You’re only a leader when you have followers
Some say “The only thing that makes a leader is when they have followers.” Bullshit. Leading and leadership is not (about) having followers. It’s opening the way ahead so that others can lead in their own ways. Leadership is about taking the unopen paths when you’re ahead of others, to risk things so that others can move forward. If you lead the way, others will see and take courage on taking the lead. And that’s the game-changer.
Generosity: a mistake often done
Being generous doesn’t mean doing things for free, but with intent. That’s one thing many, MANY people get mixed up. “If i’m to be generous, i need to do things for free” In business it gets disguised as overservicing, overdelivering, overserving, or underpricing. In the long run it makes your margins to go thinner, and your business not sustainable. If you want to be generous, see and act to what’s in your customers’ best interest. Do it with intent. And do it from the heart. You can be…
Price or Terms?
Which one would you rather negotiate on: Price, or Payment terms?
No-brainer
If sales are down because your competition is aggressive and price is the main driver, you don’t have a pricing problem, you have a framing problem. Framing who your customers are. Framing how they can get more from you. Framing why they should buy from you instead of the others. Framing what you’re offering. Framing what they’re buying. Because, if price would really be the decisive factor, going lower than your competition by 10 or 100 would make it a no-brainer and you’d be selling more….
Don’t be that client.
The amazing thing about reading a post on free work? You also being triggered by it and coming with great replies and perspectives on the subject. (Thank you tons!) This one post shared in a previous email is the thing that triggered me to think about what’s wrong here: Some of the replies [edited for clarity; shared with permission) “Asking 1200 people to invest time in something you know will only go to one person is questionable, perhaps unethical.” — Wes Wheless, The Lightbulb. “… there…
“Showing up is the secret”
This is the thing that inspired the question on the “Work for free” email. “Showing up is the secret” But is it?
“We’re trained to give ourselves up to be accepted.”
That’s why to be authentic feels like a threat. Check this short video ???? Founder of Metahelm, Guillaume Wiatr, had this to say: “We’re trained to give ourselves up to be accepted.” This resonates big time and explains why authenticity is a scary threat and, therefore, why it requires courage, strength, and honesty to find who we are.” They’re right. And this is why —especially with soloists, freelancers, indies— it becomes so fucking hard to say “No” to bad fits, to red flags. Because we…
To stand out, you need to be authentic.
“You need to be authentic” “You need to stay true to yourself” “Your followers are not following your company, they’re following you. The more personal your posts, the more empathy and engagement you will get.” “To be authentic, it means sharing your true self with your network.” Everyone tells you all of that and more. Yet, what does it even mean? Going a bit deeper than just “it means to be yourself”. Authenticity in business is more than just one thing. It’s a set of attributes that come…
The brightside
Here’s the bright side (and takeaways) from these friends-of-the-list about “workifor free”: “Perhaps the 95% didn’t “not show up” but rather found a more respectful use of their time.” Wes Wheless “The people you want to work with never ask you to work for free, and the ones who ask you to work for free are the ones you wouldn’t want to work with.” Genevieve Hayes “The secret isn’t showing up, it’s positioning yourself so that you never end up in the position where you have to compete…
The opposite of a good idea
Let me know what —to you— the opposite of a good idea is? 🙂