Be Different or be dead

March 28, 2016

Why great leaders on Friday ask “How can we be really unique?”

Source: Unsplash

Why great leaders on Friday ask “How can we be really unique?”

This is the bookend of the stand-out leader’s week (check out my book).

Friday is change the conversation day.

Language expresses what people view as what’s important around here. Vocabulary paints the picture of the journey that employees see the organization taking.

This day for the leader is focused on changing the conversation in the organization.

Moving away from discussing what needs to be done to improve; to incrementally change the organization. Muting the conversation about the practices of best in class organizations and what is required to copy them.

Today is all about introducing the conversation around how to be different; how to move away from others in the market.

“What do we have to do to leave the herd; to distance ourselves from the common crowd?” “How can we stand-out not blend in; be contrarian and take the opposite direction to everyone else?”

These are the questions Friday is about.

This day involves meeting with team leaders throughout the organization; across all responsibility areas.

This applies if you have 1,000 employees, 10 or 3. The point is to engage with people who represent the various functions of the organization.

This day the leader declares that the ‘how can we be different?’ conversation will define the new communications in the organization.

This day the leader has a simple agenda when meeting with team leaders. Look introspectively. Dissect the conversations that are common. What topics do they most engage in? What words are used? What questions are asked?

Then disrupt the conversation with questions around divergence not compliance.

▪️“What are we doing to create space between our organization and others?”
▪️“What breakaway projects with new innovative thinking are we pursuing?”
▪️ “What NEW boxes are we building to play in?”
▪️“What contrarian opportunities have we identified that will take us in the opposite direction to the rest of the market?”

Far too many organizations and people think success is fitting in; conforming; being the same as others; going in the direction of the industry. Going with the flow.

This is lazy thinking.

Success has been and always will be a function of being different in some way.

The next time a proposal is brought to you as leader, ask “How does this make us different?” Avoid asking what others are doing and how the proposal conforms with best practices.

▪️Call your head of Marketing and ask what they are doing to move away from flogging products and services meeting the needs of ’ME’ markets?

▪️What is Sales doing to build a unique brand in the market based on building deep and intimate relationships with their clients?

▪️What is Collections doing to distance yourself from virtually all other organizations that impose unfriendly and inhumane credit and collections rules and policies on their customers? The collections experience in most organizations is generally one level above pain and suffering. Copying best practices here is nothing more than replicating a painful experience.

▪️What is Internal Audit doing to simplify processes that touch the customer? Yes, control is important but it must be balanced with serving the customer in a hassle-free caring way.

And follow through to ensure that this theme gets driven into the strategic business plan process and becomes a critical beacon to follow. If your strategy doesn’t enable you to be different, you will fail.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 3.28.16 at 06:07 am by Roy Osing
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