To read the original article, click on the title: https://moseleywilliams.com/weirdos-waiting-in-the-wings/ (Weirdos Waiting in the Wings.)

So to summarize:

Better to be called something than nothing, and being called weird is better than being called ordinary.

The problem with weird is that weird means different. And different means dangerous and we flee danger.

The opportunity of being weird is that weird people are passionate, and when they find what they are searching for (not looking for), they tell everyone else they know: weirdos with the same problem.

A few questions to start today’s blog: How do you identify the constraints within your business? And how do you solve them? Are you actually solving them, or are you simply managing them?

Summary:

Constraints are a silent killer. They cost you more than time.

Most people don’t solve constraints, they manage the symptoms.

Identify the true constraints by asking “why” and then slow down until flow is restored. Implement a solution, and measure.

To read the original article, click on the title: https://moseleywilliams.com/consciously-curious-connecting/ (Consciously Curious About Connecting.)

So to summarize:

No matter what business you think you’re in (investments, hardware, advertising, hospitality, industrial design), you’re really in the “making friends” business.

If the people you know can’t help you because they don’t know, then you’re going to have to talk to some strangers and make some new friends.

If the idea of starting conversations with total strangers makes you uncomfortable, then practice by complimenting strangers. Start with the next clerk you encounter: “Excuse me, those are great glasses by the way.” That’s all. Just start. A good word can go a long way.

Most of us ask the wrong questions, and the wrong questions focus on ‘us’ instead of ‘them.’

A few passionate fans who think you are great, who want to share the word about you, is all you need.

Turning the tables and being discovered (instead of searching) is easier than you realize.

Accepting these truths will get you what you want – not as fast as you’d like, but quicker than you realize is possible.

Make sure that what you deserve is what you want.

Two tornadoes hit my town on Friday and did some damage. Some people lost their homes, but no one lost their lives. By comparison, my neighbourhood and my family got off easy. With much of the power grid knocked offline for a few days, all we immediately needed to make things right was coffee.

At just after 7:00am of that first morning without power, my neighbour texted from across the street with an offer for hot coffee. Pretty soon, he had a coffee party going on. Everyone showed up, sleepy-eyed with an empty mug and hope.

Through social media, people were offering power from generators for phones and hot showers and shelter. I could write you stories all day long about people doing good for their fellow citizens. It was really nice, and of course, this got me thinking.

The heart of nice is empathy.

When someone gets it, when they understand you, they are nice to you. They don’t make you explain or plead your case. They don’t quote policies that forbid them from making a difference. They don’t make it worse; they make it better.

Of course, when a tornado hits a town, it’s really easy to find hero stories – the stores handing out free food, the restaurants to serving free meals on the street, and if you want to make a donation, that would be nice too.

But there is an opportunity for empathy every day, and maybe it’s even more appreciated when we are not in a state of emergency. Maybe it matters just as much, or maybe more, when we are buying stamps, or dropping off kids, or shopping for windows.

When I buy a business class seat for more money, the flight attendant is nicer to me.

When I check into a hotel and the desk staff sees my status, odds are they are going to be extra nice to me.

If I give the valet a big tip to park my car, chances are he is going to be nice to me too.

So here is the question: If all I want, the only extra consideration, is for someone to be nice to me when I visit your business, how much extra does that cost? How much extra to talk to a nice person, who is present and tuned in when I call to book an appointment or for tech support? How much extra to find a nice person at the counter who smiles? Would you pay $7.37 extra to have the ticketing person smile at you when she sells you an economy class seat to Newark? Of course, you would!

I own a business too.

I know you’re rushed and stressed and maybe even a little temporarily overcommitted. I know your team deals with hundreds or thousands of customers, and I know that some of them are not always nice. And I know that some of your customers (who knows, maybe a lot) would be willing to pay a little more to get that one thing they really want.

I think there is a huge gap between what people are willing to pay for nice (lots) and what I think it would cost a business to deliver it (next to nothing).

Seems like an opportunity to me.

I’m about to head up to the lake for the summer to recharge – I’ve flown well over 100 times in 7 months, I have had a very busy year speaking about the Experience Economy and how financial advisors and other entrepreneurs can avoid the commoditization trap.

Now I’m on my way to the lake to think slowly and deliberately. I am going to think about one question deeply and see where it takes me, and I’d like to suggest that you think about the same question.

“Who does my audience want to become?”

You are a sales manager; does your audience need more managing?

You are a teacher; does your audience need more lessons?

You are a financial advisor; does you audience need more money?

You are an interior decorator; does your audience need a prettier living room?

Or is there something more they need? Do they buy these goods and services to have them, or to leverage them into something else, something with more meaning?

If you can write down your job description on a few lines of paper, then you can be replaced for less, and likely will be.

I manage a sales team. Replaced. Nobody needs a manager. Your sales team needs a leader who inspires them to do human work, not do safe and predictable work more frequently.

I am a teacher. Replaced. Nobody needs a teacher. Your students need a leader and a guide.

I am a financial advisor. Replaced. Your clients need someone who guides them to greater personal transformation.

If you die, and someone else can do your job as good or better than you, then you can be replaced for less and likely will be.

If your value is what you sell, then you can be replaced for less and likely will be.

The work that you need to do now is work that has nothing to do with your job. You have to help your clients achieve their personal aspirations. They bought your goods and services to solve a problem, and the problem has been solved. Now what?

How are they different, or how can they be different because of these products?

The choice is clear, we can do the safe work, the predictable work, the expected and commoditized work. Or we can do the dangerous, unpredictable and human work that our audience is looking for.

We are all looking for something … more. We are looking for personal transformation.

We are looking for a transformation from our current state into something or someone better. We don’t only want the experience; we want the experience to change us, to help us become something greater than we are.

I’m going to the lake to think about this question all summer. “Who do the people who read my blog want to become?”

That’s it. Whatever I figure out, that’s where I’m taking you.

There are only two mindsets you can have – fixed or growth. People with a fixed mindset shut themselves off from learning and growth. People with a growth mindset believe that (almost) anything is possible if you apply yourself and are patient.

Believing you can learn new things is essential to a business owner because everything is always changing. Fixed mindset people spend all their time convincing themselves to defend the status quo. They avoid anything that pushes them towards personal growth (serious shift).

Good news: your problems might not actually be your problems. The real problem is likely the way you think about problems.

Ep 43 - Disturbance Part2 by Dennis Moseley-Williams

Ep 42 - Disturbance by Dennis Moseley-Williams