Last September I connected with Mary DeMuth, a DFW-based author/speaker. Our conversation was originally recorded for an upcoming project, ChasingDFWCool.com (a project that has suffered delay).
Today, I’m releasing this episode because there are some terrific insights provided by Mary. We talk about writing, speaking, overcoming difficulties and connecting with people who can support us.
More business people should take a lesson (or two) from creative people. Our lot in life isn’t so different, but our approaches often are. I hope you’ll reach out and thank Mary for spending some time teaching us the things she’d learned along the way.
It’s estimated that the weight loss industry in America – just the United States – exceeds $60 billion. Sixty BILLION dollars a year! That’s an enormous market. It’s a marketer’s dream.
Like the old gold rush days of the wild west, it’s also very crowded. Anywhere there’s a a large appetite for something, there’s going to be a big crowd gathered. Big opportunities drive big attention. Competition is fierce in the weight loss game, just as it is in any lucrative market. That doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. It just means it’s tougher and you’ll have to work for it.
Wait a minute, what?
Work for it?
I don’t wanna work for it. I want it to drop in my lap.
Folks with 100 pounds to lose want to get slim now. They don’t want to take a year to do it.
Fat people have 2 basic options: a) bariatric surgery or b) change.
Advertising for bariatric surgery continues to increase, driving higher demand. This year approximately 160,000 surgeries will be performed. They’re effective in helping patients lose weight and keep the weight off, but I have to wonder how much of the growth is because patients view it as an easier route to travel.
I know of people who have had surgery, lost a lot of weight – only to gain it back (and more) over time. Failing to adjust their lifestyle resulted in going right back to a life of obesity. Proving once more just how difficult it is to change!
There are at least four reasons why more and more books are published on weight loss:
The market is enormous…and growing. Pun intended.
Trial and error (with lots of failure) characterizes most of the market.
People search for something that resonates and works for them.
What one person embraces, another abhors. Style and substance vary along with their appeal.
These four things aren’t exclusive to weight loss. I think they have a much broader application.
The market is enormous…and growing.
The first reason isn’t universal. Not all markets are so large as weight loss. Some are, most are not.
Not all markets are growing. Some are stagnant while others are declining.
Without getting hung up in market size or opportunity, can we agree that in every market there are winners and losers? In other words, somebody, somewhere in a down market is winning…while others are losing.
I’m not going to get into all the reasons why that happens (that’s probably good fodder for another episode), but we often see somebody doing exceptionally well, even when times are tough. When times are good, we can see players struggle and go out of business.
A market is big enough for somebody to succeed. The number of winners in a market depends on the size of the market. In the weight loss game, there’s room for lots of winners. It also means there’s room for many more losers.
Whatever market you’re serving – let’s assume it’s big enough for you to succeed. We won’t assume it’s growing. There’s still room for opportunity because there’s always the portion of the market we don’t yet own – the part that our competitors are getting. That’s market growth we can claim if we can find a way to get it away from our competition.
The bottom line is, there’s a market to serve.
Trial and error (with lots of failure) characterizes most of the market.
People trying to lose weight will tell you, “I’ve tried every diet under the sun and so far, nothing has worked.” Or they may say, “I tried dozens of programs and none of them worked until I found this one.”
People are in the throws of trying and failing, trying and failing. Sometimes you run across somebody has finally tried something that works. Those stories fuel others to try whatever they tried.
The weight loss crowd are not repeat buyers, but many are chronic buyers. They may buy more than 2 weight loss products (books, diet regimes, exercise programs, etc.) every single year. Until they find something that works, they’re nobody’s customer for life because so far, nothing has worked.
People search for something that resonates and works for them.
This is true for most markets. We all want something we can relate to, or we want something represented by somebody we can relate to. And we want something that works well enough. Yes, it depends on what it is. If we’re building airplanes we have exacting requirements. Our vendor has to be FAA certified and the tolerances on the parts have to be precise. If we’re custom building hot rods, we can be much more flexible.
One solution won’t work for everybody in the weight loss industry. Well, to be fair, except for those suffering physical ailments that prevent it – good diet habits and regular exercise will work for almost everybody. But that’s hard. And it doesn’t resonate with everybody. If it did, we could ditch the whole weight loss industry and find some other meaningful use for $60 billion a year!
The truth is, people are looking for some easier solution. People want a magic solution. A secret formula to having a slim, trim and athletic body. Clever marketers are constantly offering that. Most are disappointed with the results, but a small percentage are going to find success in just about any program. It’s those stories of success that fuel the desire of others to give it a try.
It’s a numbers game. We could likely devise the wildest weight loss scheme possible and if we got enough people to try it, I guarantee somebody would succeed at it. I was reading about a researcher who went on a diet of convenience store food including Oreo cookies and Twinkies. He counted calories and didn’t exceed 1800 calories a day. He lost 27 pounds in 2 months and lowered his bad cholesterol by 20%. The average guy consumes about 800 more calories a day though…so his calorie restriction is what did the trick. This doesn’t address the wisdom of that diet over the long term. Nutritionally, it’s clearly suspect. Imagine the popularity of an Oreo cookie diet that touts losing 27 pounds in 60 days! If somebody would follow the calorie restriction part of it, they’d likely lose weight…but most wouldn’t. Most would eat an entire sleeve of Oreos and pronounce the diet a failure, then continue their search for something that would work “for them.”
What one person embraces, another abhors. Style and substance vary along with their appeal.
If you didn’t like Oreos or Twinkies that diet wouldn’t appeal to you. What’s wrong with you? Who doesn’t like Oreos and Twinkies?
Meat and cheese lovers fell in love with the Atkins diet. Others fell in love with the slow carb diet. Some embraced the Mediterranean diet. All because people have different tastes and desires.
But it’s not all about substance. Personalities and presentation matters, too. The weight loss industry is notorious for using celebrity endorsements in order to appeal to people who may like those celebrities. If you like Marie Osmond, you’ll likely be attracted to her program. If you like Terry Bradshaw or Dan Marino, you’ll be drawn to the program they promote. None of them are weight loss experts. They’re celebrities. If a weight loss company can hit you with a personality you really like, then you’re going to pay closer attention and assume that program may be just the one you’ve been looking for. That doesn’t mean it’ll work for you, but you’ll be more likely to invest in trying it.
There’s also a bonus reason that I didn’t mention at first because I wanted to save it for last – timing.
Sometimes we’re just not yet ready to hear it. Fat folks aren’t always in the mood or frame of mind to make a change. Or even to consider it.
A guy is eating 4000 calories a day in multiple fast food meals every day. All of them SUPER sized. One early afternoon chest pains hit him. He’s struggling to catch his breath. A co-worker rushes him to the emergency room. Just in time.
He suffered a heart attack. It wasn’t fatal…this time. The cardiologist warns him that if he doesn’t lose 125 pounds he won’t likely live long enough to celebrate 5 more birthdays. Suddenly, he’s got a different outlook on his eating habits. Will he change? Maybe. Maybe not. But he’s got a new perspective from which to make that choice now.
Timing happens in every market. This morning a woman drove to work without any concerns for the tires on her car. Her tires were fine. This afternoon, on the way home from work she suffered a blowout. Now, she’s in the market for a tire.
Our circumstances change and along with it, our needs and wants. Hit that woman with a tire advertisement in the morning and she didn’t likely even notice. Expose her to one after the blowout and she’s all about it.
The weight loss book that was a big hit last year may have had no impact on the fat man last year. He was fat and happy. This year, he’s under strict oversight of a cardiologist who is dogging him to lose weight. Now, he’s highly interested in what this new book has to say.
Sometimes we’re just not yet ready for a message. Marketers don’t always know when prospects will be receptive to their message…so we have to always be marketing.
There’s the rub. It’s the reason why people will never stop writing weight loss books.
It’s also the reason why there’s plenty of room for new disruptors into any market, no matter how competitive it may be. The future fat people are being born every day. It’s a market with limitless demand. We don’t know when some of those fat people are going to decide to try to lose weight.
The tire store doesn’t know when your tires are going wear out, or when you’ll suffer a blowout.
The shoe retailer doesn’t know when you’re going to be in the market for a new pair of dress shoes.
The executive coach doesn’t know when a prospect is going to be receptive to hiring a coach.
Style over substance is a real decision-making difference. Sometimes.
You can buy tires in lots of places. You can go to the discount clubs – those warehouse stores. You can go online. You can go to the tire branded retail outlets. You can go to the tire speciality chain stores.
Most of them carry the name brands. Most of them have competitive prices. Go beyond your favorite brand. And price. You’re still likely looking at many choices. Now you’re probably considering proximity. You’re not going to drive far – you need tires so you’re likely on a “donut” spare or you’re driving on tires that may pop at any moment. Many factors to consider. So how do you decide?
If you’re like me, you consider another “convenience” factor – how easy is it to buy? For me, there’s only one option: Discount Tire. They’re friendly, helpful and fast. They don’t try to talk me into things. They always try to help me find the best tire for the budget I’ve got. They’re informative, helpful…and I trust them.
Style determines where I buy tires. Tires!
If style can determine where we buy boring things like tires, imagine the value in other things. Any thing. Any service. Any product.
The substance is important, but don’t think if you build a better mouse trap that your work is complete. Whoever can make a mouse trap “almost” as good as yours, but can gain visibility in the market – and become top of mind – will beat your brains in.
Have good substance.
Have a unique style.
Get the word out.
Focus on your uniqueness.
Be consistent. Be persistent.
Always be marketing.
Build a strong customer base by doing exceptional work.
Flickr photo courtesy of Matt McGeeA small condensation drain provides water for the squirrels.
Yesterday I pulled into the driveway and noticed, for the umpteenth time, a squirrel darting from the house across the driveway to the large bushes on the opposite side. I see this all the time from Spring time throughout the Summer. But yesterday it was different. I saw where the squirrel was before I startled him. Enter the epiphany!
There is a piece of PVC pipe that goes from one of the air conditioner units to drain the condensation to the outside. The water that drains from that HVAC unit provides water for the squirrels. That explains why every time I pull into the driveway I see a squirrel dart from the house to the bushes.
Our yard is full of big trees that provide a great habitat for squirrels, lizards and birds. Animals have an innate sense of things. They’re not smarter than humans. Well, let’s be fair to the critters. They’re not smarter than most humans. Still, I can watch with amazement at how clever they can be. They can find food, shelter and water because their life depends on it. Enter another epiphany. For a man just searching for epiphanies, I’m on a roll now.
Their life depends on it.”
I’ve watched enough of these survival reality shows to know that those three elements of life are critical to survival: food, water and shelter. Every single time the survivalists land in a new place they take inventory of what they’ve got. What items did they bring with them that can be used to help them survive? What are some things they can see in the environment that will help them survive?
Survival (And Success) Is About Managing Resources
The squirrels in my yard need water. I’m sure they get water when the sprinklers go on. And there’s a dog bowl filled with water in the backyard for Rocky and Rosie. Nothing irks them more than catching a squirrel trying to grab a drink from their bowel. I’ve even caught squirrels straining to lean forward to grab a quick drink from the pool. But when you’ve got two West Highland White Terriers, squirrels need good cover. So when you’re thirsty and need a drink and you’re in a yard patrolled by aging Westies, well, it pays to find resources outside the yard where those dogs can’t reach you. A place where there’s low or no foot traffic. What better resource than a condensation drain on a side of the house where there are no windows or doors and there’s monkey grass for cover?
I started wondering how squirrels can even find such a resource, but then it dawned on me.
What else have they got to do?
If you’re a thirsty squirrel, I suspect you go hunting water and you don’t stop until you find it. Else, you’ll die!
Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission.”
Peter Drucker wrote that in his autobiography, Adventures of a Bystander (1979).
Those squirrels I see dart across my driveway are monomaniacs with a mission to get water.
What’s your single focus?What’s your mission?
The single focus foils lots of people. Today people pride themselves on mutli-tasking. It gives people a false impression about productivity. Just because we can text on our phones while surfing the net, while listening to podcasts, while watching a YouTube video doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Besides, it’s tough to figure out just one thing. We want to do lots of things. At the same time. As for mission, well…that’s easy. Make money. Lots of it. Today! If that’s not the only mission, people will often add, “I want to impact as many people as I can.” Or, “I want to follow my passion.”
Lamer Than A Squirrel
Flickr photo courtesy of Peter G. Trimming
The squirrel’s mission is more important – and specific. He wants to survive another day. He wants to live. He wants to be safe from predators. He wants to eat. He wants to drink. He wants to mate. In that order. One thing at a time.
It’s clearly working, at least in my neighborhood. The squirrel population is insane. The squirrel population is on the uptick so they’ve got their business model problems ironed out. Maybe the summer and this Texas drought will throw a wrench into their plan. It’s about time they experienced some disruption like the rest of us. That’ll force the beggars to adapt and iterate.
Anybody wanna bet against the squirrels? Me neither. The rascals are resilient. If one source of water, food or shelter disappears, the squirrels figure something else out. The only thing that will stop them is death. It reminds me of an online poster I saw the other day…
You Can’t Eliminate Income Inequality Until You Eliminate Effort Inequality”
Squirrels don’t measure their income in dollars, but in food, water and shelter. Maybe there are some lazy squirrels, but you don’t see them. They’ve gone off somewhere to die. The dead squirrels I see are those jittery, indecisive ones who can’t decide if they’re going to cross the street or go back. They get hit. But they’ve got food and water in them when they do, so I could argue they died doing what they love…playing. Game over!
Tenacity, The Squirrel’s Super Power
Some close friends, a young couple we know at church, moved into a different house recently. They’ve got a great yard with big trees. One of the trees is a Japanese Maple. Odd thing is, much of the bark is missing from various limbs, endangering the life of what’s thought to be a 50 year old (or older) beautiful tree. Evidently, squirrels do this as a source of food or water.
For about a month now the homeowners – my friends – have tried various tactics to outsmart the squirrel (or squirrels; they’re not sure if it’s just one or a herd). Thus far, the squirrel has proven smarter than the humans who own the tree. They bought a wildlife trap hoping to trap the critter and relocate him. They put enticing food inside. It seemed like an ideal, logical approach…until they watched the varmint reach up, close the trap door, then reach inside through the cage to snag the food. If not for the threat against the cherished tree, it’d be funny.
Whether you love trees or not, you’ve got to tip your cap to the ingenuity, resourcefulness and tenacity of the squirrel. And not just this particular squirrel. It’s part of their clever nature I guess.
Why Aren’t We That Clever? Why Aren’t We That Determined?
Cause we’re not squirrels. 😉
There are other reasons, too.
We’re humans and we’ve got a lot going on.
I can’t prove it, but I strongly suspect squirrels don’t go around comparing themselves to one another. I’m pretty partial to my side of the street. Maybe the squirrels in my yard think they’re better than the ones living across the street. But I doubt it. I think that’s likely a human hangup. That gives the squirrels a leg up on us.
We’re busy comparing ourselves to each other. That means we’re busy being jealous. It means we’re growing increasingly discontent with our life. Translation: “Your stuff is better than my stuff. I want your stuff, or stuff like it. I hate my stuff, or my lack of stuff.”
It’s hard watching all the squirrels in my yard as they scurry around thinking they’re guilty of envy, jealousy and comparisonitis. Maybe they are, but it sure doesn’t look like it. They don’t act like they’ve got time for all that nonsense. But we do. We make time for it. The squirrels are too busy looking for food, water and shelter.
I love books and all kind of instruction (including podcasts). Squirrels run around my yard chirping in squirrelese, “I ain’t got time for that.” People make time for all the stuff they don’t yet know…but are convinced they need to know. Squirrels are too busy to stop searching for resources. People are too busy trying to learn how to be resourceful. There’s just no time left to actually be resourceful. Maybe tomorrow.
Squirrels won’t have a tomorrow if they fail today. They wake up every morning to Larry The Cable Guy’s mantra, “Get ‘er done!” It’s that or die. When you’re facing two distinct different choices it must be easier to make a smart decision. We wake up every day with a million choices. Most of us aren’t facing life or death decisions. If we’re hungry, we go to the kitchen. If we’re thirsty, we have to figure out what we’re going to drink, not how we’re going to find water. Water, juice, soda, coffee, tea – what do we want to drink?
Maybe Life In The Gray Is Killing Our Success
“With him, everything is black and white,” we hear somebody say about a person who seems inflexible. Well, nobody is as inflexible as a squirrel. These critters are binary. It’s a one or a zero. It’s live by finding food, water and shelter or it’s die because you failed. No, the inflexible person has a full gray-scale palette going on in their life when compared to the squirrel.
Don’t do this. Do that. Or, do that. Don’t do this.
We make lists. We daydream. We think. We ponder. We procrastinate. We seek distractions. We get scared. We get angry. We struggle to do the most important things because we mostly enjoy the unimportant things.
We fail.
Or we don’t succeed as much as we could.
And you know what else? We don’t have as much fun either. When the squirrels in my yard aren’t searching for food, water or shelter…they’re chasing each other like crazy. I suspect much of that may be part of that other activity, mating. They seem to be having the time of their life.
V. Scott Ellis was my first interview last September for a new project I was planning to launch, Chasing DFW Cool (DFW = Dallas/Ft. Worth for you non-Texans). Scott was my first interview for the project. After I told him that, Scott said I clearly had my finger on the pulse of what was cool in Dallas. 😀 Yes, he is cool. You can tell by just looking at his head. Cool guys have common traits!
Well, the project suffered delays because I simply had way too much going on to properly launch the site. A few weeks ago I decided to start releasing some of the interviews here because I just felt the content was too good to keep sitting on it. I’m still planning to launch Chasing DFW Cool sometime this fall. In the meantime, I’d like to welcome Scott to the land of Bula!
We tried a few times to record the conversation via Skype, but the technology just didn’t cooperate. Two Dallas guys trying to connect via Skype proved much tougher than trying to connect with friends in the UK. Go figure.
Scott invited me to just come down to the Livid Lobster studios and join him in person where we could use his audio set up. So that’s what I did. I even got to meet Cali Lewis and John P. Of course, the Livid Lobster studios have since moved, but it was nice to sit across from Scott face-to-face.
Here are some links to learn more about Scott and what’s he’s up to:
Lifestyle Frisco – Frisco is an affluent suburb of Dallas (it’s also the future home of the Dallas Cowboys’ training facility/HQ and the current home of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club)
Sean is a fellow Texan living here in Dallas. I initially did this interview for a new project – Chasing DFW Cool. That’s a project I’m still planning to launch, but the conversation with Sean is too good to sit on.
We talked about his past history, technology, entrepreneurship, how he connected with Brian Clark (founder and CEO of Copyblogger) and more. Sean is the creator of Scribe, a SEO optimization solution.
Copyblogger Media offers a variety of products and services designed to help content creators build more successful platforms:
Studiopress – the creators of the Genesis WordPress framework and child themes
Authority – an educational resource and community available via Copyblogger
* The new platform, which has been teased for months now, is coming soon. In fact, this week Brian Clark is going to begin a series of webinars about the Rainmaker Platform. You can visit the New Rainmaker website, scroll to the bottom and sign up to get in on it. You can also listen to a short podcast about the three webinars on the new platform at the New Rainmaker podcast.
Undercover Boss on CBS always enlightens the boss.
Undercover Boss is a CBS TV show. The storyline is always the same. A senior executive (CEO, COO, etc.) goes undercover inside their own company with a disguise. For a week they pretend to be contestants in a reality TV show where they’re competing for a job. Each day they do a different job in the company. For example, last week the CEO of The Larry H. Miller Group Of Companies, owners of the Utah Jazz NBA team, Greg Miller (his dad was Larry H.) went undercover. He helped put down the basketball flooring in the arena, he worked the concession stands, he worked as part of the half-time dunk team and he also worked in the crowd with the folks who help give fans in the upper deck a great fan experience. That’s the sort of thing that happens in each episode.
Along the way, the boss interacts up close and personal with whoever is training him and showing him the ropes. These workers share their insights about the work, the company and their own personal lives. The bosses all quickly discover that by being in the trenches they see things that need improvement. They also find employees who are battling adversity at work and at home. It’s part human interest story, part business lesson and part entertainment.
In the end, the undercover boss reveals his true identity and rewards the employees with recognition and some personal help (last week, Greg Miller paid off some medical bills, a car loan and gave some money to employees for college funds). I find every episode heart warming as you hear the stories of courage, commitment and dedication – and as you see the boss connect with front line people in a very meaningful way!
How To Grow As A Boss Without Going Undercover
Do you have to put on a disguise and fool your employees in order to become a better boss? Maybe it helps get some firsthand stories and information, but there are other things every boss can do to learn the same things we see the Undercover Boss learn.
1. Become a student, not a teacher.
The first thing you see every Undercover Boss do is take on a job they don’t know how to do. They introduce themselves (as their alias) to an employee, usually a relatively low level person doing the actual job, not a supervisor. The employee shows them the work, teaches them, then lets them give it a try. Almost always the boss stumbles. Sometimes they stumble badly.
Over the course of doing this lower level work the boss always comes to understand the job is much tougher than they thought. By doing this work they have a new appreciation for the commitment of the employees doing thankless work. The benefit of the disguise is that it forces the boss to remain incognito. That forces the boss to be a student and stay a student without pulling the “boss card.”
As a boss, can you devote yourself to being a student of lower level employees? Can you commit yourself to “stay in character” as a student? Well, the more you can do that…and the longer you can sustain it without thinking you’re too good for this, the better. You’ll quickly learn to appreciate the work and the worker! Additionally, you’ll be in a position to serve better because you’ll be armed with better information to remove the constraints that may be hindering improved performance. That’s the beauty of the boss doing this tough work – the boss has the authority to affect real change!
Lower yourself. Be willing to go to the factory floor, the sales floor, the accounting clerk’s cubicle, or any other place where the work is happening. No job is too low. Or too high (obviously). Become the student and behave like a student. Lose yourself in the moment and stay there for as long as it takes to learn all you can.
2. Get personal by being personable.
In the course of being vulnerable enough to become a student, the Undercover Boss always finds out more about the person teaching them. If not during the work, then on a break, the boss will ask about the employee’s family. It’s during these conversations that the human element of the work comes to the forefront. Employees often talk of family medical woes, children who need special attention, a recent death or some other challenge that burdens them away from work. Naturally, the employee, not knowing it’s the big cheese sitting across from them, will ask the Undercover Boss about their family, too. It’s what we all do if we have an ounce of empathy, we reciprocate.
These are often the conversations that hit the boss the hardest. Hearing these stories of hardship seem to always make the boss realize how exceptional many employees are because they’re often very good as masking their problems. For example, a young lady at the Utah Jazz basketball games is all smiles and bubbly with fans during the game. Privately, the Undercover Boss finds out her heart is heavy because her mom is under tremendous financial strain as the result of unpaid medical bills. Had the boss not asked about her personal life, he couldn’t have possibly known because she was so good at her job of making sure fans had a great time!
As you’re being taught, be interested in the person teaching you. Engage them just the way any peer would. Ask about their family. Get to really know them. Avoid making it a one-way street. Be vulnerable by sharing your story with them. I don’t mean your corporate accolades, but your family struggles. Don’t make it a one-upsmanship contest, but make them feel like they know you better in the same way you’re trying to get to know them better.
3. Thank and recognize employees for their work.
The Undercover Boss eventually reveals himself to the employees one at a time. Right away, the boss compliments the employee with personal recognition. “I was so impressed with how you went about doing your job of making sure the fans were having a great time. Your energy and personality are a true gift to our fans and I appreciate your work very much.” Any employee’s heart would soar if a boss told them that.
So why don’t more bosses do that?
Because they don’t understand leadership.
Because they see themselves as more important than the employees.
Because they think it’s soft and may lead to complacency.
Because they’re so used to facing problems they’ve forgotten (or never learned) how to celebrate wins.
Because they genuinely don’t care about their employees.
Why don’t YOU thank and recognize employees and their work more (and better)?
I’m thinking of all the times we’ve seen professional athletes perform well in the face of great adversity. As I record this episode we’re in the throws of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the National Hockey League. The New York Rangers are currently doing battle against the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers began their playoff run in pretty lackluster fashion until some adversity struck their locker room. Martin St. Louis, a player who just entered their locker room at the trade deadline mere months ago, lost his mom just days before Mother’s Day. Her death was unexpected and naturally his teammates felt badly for him. After spending a brief time with his family, he returned the team because he said it’s what his mom would have wanted. He played in the very next game refusing to leave his teammates. It had a profound impact on the locker room. His teammates pulled together like never before. The team went on a winning spree and advanced to the next round. During the break between rounds, his mother’s funeral was attended by the entire team and coaching staff. Martin St. Louis played extremely well during all of this. We applaud such valiant effort…when we see it in athletes.
But we don’t do that at work. Why not?
Mostly because we haven’t a clue what adversity others are facing. And we don’t care. We tell ourselves that it’s none of our business. We convince ourselves that work is work and the work must be done.
It’s a mistake that leaders make every single day. Drive your employees hard. Demand high performance. But you’ve got to take the time – make the time – to thank and recognize employees for their work.
Let me appeal to your business sensibilities.
How much does thanks and recognition cost? NOTHING other than a bit of time. NOTHING other a bit of awareness and effort on your part. The capital investment is NOTHING. Well, it can be nothing. Sure, you can give people awards or rewards. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, just remain focused on thanking and recognizing.
What’s the ROI on thanks and recognition? IMMEASURABLE. Maybe somebody smarter than me can quantify it, but in all my years of leading people and managing processes I’ve never been able to. However, I do know it’s a bit like those MasterCard commercials. It’s priceless. How can you measure the power of feeling good…or having high morale?
Athletes talk about being “in the zone.” It can happen with your employees, too. As the boss you can impact helping people find the zone. The most effective way you can do that is by thanking them and recognizing them for the work they do.
If you want your sales team to sell more, thank and recognize them. Then sit back and watch them sell more.
If you want your accounting staff to process paperwork more efficiently, thank and recognize them. Then stand back and watch them find ways to be more efficient.
If you want your engineering staff to solve problems faster, thank them and recognize them. Then sit back and watch them find a faster gear.
Every boss I’ve ever worked with knows and understands that you get what you reward, but few of them make that part of their daily work habit. Most bosses are given to the stick and carrot business model except they gravitate toward using the stick and forgetting about the carrot. If employees never get to taste the carrot, but they’re constantly being beaten with the stick…in time they’ll quickly learn the carrot is fictional. Nothing will move them toward higher performance. Eventually, you’ll leave your people beaten to death by the side of the road. And it’s YOUR fault as the boss.
Catch people doing good work. Look for it. Search it out. Do that every day. Do it every hour.
Make it your business to lead the cheers to celebrate victories by merely thanking people and letting them know how genuinely appreciative you are of their work. Will it take effort? Yes, especially if you’ve never been used to doing it (and that includes far too many bosses). But keep doing it. Make it a trademark of your leadership and you’ll be rewarded more than you ever imagined by people who will run through a wall for you – because we all want to be recognized and feel special. It’s your job as the boss to make employees feel special. Don’t neglect it.
4. Reward good work with a gift.
The Undercover Boss will dole out rewards to the employees at the end of each show. It may be a contribution to a father for his children’s college fund. Maybe it’s a paid trip to Disneyland. This past week the owner of the Utah Jazz paid off the car loan of an employee and bought him a second car because he and his wife both worked 2 jobs each, all with one car between them.
I’m not saying you’ve got to buy new cars or give away expensive trips, but I am saying you can’t neglect investing rewards in your employees. Yes, that means spending some money. How much? That’s up to you.
Don’t be fooled into the stupid idea that because you can’t do it for everybody, then you won’t do it for anybody. Rewards are democratic. Nor are they always systematic or automatic. In fact, the kind of rewards I’m talking about have nothing to do with compensation. So don’t think about commissions or bonuses here because that’s not what I’m talking about. The Undercover Boss doesn’t dole out extra commissions or bonuses. The boss recognizes the work and the employee and gives them a gift.
Husbands, do you give your wife a gift on your wedding anniversary? Why do you do that?
Moms, do you give your kids a gift on their birthday? Why?
Just because another year has passed? That warrants a gift?
No, it’s not merely the passing of another year. It’s the fact that this person is important to you. You love them. You want to show them. The gift is an expression (not the only expression) of that love and concern.
When you – the boss – give an employee a gift as a reward and recognition for good work you’re letting them know how important they are to you and the organization. The difference between these gifts and those anniversary or birthday gifts is they’re completely random based on the extraordinary work of an employee. On Undercover Boss the employees never expect what the boss does for them. That’s how it should be in your organization. Your gifts of recognition shouldn’t be expected. Employees expect commissions and bonuses, provided they know the rules going in and they’ve met the standard. That’s not the same thing. That’s compensation, not a gift.
A gift is surprise that says, “I appreciate all you do.” Don’t ruin it by making it some standard, systematized practice. Keep it random. Keep it fresh and surprising.
Be gracious. These are gifts and they can be whatever you want, given however you want. Don’t sweat keeping score. Don’t try to make things equal. If once a year you want to give an employee an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland, do it. Don’t avoid it because you can’t give that to every employee. If six times a year you want to give an employee an Apple iPad or some other cool toy, do it. Remember, make it unexpected and surprising. Make it genuine and show employees that you’re doing it because you know how hard they work, how well they work and that they make a difference in your company!
Conclusion
Today is Memorial Day in America. It’s a day when our country celebrates the ultimate sacrifice made by members of the armed forces throughout history. Many people are off work today. Families spend time outside together enjoying a day off – a 3-day weekend. If you’re a boss, do yourself a favor. Take a bit of time to consider all the benefits of becoming a better boss by embracing the strategies of Undercover Boss. Make the lives of your employees memorable by showing them how important they are to your success as a leader, and how meaningful they are to the work of your organization. You want your employees to be better, don’t you? Then why don’t you show them how determined you are to show them how willing you are to be better, too?
Have a safe, happy Memorial Day. Then tomorrow, get busy making this week memorable for your employees.
It’s estimated that the weight loss industry in America – just the United States – exceeds $60 billion. Sixty BILLION dollars a year! That’s an enormous market. It’s a marketer’s dream.
Trial and error (with lots of failure) characterizes most of the market.
