Finding your WHY.
SIMON SINEK SAYS THAT GREAT LEADERS BUILD SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES BECAUSE THEY START WITH ‘WHY’.
Whether you’re Steve Jobs and Apple, turning computing on its head, or Martin Luther King with a dream that set light to the touch paper of the civil rights movement, Sinek rightly notes their leadership created impressive loyalty. In the case of Jobs (and in turn, Tim Cook), it helped turn Apple into a business that made a net profit of $48.35 billion in 2017. Not bad!
Being a great leader clearly has benefits. Not only in the morale and personal growth of your team (if you have one), but in your ability to keep clients coming back time and time again without the need to resort to short-term, quick-fix tactics. I’ve spent the past 15-years helping businesses build brand reputation. And leadership – alongside authority, impact and influence – is fundamental to that strategy.
LEADERSHIP AND THE ‘WHY’ FACTOR.
Being good at what you do, and people talking about you being good at what you do, is absolutely critical.
Reflect on your vision, values and purpose.
It’s important to be clear why you developed a skill-set; trained and qualified in a profession, or crafted (or curated) a set of products to sell. That ‘WHY’ brings authenticity - and gravity - to your offer.
It shows your passion, your skills and your relevance to your own, unique audience.
So many businesses simply don’t communicate this. They don’t tell the one story that compels a customer to connect with them, and instead focus on widgets, special offers, quick fixes or social media ‘noise’. You don’t see Apple doing that. Your vision needs to stem from your WHY: the passion that encouraged you to start. And it needs to sit comfortably with your values – your own sense of purpose, behaviours and beliefs – in order to resonate with your clients.
Don’t stop there though, because WHY is just the start.
If you’re clear about why you started; are able to define your business, and understand what makes you unique, you now need to work out HOW to make it happen.
Welcome to your business growth strategy! It’s a great little recipe with the following ingredients:
the growth TARGETS (and audiences) you identify for your product or service
the TACTICS you apply to influence your audience
the ACTIONS you take to bring those tactics to life
the TOOLS you need to deliver those actions
the CHANNELS through which you communicate your message.
As a visual thinker, I like to bring this all together graphically, helping to connect targets and tactics. It’s a great way to work through your plans and brainstorm just how you’re going to make it happen. It’s also a useful format for marketing mentoring sessions too – it can change over time to suit your personal needs and circumstances - responding to the economic, physical and digital world we live in.
How often do we try to make a tiny change (and it honestly feels like moving a mountain) – when we could actually sit back and think:
If I could do my job differently; start with a blank sheet of paper, how would I do it? Why would I do it? What benefits would it bring?
When you’ve reviewed your business plan and are clear about your growth goals, this thinking could help transform your business. And if, like me, sometimes your enthusiasm can set you on a journey before you’ve really stopped to consider the alternatives, take a moment. Review the detail of what you do; challenge yourself on whether you’re doing it right. Could you do it better if you did it differently? If nothing else, you’ll be more confident you’ve made the right choices, and potentially, they’ll be a lightbulb moment that could deliver some real results.
MOVING BEYOND PLANNING: WHAT ELSE DO I NEED?
In reality, it’s not enough to have a great plan. Most of us need more.
In fact, we need three things:
a great plan,
the right mindset, and
first-class support every step of the way.
That’s where (I hope) I come in. Marketing mentoring is a great way to provide regular, and affordable support to small businesses, who need help focusing on the big picture when they’re dealing with the everyday. My job is to inject knowledge and idea,; make connections and challenge your perceptions.
Creating a marketing and business growth plan isn’t something most people do every day.
Getting support that helps not just at the beginning, but throughout your journey is critical. If you would like to know more about marketing mentoring, then please do get in touch.
