Resistance
When you’re leading, you’ll hit resistance. That’s only natural. Even when the ones you’re leading fall under the innovators part of the curve [innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards], not all of them will have the same risk tolerance. When they feel threatened, they’ll fight with nails and teeth to not break “that tiny part of the new status quo”. Here’s the thing: How do you build buy-in quicker?In 2 steps: Create a system for them to thrive. Build demand. A…
You need to convince them
You must’ve heard that to get people to buy from you, you need to influence them. That you need to convince them. And that that is called marketing Marketing is not about convincing (well… bullshit marketing is). People don’t “need to hear a story” to get convinced to buy. They don’t need your storytelling skills (whatever that means) “trying to convince them to buy”. Here’s why When you’re trying to convince someone to buy from you —let’s be honest— you don’t have their best in mind….
Perks of parenthood
Perks of having a two-year-old in kindergarten: you can get sick out of the blue. ???? Jonathan Stark sent this email: No people, no problems. Well, here i am (people) with a problem. ???? I’ll get back to you later on or tomorrow. For now, rest and lots of liquid. Here’s the thing though: Are you taking care of yourself and pausing? Things will be there when you’re back from that pause.Remember, there will be more dives (post from friend of the list and daily writer James Turner)
Breaking the Thought Leadershit Cycle
Break the cycle The point of these last emails is to provoke you and push you to question yourself what’s going on. Also, to give you some places, resources and people I’ve found that —if you take the path of making something remarkable— might help you. Remember, leadership begins with building trust. So show up with something meaningful. Show up to help, but not to give [general] advice. How can you better serve your audience? What can you bring to them that will make it worth their while?…
I’m A Thought-Leader
Now that the Leadershit part is off my system, we can talk about Thoughts today. You do produce thoughts —as opposed to… everybody else? Right… “I’m A Thought-Leader” Are you, really? Calling yourself a “thought leader” (or that you produce thought leadership) is presumptuous and means you have no agency. Most of the self-proclaimed thought-leaders sound (and feel) like this. (It’s a 4-min inspiring presentation by Pat Kelly) Just because you write/publish, it doesn’t mean your thinking…
Thought Leadershit
There’s this belief(?) that you can produce thought leadership.It’s bullshit. It’s like saying that you can produce leaders. A manufactured process (aka certifications) where you put one person in and, no matter what, they turn into leaders. That’s not leadership. That could be management school for all we know —or any online cert. Leadership is the decision to sustain an environment for others to do and be at their best. It’s not about having followers, but to open the path for others so…
Marketing bullshit
Here are some beliefs that are well-extended in business. Most of them though, take an approach from 100 years ago: an industrial era, not a knowledge era. Thought leadershit The best product wins The best marketing wins The best advertising wins Build and they’ll come You need to start with low prices to enter the market Work for free [aka pricing zero] Show your value (working for free) and then they’ll pay you. Perfect your pitch The more ads, the more they’ll buy your stuff Price is costs…
There will be more dives
You’ve seen now a bit of how diving could relate to business and how some principles could be applied. If there’s one thing I wish for you to stick with —especially in this world of uncertainty, fast-pace and busy-ness— is to Think Like A Diver. Remember to pause, assess, correct and go with your gut. You have the tools. You can make the time. Thinking like a diver will put you in advantage: you’ll see things moving in slow motion and gain perspective. If after your assessment you decide your…
Breaking a market
In an atomized market, if you do average, you get average. To stand out you need to be an outlier. Thinking as most people, in diving it could be in a very special location, a special feature, etc. However, when the space is price-driven, you need to change the context. You need to be the obvious choice. Breaking a market For the outliers in the market: they don’t focus on the price, but look for a different kind of either an offer or a different kind of buyer, like a more sophisticated…
Diving. A commodity.
A good thing and a “bad” thing. Yesterday’s email said that diving is a commodity and a scaled productized service. And that it’s a good and a bad thing. Depending on where you stand. Good thing The first organizations who entered the market chose to make it like that. They standardized the processes, the inputs, the scope. Making it happen like that allowed them to scale and propagate everywhere. With this, they can (still) capture a high volume and different fees that support their business…
