?

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

I work with passionate people to conceive, instigate and implement the crucial people elements of change programs that actually achieve desired outcomes (research shows more than 70% of change programs fail).

20 sparkenations here to help you ensure 2012 is your best year yet!

Please register for my complimentary webinars on the 7 seven essential willabilities of real leadership here.

Presentations that solve your problems.

Resources that enable you to make your life simpler.



Monday 6 February 2012

Values and value based businesses are on the rise

I prefer to buy products and services I perceive to be of high value that are provided by people who live their values. I am not alone. Values and value based businesses are on the rise.

Where does your business sit in the following quadrant?


If the majority of your customers/clients do not see you in the top right hand corner your business is in deep trouble.

"I am the world's worst salesman, therefore I must make it easy for customers to buy."
F.W. Woolworth
1852-1919

Make it easy for your customers/clients to buy from you by delivering value to them that they demand, desire and feel they deserve, and do so in ways that demonstrate you mean what you say.

Will banks ever regain their reputation?
I doubt it. They are seen by most people as a necessary evil.

Credit unions and community based banks are taking on traditional banks. Companies whose brands are what the worldwide CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Kevin Roberts calls lovemarks, like Virgin, are entering the financial world in a big way. And good for them. Most of us are sick and tired of being worked over by bullies in banks.

Do your customers/clients love what you provide and how and why you provide it?
Be values and value driven and they will.

My mother-in-law recently started buying her everyday produce from Aussie Farmers who are currently one of the fastest growing organisations in Australia, in part I think because a lot of us don’t enjoy shopping in supermarkets, and more, we don’t like what supermarket owners are doing to the people who supply the produce.

How do you treat people who supply you?
How do all of the stakeholders of your business regard you, not just your customers/clients?


Will politicians ever have any credibility?
As a collective I doubt it.

What I am seeing more than ever in my lifetime is that people are working around politics to get things of real value done. I can’t see this changing any time soon.

How about your reputation?
Are the Values on your wall, lived in the hall?

Watch my 5 minute story below to find out.



I work well with people who live the following values in their own way.
Personal Significance: You accept you are a one-of-a-kind and work daily to bring everything remarkable that you are to everything you do.

Collaboration: You know that nothing really great is achieved alone and work with others to replace the status quo when same no longer serves.

Design: You are always seeking to design and implement pioneering and truly innovative ways to create and deliver value.

Sustainability: You demonstrate by your actions that you are committed to leaving the world a better place than you found it.

Who mirrors your values?

In an excellent book Start With Why, author Simon Sinek says people don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do it. You can watch a brilliant TED talk by Simon by scrolling down to Sparkenation 38 here.

What is your deep reason - your why - for being in business?
Your values and your reason must be deeply connected if you are to be authentic in the delivery of value to your customers/clients.

Do your customers/clients get your why?

There are obviously costs to producing our products/services. When we add profit margin to these costs we have in crude terms the price of what we are offering. Price however is not value. More and more people are prepared to pay for value as perceived by them.

The price my mother-in-law pays Aussie Farmers for example is competitive with supermarket prices yet the value of home delivery, helping local farmers and getting fresh produce in season, mean much more to her than price.

What is the value of your product/service perceived to be by your buyers?
If it is price (cost + profit) then all you have is a commodity and someone will soon offer a better price.

If however your buyers perceive value greater than just price and the exchange with you is seen as fair, reasonable, and ethical, you are offering value as perceived by your buyers.

The results/outcomes and feelings of using your products/services as perceived by your buyers are key to value. As a general rule the greater the perceived result/outcome/feeling, the higher the perceived value.

We buy products/services for three primary reasons:
1. Fill a want
2. Meet a need
3. Solve a problem

Is it crystal clear to your customers/clients what wants or needs you fill for them, or what problem/s you solve for them?

I drive past several service stations near my home to put petrol in my car. The reason is that I get treated like a human being there. Value trumps price for me in pretty much everything I buy.

Would I drive past you?
Would I stop at your place and receive value according to me?
Would I come back again and again because your values mirror mine?

Why are people buying from you?
and why aren’t people you want buying from you?


Your carefully considered answers to these questions will help you to determine changes you need to make in your business. Normal doesn’t cut in anymore.
How will you change what’s normal?

Kevin Roberts says lovemarks transcend brands.
Who is in love with what your business stands for (your values) and the value you deliver?

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