You ship messages…

 

…every waking moment

 

…every single day.

 

Why not spend 30 seconds or so, right now…thinking about “the Transporter of your messages”?

 

Before you present your messages to the Transporter of your messages you flavour your messages with your Mood and with your Thoughts, particularly your assessment of the Situation at hand.

 

Then, your message is delivered by your appearance, your body language, especially your facial expressions, your tones, and the gestures you make with your hands and arms.

 

Those are the transporters of your messages.

We say Business only contains 3 things: People, Process, & Situations.

 

We need to clarify what we mean by ‘Situations’.

 

Situation def’n:

 

 

At Spirited Leaders, we teach:

 

The right People, of course, are the most-important assets of your business

People create Process

People influence Situations…ideally; the majority of the influence is in the positive direction

 

Let’s spend a bit of time clarifying that last one: People influence Situations

 

Example #1: Say you or one of your salespeople show up to a meeting and your Client is there as expected. But, not expected, your Client’s boss is sitting beside your Client. You walked in the room expecting one Situation and, instead, you found another. Everything but one was exactly the same as you expected. The one thing that wasn’t expected – actually, not a thing, a person – was the addition of your Client’s boss. So, the Situation changed. As any good sales school would teach…you need to make an adjustment to accommodate the unexpected Situation.

 

Example #2: Again, you or one of your people is about to visit that same Client. This time when you arrive everything is as expected except for one small change. Your Client’s office is sweltering hot and the humidity feels like 100%. Same people, different environment…different Situation. Again, you need to make an adjustment to accommodate the unexpected Situation.

 

Example #3: Like above, except no boss and the room is room temperature. This time there is a power failure so you cannot deliver your presentation on the big screen as planned. A ‘prop’ has changed. Again, you need to adjust.

 

Or…

• you spilled coffee on your shirt on the way to the Client’s office or
• lightning knocked a tree across the road and that made you late for the meeting or
• you forgot those important papers
• or
• or

It only takes a little thing to change a Situation.

 

But – and this is good news – a little change in Situation can mean everything!

Many people tout the book ‘Good to Great’, by Jim Collins.

 

I am one of those people. My favourite parts are two of the analogies: The Hedgehog Concept and the Flywheel.

 

However, I have recently discovered few people in our geography know what a hedgehog is. So, for the last 10 years when I have said things like, “the Hedgehog Concept in Jim Collins’ classic ‘Good to Great’ really resonates with me” most people have not understood a word I was talking about.

 

…I am working on that.

 

A hedgehog is a little insect-eating creature that lives in Europe, Asia, and other places…but not North America. While they are not the same species, hedgehogs and porcupines both have pointed things sticking out of their bodies…to protect them from predators.

 

Enough about hedgehogs…

 

When I say things like “the Hedgehog Concept in Jim Collins’ classic ‘Good To Great’ really resonates with me” I have another problem. The other problem lies in the title of the book, i.e., the words ‘Good to Great’. For many people, business days are not full of passion in search of excellence. Business days are a struggle in search of simple solutions.

 

Maybe the following category descriptions will explain what we are seeing at SouthWestern Ontario businesses:

 

Great
Good
OK
Struggling
Dire Straits

 

We could create detailed descriptions, backed by many years of research, to define these categories…as Jim Collins did for ‘Good’ and ‘Great’. But, that’s not necessary. Most business leaders know where their businesses sit.

 

And, of more importance, they know if they are prepared to make the changes necessary to move their business up the list.

 

Jim Collins discussed and answered the question “Why be Great?” near the end of his book.

 

What about the question “Why be better?”
 

Some would answer like George Bernard Shaw:

“Why Not?”

 

Some would answer from a different philosophical direction:

“Because you can.”

 

What’s your answer?

Why would you want your business to be better?

 

and

Are you willing to lead the changes, making personal changes, to make your business better?