I spent part of my time this morning going through my marked up copy of Linchpin, Seth Godin's newest book. I wish I could call him up and personally thank him for writing this book because he has articulated the very essence of what we do at Bravo and why we do it. We make people indispensable. What a relief to have a WORD that encapsulates what WE DO.
We teach our clients to have a great elevator speech prepared and ready for anytime, anyplace, anyone but the truth is Millie and I have both struggled coming up with the perfect explanation for what we do. Sometimes I answer: "We do training and development workshops to help people sharpen their communication skills" but I know that this answer is lacking what I call "the big So WHAT?" So what you improve communication skills? Big deal. Other times I have said "we do soft skills training" because this word SOFT SKILLS had some currency a few years back and I figure if I speak the language of the average everyday corporate type person they will get it.
Sometimes I am cheeky and answer with "We are superheroes fighting the forces of evil that result in bad presentations and bad communication skills" which is kind of fun but still lacks that certain something.
And then along comes Seth (yeah we are on a first name basis in my own mind) and he puts pen to paper (finger to keyboard more likely) and tells me what I am. I wish like heck I could MAKE everyone read this book. I wish even more I could MAKE the people who cross our path and don't get it read this book. But alas I cannot. What I can do though it pull out some of the key things in Linchpin that help explain how we help make people indispensable. I have six pages of notes. I will just pull out a few here today to illustrate my point.
The Only way to succeed is to be
REMARKABLE, to be talked about.
Why this matters to us:
The work we do is all about helping people be REMARKABLE. I heard recently that someone criticized what we do as irrelevant because we don't work in their industry. But the qualities that make someone or some organization remarkable go well beyond industry. REMARKABLE is not about the widget you make but all the things that come along with the purchase of the widget. So you can sell hubcaps, straws, build sky scrapers, windshield wipers or copiers and the elements of what make your service remarkable will be shared across all these examples. Don't get me wrong--you must know your product, you must know your industry, but in the world of remarkable there comes a point where you and your competition reach a threshold on the quality of the product and what separates the good from the great are the things you deliver in addition to the product.
When your organization becomes more human, more remarkable, faster on it’s feet, and more likely to connect directly with customers, it becomes indispensable. The very thing that made your employee a linchpin makes YOU a linchpin. An organization of indispensable people doing important work is remarkable, profitable, and indispensable in and of itself.
That is what we DO! We help people and organizations be MORE HUMAN. The truth is that there are so many layers of interaction that occurs between the organization and the client that are added together to make up how people see you/the organization. Knowing this, we approach our client from the perspective that EVERYONE in the organization AT ALL LEVELS can stand to learn some new things, refine their communication skills and come closer to knowing what their strengths/talents are that will make the organization more human. We also help an organization identify the right people for the right kinds of interaction. Do you hate public speaking and avoid it all cost? OK. We will train you and give you the tools you need to do a competent job when you must get in front of an audience but we also know well enough that if this is NOT your talent then why keep putting you in front of an audience?
What if instead we found the people in the organization who already have a natural talent for public speaking and plug them in to these activities? And it usually turns out that the person who is not so great at public speaking has other talents that are sorely needed in the equation like interacting one on one with the client. This process is where we start to help people become indispensable!
Through training and development and one on one coaching we are able to get the right people doing the right things in the organization to help produce the right outcomes.
The last thing I want to highlight in this post is Seth's great explanation of why people like us bring value to what you do.
There are books and classes that can teach you how to do most of the things discussed in this book. And while many copies are sold and many classes attended, the failure rate is astonishingly high. It’s not because the books and classes aren’t good. It’s because the RESISTANCE [your lizard brain] is stronger.
When the resistance tells you not to listen to something, read something or attend something--GO! DO IT! It’s not an accident that successful people read more books.
All I can say is AMEN and PREACH ON! Our goal is to work with people who are in a constant state of learning. People who ask a lot of questions, challenge the status quo and know that if they don't do these two things the world is going to pass them by. Successful organizations and people must be nimble and quick in today's rapidly changing environment where nothing is guaranteed anymore. Competition if fierce and everyone wants their piece of the pie and heck, they are happy to take your piece too. And people and organizations who are not paying attention often look up and find "holy Moses they took my piece of the pie!" Well yeah....
We like hanging out with people who get the big so what. For us, the big so what is this: being indispensable comes down to relationships and your ability to successfully navigate your way through all the many layers of those relationships. At Bravo CC we help our client do that.
And if you are one of those weird "always learning" kinda people then pick up Seth's book. The few hours it takes you to read it will be time well spent. Now, go be indispensable.
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