People Power - Jan/Feb 2007
By Scott Humphrey
Have you ever noticed that some companies and some people don’t seem to be impacted by the doomsayers? How is it that during a tightening economy, one retailer grows marketshare and another struggles to protect the marketshare it had? I recently met with two top managers from a large company. As we talked about the impact of the housing and economic slowdown on the floorcovering industry, one of them stopped me and said, “Scott, we’re aware of what’s being said about the economy and the slowdown, but our CEO informed us last week that our company will not be taking part in the recession.” You could have stopped me in my tracks. Here was someone who actually got it. What you prep for is what you get.
How many times have you been watching a sporting event and seen a team take an early lead and seemingly have the game locked up, only to change their strategy and begin to protect that same lead? Gradually the lead dwindles away. What you fear is what you prep for.
In 1984, an Avianca Airlines jet crashed in Spain. Everyone on board was killed. The black box was later discovered and revealed that several minutes before impact, a computer warning went off in the pilot’s cabin. The shrill voice of warning that began to speak to the pilot through the system cried out over and over again, “Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!” But the Spanish pilot did not speak or understand English. For some reason, he began to feel that the system was malfunctioning. And so as they replayed these final moments before the crash, they heard the box say, “Pull up! Pull up!” Then they heard the Spanish pilot say in his native tongue, “Shut up, Gringo!” and he turned the system off. A couple of minutes later, the plane slammed into a mountainside and everyone was killed.
Let me say very clearly, 2007 will offer several challenges, but with challenges come opportunities. It’s likely some will go down in 2007 personally and professionally, but you don’t have to. I’m challenging you to Pull Up!
Now I want to give you five Keys to Success in 2007. Knowing them will not make 2007 a more successful year; implementing them will:
1. Your success will be determined by your key alliances.
Have you formed strategic alliances that will propel you to where you want to go? Are you aligned with partners who have the tools to fill the gaps in your personal and professional life?
People who are serious about improving their health will often hire a personal trainer. They realize that in order to improve their physical condition, they must look outside themselves. Why is it that business professionals who want to grow their businesses so often go it alone? Business consultants are abundant in our industry. Call Floor Focus or myself and ask for referrals. There are people with experience and knowledge who can take you through the temporary challenges you will face in 2007.
2. There’s no success without risk—calculated risk.
I often say, “What got you there will not keep you there.” The business environment is changing. If you want success, you must change too. It’s really very simple. Most of your competitors in life and business will pull back during the first part of 2007 as we experience an economic hiccup. If you want the same outcome as your competition, do what they do. If you want something unusual to happen, you must be willing to do something unusual. Or said another way, “If you want to be what you’ve never been, you must do what you’ve never done.”
3. You will become like those around you. Surround yourself with winners.
I’m amazed how many people surround themselves with people who share their fears. It’s as if it were more important to be right than to be better. Surround yourself with people who are achievers, those who swim against the tide, those who consistently achieve success, those who are willing to question the status quo, those who are content but never satisfied, those who exude optimism.
There’s the story about identical twins. One was a starry-eyed optimist. “Everything is coming up roses!” he would say. The other twin was a hopeless pessimist. He even thought that Murphy, as in Murphy’s Law, was an optimist. The concerned parents brought their boys to the local psychologist. He suggested a plan to balance the twins’ personalities. “On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms when they open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure.”
The parents followed these instructions and carefully observed the results. When they peeked in on the pessimist, they heard him complaining. “I don’t like the color of this computer. I’ll bet this calculator will break . . . I don’t like the game . . . I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this.”
Tiptoeing across the corridor, the parents peeked in and saw their little optimist gleefully throwing the manure up in the air. He was giggling. “You can’t fool me! Where there’s this much manure, there’s gotta be a pony!”
4. You must develop your brand.
What do you want people to say about you? What makes you unique? How do you want to be identified? As a parent, friend, spouse, community leader? What do you want the people who see you in those roles to say about you?
What do you want the community to say about your business at the end of 2007? I challenge you to sit down with the staff in your store and ask them what they want the community to say. Then, have an open discussion about what you as a team can do to make that reputation a reality.
Remember; don’t project too far out here. Focus on the end of 2007.
Whatever you decide will be your outcome personally and professionally, write it down. Post it where you and the people who can make it happen are reminded of this goal daily.
5. Invest in your people.
The greatest and most secure investment you can make is not in gold, stocks, mutual funds, or even real estate. The greatest investment you can make is in people. At the retail level, consumers build loyalty to people before product. Ultimately every person will be graded by the quantity and quality of the relationships they have. Copyright 2007 Floor Focus Inc
As a student of change, one thing that’s become obvious to me is that most people avoid change because they see it as too big or too overwhelming. In reality, change is utilizing the resources that are right around you.
“Into Thin Air” tells about the hazards that plagued climbers in their expedition to Mount Everest in the spring of 1996. That attempt to reach the summit resulted in a great loss of life. One of those who died was Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders. Harris had stayed at the peak past the deadline, and on his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. He radioed the base camp, and told them that he’d come upon a cache of oxygen canisters left by other climbers, but that they were all empty. The climbers who had passed by the canisters on their return from the summit knew they were full. They pleaded with him to use them, but it was to no avail. Already starved for oxygen, Harris continued to argue that the canisters were empty. The problem was that the lack of what he needed so disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by a more than adequate supply he continued to complain of its absence.
What you need to survive and thrive in 2007 is right around you. It’s available in your strategic alliances. It’s available in you relationships. It’s available in readily accessible resources and training. It’s available in you. Make 2007 the year you truly stand out. Many are already writing off 2007 as a year when things are bound to go down. Don’t you believe it. Pull up! Pull up!
I would love to hear from you. Please email me at scott.humphrey@shawinc.com.