Tag: relationships

In control

FabrizioLeave a comment

We are not in control.

We do not know how we got there, we do not know how long it will last, we do not know who will come next, we do not know if our work will be appreciated tomorrow, we do not know if the people we serve will find someone else who serves them better, we do not know for how long we can continue doing what we have done today, we do not know whether or not the rules of the game will change, when and how.

Most of our disappointments and frustrations emerge from us not recognizing this very basic fact. Once liberated from the illusion of being in control, we can start seeing the world around us as fluid and in perpetual movement.

Our role is to play along with it, not trying to freeze it.

Delivery

FabrizioLeave a comment

If all you give your employees are tasks, you can certainly expect them to execute them, perhaps even a bit before the deadline and with a little less resources than originally planned, sometimes with some more effort than it would normally require.

Expectations, though, should not be extended to the quality of their work (it will meet specs, and that’s pretty much it) and on their commitment to finding new ways, establishing new relationships, solving new problems, identifying new interesting questions.

If all you give your employees are tasks, delivery is pretty much all you can ask in return. And that’s not something you can change with a clap of hands.

How would you feel?

FabrizioLeave a comment

What if you would become an expert in things those you seek to serve are interested in?

What if, instead of 20 blog posts a month you would write only one this time around? And then the next month. And the next. And the next.

What if you would have the time to thouroughly research your topics, interview experts, collect data, put together arguments from different areas, come up with something truly original?

What if your content would be the single choice for those you seek to serve, the only one article they would seek, wait for, read in the whole month?

How many visitors, contacts, MQLs, SQLs, opportunities, deals would you get?

And, most importantly, how would it make you feel? How would it make your audience feel?

Openly ask

FabrizioLeave a comment

Do you ever bother to openly ask?

A team member, what they would like to work on.

A customer, how they will be using your product.

A user, what topic would they be happy receiving content about.

Your partner, how would they feel if something would happen.

Your boss, what’s keeping them up at night.

Most of our businesses and lives are based on assumptions. Sometimes we hide them under the labels “experience” and “data”, and yet assumptions they are and they will be.

Should we instead bother and ask the question?

Values need consistency

FabrizioLeave a comment

Most rules have exceptions, yet you have got to set some rules for yourself you are not open to make exceptions to.

Values are such rules.

Consistency is everything when it comes to value. There’s always going to be good reasons to deviate from the path you set for yourself, but it’s sticking to it that makes your story unique and worth telling.