As I was thinking back to what I wrote few days back about the two different approaches to failure, it struck me how at its core a change is a failure.
It’s a failure of plans, of worldview, of beliefs and values, of expectations, of anticipations, of truths.
If you are not ready to embrace failure, to take responsibility for it, and move on with an expanded mindset, you are most likely not ready for change.
I was tired of living someone else’s dream and not living mine.
This is something we hear a lot these days, as we celebrate leaders and not followers.
It is very good to acknowledge, yet it is probably even more important to have the following clear:
1. what your dream is;
2. what living your dream means (in terms of sacrifices, things to leave behind, compromises to make, and so on);
3. living someone else’s dream is not a subpar option (the dream might be, but there are plenty out there).
Many years ago, I was once interviewing with a company, and during the hiring process I realised that they were lying to their audience.
It was not a big lie, it was about inflating some numbers to look bigger, something that most companies do. I was kind of surprised with the tone one of the executives in the room told me that was a lie: it felt like I was talking to a kid caught with their hands in the cookie jar, he was very apologetic, and he had a very good and thorough explanation on the reasoning behind the lie.
That episode should have been an eye-opener to the culture I could have found in the day-to-day operations. Because the fact is, lies spread.
A lie leads to more lies. It is very difficult to stop at one lie, to just say this little one once, for the best possible reason, and then go back to telling the truth.
A lie infects others. It is more than likely that, if you start with a lie, others around you will not be honest and transparent in return.
A lie begs for a wider audience. If you tell a lie to your customers, chances are next you are going to lie to your business partner, to the shareholders, to the employees, to the community.
Interviews are full of these kind of hints. But we are often blind to them, as we tell ourselves the story that having a job is the priority. It is not, and we could be better at picking jobs that align with our values.
There are two ways to approach failure.
Focus on blame. And then put all your energy in arguing, sentencing, punishing, recovering from the missed opportunity, and eventually (only eventually, with what’s left) rush to some practical action.
Or focus on responsibility. Own it, consult for possible solutions, move on to mitigating actions, and genuinely learn from what has happened.
The first approach burns bridges. It aims at making things clear, crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, shaming those involved, making sure this will not happen ever again. Even when we do not mean ill, the results are the same. And we are a bit more alone, no matter if the failure was on us.
The second approach builds bridges. It aims at creating a connection, finding ways to work together, building resilience and be ready for the next one. It is incremental, and the more you do it, the more benefit you and the ones around you will get from it.
The same thing is valid for change as well, by the way.
Sales emails are bad more often than they are not. Really bad. I remember a sales rep reaching out to me on LinkedIn while I was unemployed, telling me how great I was, how much he appreciated my work and how the tool he was selling could have improved the performance of my company.
Yet sometimes, sales emails are kind of ok. I got one today that went something like this.
Fabrizio:
I am Vice President of Sales at *Whatever Company* handling business development for the company and their entire portfolio of assets. I was hoping you would have some time to take a call or a meeting. We have worked with many growth companies over the years building effective campaigns that deliver tremendous results. I am confident we can do the same for *your Company*.
*Whatever Company* is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies with more than xxx displays reaching more than half a billion people in more than xx countries on x continents each month. In the U.S., *Whatever Company* operates in xx of the top xx U.S. markets and is the leading outdoor advertising company with the fastest-growing digital outdoor network now surpassing xxx displays.
*Whatever Company* has successfully developed and maintained the most comprehensive network of major airports in North America and has over xxx airports worldwide. We market an effective combination of both international hub airports and targeted local O&D airports which creates opportunities for potential national or regional campaigns of all size.
Would you happen to have some time to do a conference call or have a meeting in the next couple of weeks?
Thanks in advance!
No grammar mistakes, the name of my company is correct, there are a couple of nice personalisations here and there, and all in all the text explains what they have to offer.
And still, they will never get an answer.
It is very easy to tell a lot about what you do, your coverage, your numbers, how you’ve helped this and that. But suppose you are in a room with somebody who only talks about themselves. Is that pleasant? Are you likely to meet them again? Would you do business with them? Of course not. Nonetheless we keep thinking that telling our story will simply awe everybody.
Few ways to avoid this trap.
Connect with me on a personal level. Tell me how much you appreciated the latest story I shared on LinkedIn, or how you see from my recent posts that our company is hiring and growing even further, or how you were impressed to find that we made it to the *Whatever Analyst* report also last year.
Mention ONE business challenge that I have, and how you can fix it. You say you have worked with many growth companies, so tell me about the common pains, the difficulties in affirming your brand when every other competitor has ten times your marketing budget, the impact of your work on metrics a growth company cares about.
Show me that you can deliver. You must have a customer success story, some narrative I can relate to more directly, a difference you’ve made for a company our size and in our stage. Tell me how it did work out, and how happy they were after they have made the investment.
It is a lot less easier, and perhaps not as scalable as the traditional approach. And you’ll find your work has greater purpose, is more exciting, and can actually change people and their businesses.
You've got this 