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Today I want to share with you an irresistible offer for entrepreneurs craving to grow their business, their leadership, and their life.

The aim is to hit two business building trifectas:

1. Getting new customers
2. Serving existing customers better
3. Not going crazy in the process

That’s the first trifecta that we all hope to hit. But there’s another one.

1. Saving time
2. Having good health
3. Making more money

The Peer Advantage by Bula Network is intentionally designed to help members hit both. I hope you’ll apply so we can learn more about each other. I want to help you grow great!

Randy

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Conversations have bound humans since the beginning. Yes, the VERY beginning. Talking with one another. Talking with God.

Conversations are about expressions of our heart. Quite literally, conversations answer the question, “What’s on your mind?”

Society stopped listening. I’m not sure when it happened, but the Internet isn’t the culprit. Digital technology may have contributed to the noise increasingly becoming a one-way conduit, but we had stopped listening to each other long before. Social media and all the associated vehicles that enable us to speak to the world have surely fostered in many of us an inflated sense of self-importance where we feel what ‘we’ve got to say is more important than what anybody else may have to say. But those inner feelings existed before the Internet.

I’m not sure if it’s a lack of humility or curiosity or both, but I remember being frustrated as a teenager during casual conversation circles if somebody dominated the storytelling. Even more so, I grew anxious if nobody provoked somebody to say more about something that struck me as quite interesting. Life clearly belonged to the extroverts. I was likely more sensitive to it because, at heart, I’m introverted. People who constantly interrupt others and people who don’t ask the obvious follow-up question drive me crazy. As somewhat of a joke, it’s why some years ago I registered the domain, “WaitAMinuteWhat.com.”

Wait a minute, what?

I catch myself wanting to ask that quite often when I hear somebody make an interesting remark that is almost immediately followed by something else with something far less interesting to contribute.

People rarely listen. Rarer still is listening to understand. Life has taught me why, too. Most of us just aren’t that interested in what you’ve got to say because we’re mostly fixated on what we want to say.

When is the last time somebody who appeared genuinely interested in you asked you about YOU?

I’ve been fascinated with conversation for as long as I can remember. I love it. Mostly I love asking questions and learning. In spite of the fact that I’ve been podcasting for well over 10 years, I mostly enjoy listening to learn about others. Sure, there are times when it’d be nice if somebody would ask about me, but I stopped holding my breath for that opportunity a very long time ago. 😉

Communications experts and psychologists have produced a variety of models aimed at helping us make conversations more productive. I suspect most are a waste of time, not because they don’t work, but because too few adopt them in daily practice. We gravitate to our normal course of speaking and listening. We do what works for us. At least we think it works for us, which means we feel okay about it.

That doesn’t make it effective. Certainly not as leaders.

At work, most of our conversations are directed by the folks in power. Meetings are led by the person in charge. The agendas are driven by authority. It’s high school all over again where the extroverts take the power and railroad the others to come along on their journey.

For decades I’ve watched it happen in social settings, business settings, church settings and everywhere else people engage in some sort of attempt at communication. Sadly, rarely do they quickly get to the heart of the matter and dive deeply enough where people feel safe to truly say anything – much less to say what they’re truly feeling and thinking. Many of us have never figured out how to have a genuine conversation about heart and meaning. Others of us have forgotten how.

It’s not safe out here. Or in there.

Today conference rooms around the world are filled with people wrestling with a variety of challenges. The purpose would seem to be so better decisions can be made, but that’s disingenuous. It’s a lie. The real reason is a display of hierarchy and power. It’s a formal way to show who is in charge, or who is moving their way up to be in charge. That makes it unsafe for everybody to openly share what they’re thinking or how they’re feeling. Best to remain silent, so most do.

Imagine a room where 9 people are seated at a conference room table. Perhaps some others are seated around the room, quite literally with their chairs hugging the wall. Imagine it. There may as many people in the room who don’t even have a seat at the table than those who do. Boy, that’ll make you feel comfortable to speak up, huh? “Listen, bubba, you’re important enough to be in the room, but you’re not important enough to sit at the table…so keep quiet.” And Bubba does.

I have no way of knowing when mankind figured out that sitting in a circle fostered better conversations, but somebody figured it out. If you’ve ever been part of a conversation circle you know how great it can feel. King Arthur likely had the most famous round table. No wonder Camelot was such a terrific place.

Typical meetings that I experience all go pretty much the same way. Somebody in authority or somebody who most seeks authority (power) calls the meeting. People gather in and assume a spot. Some are up close to the person who called the meeting. Others are as far away from them as possible. They say whatever they say and often appear to foster collaboration, but the group knows better. Nobody says anything until a person with whom the caller of the meeting is closely aligned speaks up to validate what was just said. It’s like a Robert’s Rule of having somebody second a motion. And just like that, without any further fanfare or conversation, the motion is passed. The larger portion of the group collectively just wants to get out of this meeting as quickly as possible. Most think the outcome is fairly predetermined anyway.

Enter a jolt. A curveball meeting.

This was always the most natural way I knew to conduct meetings whenever I was leading them because…well, I’ve already told you what frustrated me about conversations when I was just a kid. That frustration hasn’t waned as I’ve grown older.

After saying why I called the meeting and without showing what I may be leaning toward, I’d call on somebody to share what they thought. “Roy, I’d like to know what you’re thinking about this?” Roy is absolutely going to share with the group. When Roy finished I might ask, “Jane, do you have a different opinion or do you agree with Roy?” Jane would answer. And I’d intentionally look for somebody who didn’t necessarily fully agree with Roy. I wasn’t looking for dissension. I was looking to make the meeting safe for candid dialogue and conversation. I was looking for people to feel safe to say whatever they thought, whatever they felt.

Sure, there are meetings whose design is to let the troops know what’s been decided, but we’re talking about CONVERSATIONS. These are dialogues where people exchange ideas, information, thoughts, and feelings.

Leaders have one fundamental duty when it comes to leading conversations – make it safe for people to speak from their heart. You want to hear what people really think and feel. Otherwise, it’s not a conversation.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Randy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:49 — 7.5MB)

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Back in episode 318 we talked about the first basic ingredient of leadership according to famed leadership expert Warren Bennis – GUIDING VISION. Let’s kick this week off with a brief discussion on the other ingredients Mr. Bennis found foundational to effective leadership.

1. Guiding Vision (see episode 318)
2. Passion – Bennis felt this was next because without it a leader may find it tough to get people on his side. All that engagement and empowerment stuff. He defined the areas of passion as passion for the promises of life, coupled with a specific passion for a vocation, a profession and a course of action. In other words, a leader needs to be passionate about those things associated with her leadership. In short, the leader loves what he does and what he’s doing. This passion helps leaders communicate hope and inspiration.
3. Integrity – Bennis felt there were 3 essential parts to integrity: self-knowledge, candor and maturity. Self-knowledge (self-awareness) is tough, but we all need to put in the work to truly know ourselves. Get in touch with your strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to do and why you want to do it. Your success hinges on it. Great leaders never lie to themselves. Especially about themselves. Candor is a key to self-knowledge. Candor is honesty in thought and action. It’s uncompromising. Maturity is necessary because leading isn’t merely showing people the way or telling people what to do. It’s the experience we gain as we learn to be dedicated, cooperative and collaborative. Bennis also mentions that integrity is the basis of trust. Trust isn’t an ingredient, according to him, but it’s a product of leadership. It has to be earned.
4. Curiosity and Daring – the last two ingredients of leadership according to Bennis fuel the leader. These ingredients help prevent leaders from fearing failure – at least to the point of paralysis. Leaders learn from adversity and going into the unknown. The strong desire to learn as much as possible and the willingness to take risks by experimenting – these are necessary for effective leadership.

Great leaders are built or made. They’re not born. Many of these ingredients aren’t natural, but they can all be acquired. Wrote Bennis:

Leaders invent themselves. They are not, by the way, made in a single weekend seminar, as many of the leadership-theory spokemen claim. I’ve come to think of that one as the microwave theory: pop in Mr. or Ms. Average and out pops McLeader in sixty seconds.

The balance between feeling and thought is important. Both are required if we’re going to improve our understanding.

Bennis thought the difference between leaders and managers were as the differences between those who master the context and those who surrender to it. But he pointed out other differences, too.

• The manager administers while the leader innovates.
• The manager is a copy while the leader is an original.
• The manager maintains while the leader develops.
• The manager focuses on systems and structure while the leader focuses on people.
• The manager relies on control, but the leader inspires trust.
• The manager has a short-range view, but the leader has a long-range perspective.
• The manager asks how and when, while the leader asks what and why.
• The manager has his eye always on the bottom line, but the leader is watching the horizon.
• The manager imitates, but the leader originates.
• The manager accepts the status quo while the leader challenges it.
• The manager is the classic good soldier, but the leader is his own person.
• The manager does things right while the leader does the right thing.

Wrote Bennis:

To reprise Wallace Stevens (a Pulitzer prize-winning poet who was also a businessman and attorney), managers wear square hats and learn through training. Leaders wear sombreros and opt for education.

Our schools are pretty good at training. They’re dreadful at educating. Training is great for dogs. Not so great for humans. Perhaps that explains why there is such a gap in leadership.

Leaders work on themselves. Bennis felt the paradox of promotion was that leaders rise in spite of their weaknesses, but managers rise because of theirs.

We are our own raw material. We have to know what we’re made of and what we want to make of ourselves. It’s foundational to becoming a better leader.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Randy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:59 — 11.3MB)

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True confession: I’m not a baseball fan. I only watch it when the league championship finals begin. But I recently heard a radio interview with the manager of the Texas Rangers, Chris “Woody” Woodward. While answering a question about what being a first-year major league manager he uttered that quote.

You have to understand why you’re winning and why you’re losing.

He went on to reiterate the importance of a major league baseball team to know why what they’re doing is providing whatever result they happen to be experiencing at the moment. Baseball, because of the sheer number of games played,  can throw teams into slumps and winning streaks. Woody wants his team to understand why it’s happening.

The interviewers didn’t do what I had hoped. They neglected to probe further. I was curious to know more. Maybe it’s because I’m not a baseball guy. Perhaps baseball fans just understand things I don’t. But it didn’t make me think about our world of business.

Business, like baseball, is a long season (well, we sure hope it is). We’ve all experienced slumps. Hopefully, we’ve also experienced some winning streaks to offset those. I’m not sure we always understand why. Maybe business is so dramatically different from baseball – I suspect that’s the case.

Take advertising. A company can create an ad campaign that spikes sales. It seems to be working as expected. But in time, it stops working. Why?

Advertising seems to be THE big variable that’s awfully hard to understand. It’s why that old quote from John Wanamaker is so true.

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.

I’ve never managed a baseball team, but I’ve managed businesses for decades. Understanding is difficult. Sometimes it’s tough to know why you’re winning. Harder still to know why you’re losing.

There are days when we’re like Nelson. It feels like we’re staring at Makes No Sense, Inc. and have no clues.

What can we do? I can’t promise that you’ll always figure it out and understand, but you ought to try. It’s learning and it’s necessary for growth.

Step 1 – Don’t ignore trying to understand success.

In our quest to understand why we’re winning or why we’re losing it’s easy to focus on the losing, not the winning. That’s why it’s more commonplace for companies to devote time to blaming people, but they neglect celebrations. It’s like the parent who ignores A’s on the kid’s report card but pitches a wild-eyed fit when a C comes home.

Donald O. Clifton is the father of Strengthsfinder. He wrote a book many years ago – the precursor to the Strengthsfinder work – entitled, “Soar With Your Strengths.” I devoured the book when it was first published. It made total sense to me, especially as a parent and a leader. Why try to make yourself or others something they’re not. Instead, lead with your strengths. Improve what you’re already good at. In a similar fashion, don’t ignore dissecting success. Figure out why things are working well so you can do more of it.

Step 2 – Ask others.

I’m still trying to figure out why this is so difficult. Especially when it comes to learning and understanding. People slightly older to much older than me have always been the chief folks I’ve looked to for understanding. I want to know what they may be able to teach me. I’ve never found it difficult to learn from older people – especially men (since I’m a man) with whom I’ve invested time to forge a trusting relationship. A small circle of men has helped me navigate the choppiest waters of my life. I can’t imagine going it alone. I’m encouraging you not to.

Others have helped me eliminate blind spots I didn’t even know I had. They’ve prevented me from being stagnant in my understanding of a variety of things. Others can do the same thing for you.

No matter how smart you are, you’re not THAT smart. Nobody is. You’re not smart enough to consider or see everything. And you’re not smart enough to always understand why something is working well or why something else isn’t working at all. You need the perspective of others. If you don’t seek it out and listen, you’re the bigger fool.

Step 3 – Look for patterns.

Life is patterns. Success and failure both have their own patterns. As you’d imagine, they’re not the same. Patterns of success don’t look like the patterns of failure.

When you’re looking to understand why something is working you’re going to see – if you look long enough and closely enough – patterns emerge. One thing leads to something else, which leads to a thing that seems to make a positive difference. The same thing happens with failure…a chain of events will lead to something that seems to throw the wheels off wrecking success.

If you’ll devote time to looking for and at patterns, you’ll see them. It takes practice. That’s why you need to practice it.

The problem is connecting dots that may not be connected. That makes pattern recognition difficult. It’s another reason why step 2 is so important – asking others. You may see a pattern that isn’t a pattern at all. Others can help you see whether it’s a pattern or not.

Step 4 – Question what you connect. Put it on trial and find out what changed.

Again, others can help you best do this. Am I seeing a pattern? Am I connecting dots that truly are connected?

A big part of this step is to figure out what has changed. This is especially helpful when we’re just finding success or when success is beginning to fail. What changed?

As we examine what patterns we’re likely going to spot something that is now different. Maybe it’s big. Maybe it’s subtle.

A business begins to experience a drop in profit margins. They dive into to figure out why. Nothing leaps out at them at first because the top line numbers seem appropriate. It’s not like there’s been some sudden rash of discounts offered. Something changed? What?

Turns out two big accounts slowed down. Just slightly. But that prompted something that wasn’t looked at too carefully at first. The travel and entertainment budgets for these two accounts shot up dramatically driving costs higher. Fearful that the downturn might keep going south sales management pushed more chips into the middle of the table to woo these two big accounts. It wasn’t working. At least, not yet. But it ruined the margins companywide.

Something indeed had changed. You need to find out what changed. For good. Or bad.

Step 5 – Keep asking questions and keep seeking insights from others.

Don’t make this a one-off exercise. Keep it going.

Become a professional business autopsy expert inside your own business. Develop, maintain and grow your curiosity about what causes success and failure. It provides the answers you most seek. It provides guidance so you know what to do. Otherwise, you’re just taking a blind stab in the dark. Much better to see what you’re aiming at. So be thoughtful, mindful, intentional and purposeful. That’ll help you shorten the losing streaks and lengthen the winning ones.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Randy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:47 — 7.5MB)

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Warren Bennis, the brilliant, but reluctant expert on leadership believed a guiding vision was the first ingredient of leadership. Leaders need to have a clear vision of what they want to do. They also have to possess the determination and resolve to persist through setbacks, even failures.

Where are you going?

Personally and professionally?

It makes sense that nothing else comes before a guiding vision. Guiding indicates it’s a direction with a plan. It’s not merely wishful thinking. There’s a purpose and intent behind the vision.

Great leaders see the future first.

What do YOU see? How are you helping your organization see what you see?

Let’s break down a few things that may help.

Step 1 – Don’t assume people can read your mind.

It’s far too common for a leader to become frustrated with people because they don’t know what she’s thinking. We’re living with our thoughts 24/7. Surely we’ve expressed all these thoughts – especially thoughts about where we’re heading. Hold on. Check yourself.

People are working hard to read you. At times, they’re mostly getting it wrong.

You don’t realize it, but you’ve got a scowl. It’s nothing more than a dull headache coming on and inside you’re thinking, “I do not need a headache right now.”

People think you’re displeased with them. One employee even thinks you disapprove of what she’s wearing. So it goes with how people can often MIS-read you.

You must communicate without relying on your ESP.

Step 2 – Have a system of communication.

You can leave things to chance, but as you’d imagine — it’s very risky. Don’t leave your communication to pure chance.

This isn’t about managing the narrative or spin. I’m hoping you operate in a no spin fashion where you can be candid with people. Especially when it comes to the guiding vision you’re sharing.

What’s the process for sharing information? What’s your preferred method of communication?

Every organization has a favorite way of distributing communication. Mostly, it stems from YOU, the leader. The entire organization will follow your lead by watching how you prefer to communicate.

If you prefer email, then it’s highly likely you’ve got an email focused culture. I’d bet most information in your company is shared via email because the organization has figured out it’s your preference.

So which is it? What’s your preferred way to communicate inside your company?

Electronic? Small group meetings? Companywide meetings? Formal? Informal?

Figure this out and then figure out if you’d like to change it. It may not be working as well as you’d like. Maybe you’d like to change it. Then do it.

But have a system.

I’ve found guiding vision conversations were best done with my leadership team first, then distributed companywide in an in-person meeting with hard copy communication to back it up. That was my preference. You need to know your preference.

Step 3 – Once is not enough.

Never assume that one communication is enough. Some will get it very quickly. Others won’t. You don’t want to leave anybody in the dark.

It’s up to you to make sure that the message is received and understood. You need to repeat a consistent message about your guiding vision.

We attend worship services and hear preaching each time. The Gospel Story is ancient. The church was established in AD33. The message is preached consistently service after service to make sure it penetrates our minds and lives. To instruct old heads like me and young heads like my grandchildren. Once isn’t enough.

You should be the Chief Evangelist inside your company. Preach the vision you see. It’ll help everybody understand it and it will cement in the minds of your team that you mean it.

Step 4 – Make every objective congruent with your guiding vision.

Your guiding vision can’t be one thing and all your short-term objectives something completely disassociated with it.

“We’re here to make lives better” sounds great except when employees feel you do nothing but make their lives miserable. Don’t be dishonest. Be real. Be congruent.

Step 5 – Provide feedback.

Guiding visions can be violated. We don’t always hit the mark. It’s important that the troops know when you’re hitting the mark so they can be encouraged to do it more often, and better. It’s just as important they know when you fail to hit the mark. Sometimes personal ownership might be required.

I’ve stood in front of people and apologized for my own failure to hit the mark. The guiding vision should be like true north. Violations have to be acknowledged. Corrections must be made. And good or great adherences to the guiding vision should be properly celebrated.

Are you putting out fires and killing rats? Not paying much attention to a guiding vision? Then you’re attempting to leapfrog the first essential ingredient to effective leadership. Go back to home base, don’t collect $200 and get it right. 😉

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Randy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:10 — 13.3MB)

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Transformative change. It’s been a popular business phrase for a very long time. Transformative means…

causing a marked change in someone or something

I guess folks mean something substantial. Something that sticks and has a big impact.

One reason this podcast is entitled Grow Great is that I view growth as the goal. Maybe it stems from my early career in the consumer electronics business when Japan ruled the day. Constant improvement was the popular business banter. The Japanese call it Kaizen. Pure and simple – it’s figuring it out and growing all along the way. Getting better every day.

People want to be part of something bigger. Something monumental. Something challenging.

We want a cause. Some of us crave it more than others, but I’ve never encountered a high-achiever or an aspiring high-achiever who didn’t fully embrace joining a movement, a cause.

That’s why when I first read of a man from Springfield, Missouri who opened the books of a new company in 1983 resonated with me. A decade later, in 1993, John Case of Inc. magazine was credited with coining the phrase, open-book management. But Jack Stack and SRC Holdings created it. In 1992 Stack wrote the book, The Great Game Of Business.

Jack was running a plant for International Harvester when word came down, “we’re closing your plant.” Stunned, thinking they’d been doing good work, Stack dove into finding out what went wrong. How can our plant close when we’re doing what’s asked of us? He taught himself by asking great questions. He learned about business and along the way, grew a resolve to buy the plant and keep it going. Rejected time and time again for loans he and 13 employees cobbled together about $100,000 and finally got loans in excess of $8M. Along the way, Jack knew the employees needed to understand what they had never understood before – how companies make money and what’s required for businesses to be sustainable. That meant Jack had to open the books and share key numbers with employees. It worked so magnificently that within 5 years (by 1988) the company was worth in excess of $40M and they had saved over 100 jobs. And as they say, “the rest is history.”

Jack Stack created a revolution. He created a movement – a cause. Admittedly, it was a big cause – “let’s save our jobs, let’s save our plant.” Does every movement have to be that dramatic? Or that enormous? No. Movements can be positive and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Many years ago I learned what Jack Stack discovered. Ironically, it was about the same time, too. The early 1980s. Jack’s success eclipsed mine big time, but the lessons learned were similar – people need a game to play.

More specifically, people need to see where they fit and how their work makes a difference. As a teenage employee, I learned very quickly the importance of congruency. I once worked for a boss who said one thing but did something different. His actions were rarely congruent with what he preached. I learned firsthand the negative impact that had on employees and the culture. We struggled because none of us had any clue how we made a difference. We were just working for our paycheck and our commission.

Let’s learn some things together from all this. Let’s create a movement and get people energized by understanding how their work makes a positive impact on the company.

Step 1 – Give People A Story

Storytellers focus in part of the characters. The story is all about the characters and how they behave. Well, your company is filled with characters – employees, team members.

What’s their story? I don’t mean you dive into their personal lives. I mean, what’s their story in the context of why they’re holding their role in your company? Have you told them the story and shared with them how they affect the outcomes for your company?

If you don’t give people a story about how they fit, they’ll create their own. And it won’t be good.

Most people lean toward filling in gaps of knowledge with paranoia or the prospect of something negative. It’s commonplace. Maybe human nature. Leaders are wise to assume it. And then fixing it. There’s no downside to assuming that people will say negative things to themselves if you don’t intervene as the leader!

What happens if a person doesn’t properly perform their job? Do they truly understand it?

It’s your job to make sure they know that story. Not in some “I’ll kick your butt” speech, but in an honest, open conversation about what’s required for the company to achieve the goal.

Step 2 – Keep The Big Thing In The Forefront

What is the goal?

Some think it needs to be financial. That’s up to you. I’ll just tell you that people need to understand how important the numbers are. Jack Stack and his original workforce didn’t understand it. They never attempted to learn until they got word their plant was going to be closed. Learn from their story. Know the numbers that determine success. Teach them to your team. But you need something bigger.

Maybe it’ll help to share with you an objective that I established years ago in a retail company. MTA = Most Talked About.

There were many other elements, but I wanted to focus on a singular effort of dazzling customer experience. The challenge I issued was simple – how can we be the most talked-about store (in a positive way)?

You gotta mean it. It can’t be a platitude. Words don’t matter if the actions won’t back it up.

What’s your big goal? Make it plain, easy to understand and real. Make it big enough to be ongoing and long-term. Most Talked About was a goal we knew we’d always work toward.

Step 3 – Live It

Revolutions are led by real people. Genuine people. Pretenders don’t successfully lead revolutions. Check yourself. Look in the mirror and get real with yourself first. Fix whatever ails you as a leader because the troops will spot it instantly.

Nobody ever worked harder to help the boss get a new BMW.

Nobody ever worked harder to help the boss take a fancy vacation.

That doesn’t mean the boss – YOU – can’t drive a fancy BMW or take a fancy vacation. it means that can’t be the battle cry for your movement.

The goal has to be alive in your life and your leadership. That goal has to be your passion first.

Step 4 – Don’t Compromise It

It must be a cause that speaks to others. When you get it right, it’ll resonate with the right people. When it doesn’t resonate, then you know you’ve got the wrong people.

Don’t waver. Stay the course.

You’ll be tempted to squeeze people into slots where they don’t belong. Resist.

You’ll be tempted to accept people who don’t fully buy into the WHY you’ve established. Their talent will call out to you and tempt you to think you may be able to make it work. No, it won’t. Waste no time fooling yourself.

Hire nobody who refused to see the reason. Revolutionaries want to be alongside other revolutionaries. Don’t match them up with mercenaries. Accept only the real, genuine thing – people who see what you see and want to achieve what you do.

Step 5 – Let Everybody Know The Result (Did We Win?)

Have you ever bowled?

Would you like to bowl in the dark…without seeing the pins? What’s the point, right? I mean, the whole object of the game is to knock down the pins. But if you’re unable to see the pins you knock down, there’s little point in throwing the ball down the lane.

Sadly, we can operate our businesses daily without letting our employees know whether they’ve hit any pins or not. We think they should be thrilled to show up every day not knowing if their efforts are resulting in a win or not. Your team isn’t that stupid. Or foolish.

Teach them the game they’re playing. Teach them how to play it. Then keep coaching them how to get better. And let them see visible results of how well they’re doing. Are they winning? Are they losing? How can they affect the outcome? By playing the game better and better and better.

You’re now ready to go back and close the loop on the circle or cycle. Go back to step 1 and keep reminding people of their story. Keep putting in the work to create a movement. It’s the very best way to implement – and to keep implementing – change.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Randy

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