John B. Izzo's Blog, page 6

What Matters Most to Millennials?

Millennials are the largest working generation and leading corporations often ask me: What matters to them? They are different from every other generation to date. The business world is obsessed with the Millennials and how they shape consumer preferences. They are also the emergent talent leaders in every company. And that’s not a bad thing, for as you know, Millennials are optimistic, they are smart, and interested in growth and learning. However, Millennials are also characterized by some as overconfident, spoiled and entitled.

So what matters to Millennials? How can we can we engage them as a driving force for positive change in our organizations? Watch this Izzo on Purpose video and I’ll tell you.

Truth is, what matters most to Millennials is that Millennials want to matter. They want to have social impact. Companies who understand this are engaging sustainable business practices because 62% Millennials want to buy from and work for companies where they feel a sense of purpose and meaning. They volunteer twice as often as the older generation, so it’s no wonder that Millennials are inspired by effective working relationships and 50% say they would take a pay cut to work for a company that gave them a sense of purpose and mission.

Here we have a large demographic group of young people who badly want to make a difference. The Purpose Revolution is coming; Are you ready for it?

 

The post What Matters Most to Millennials? appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

Every Employee Has a Purpose-Do You Know It?

Every employee has a purpose. It is the reason they get up in the morning and come to work and it is more than simply about compensation and status. Purpose is the engine of performance, but few leaders tap into it.

In this video blog, I tell the story of one employee named Max and how a leader only found out about his purpose at his retirement party.

Employees who work from purpose perform better on almost every metric we care about as leaders- including productivity, engagement, and service (even calling in sick less often). As leaders we can unleash the power of purpose by doing three simple things:

Ask people why they come to work besides money– What gets them up in the morning and what makes for a day when they feel they made a difference?
Focus our communication on the purpose of jobs, not just the function- How does each role matter to customers and colleagues?
Recognize people for living their purpose. Once we know their purpose, focus our appreciation on seeing them “live their purpose.”

So, for an inspiring story of one person’s purpose and what a leader learned about leading for purpose, please watch this video about Max and share it.

The post Every Employee Has a Purpose-Do You Know It? appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

What I Learned about Purpose at Google HQ

Last week I spent an amazing day at Google Headquarters in the Silicon Valley. Given their success and the fact that Fortune Magazine has named them the Best Company to work for in America eight of the last eleven years made my visit feel that much more important. In this blog I will share why I think Google is the best company to work for, why what seems New is Old School and some great gems I got from Google on Thriving in an Age of Disruption.

The reason I was there is Coca Cola sponsored a Summit of Chief Marketing Officers from across the United States and I was one of a select few thought leaders invited to keynote at the event, which focused on Thriving in the Next Industrial Revolution.  The second day Google hosted us to share their vision for the future and to crack the door into Google culture.

I want to tell you what I learned at Google but there is some bad news. I had to sign a big time non-disclosure to spend the day there, so I can’t tell you much of what they told me but I can share my impressions.

First Impression-Wow

My first impression was about the reaction of the Chief Marketing Officers and thought leaders who joined me that day. They (including yours truly) were falling all over each other to take pics as if we were all on a long anticipated holiday and wanted to show it off. I asked the rhetorical question, “If a group came to your HQ today would they be doing this?” Everyone said, “Absolutely not.”

Our first interactions with Google team members and leaders confirmed what I suspected- when you work for a company with this kind of global reputation, there is an incredible pride that pulsates. Not one person seemed less than energetic to be there.

Purpose is at the Heart of the Google Magic

Most of you know that Google offers free amazing food at all their sites which is true and we got to taste some of it. Apparently, some Googlers eat all three meals at work! They have great perks, are well paid, have generous sick leave benefits and get help paying for education and all that stuff. But it didn’t take long to realize that the BIGGEST benefit at Google is you get to be part of changing the world.

Whether it is self-driving cars, reducing traffic (they say eliminating traffic), reinventing how you pay for items in a store, or reducing carbon, this company is way more than an internet search firm. Surrounded by scores of excited millennials reminded me of something I often tell people- What matters most to the millennials is “the millennials want to matter.” They want to work on cool stuff and feel they contribute to changing things. This is the biggest perk of all and Google not only lets you be part of that but frees up team members to devote part of their time to projects of passion (in much the same way that 3M has done for many years). Not only is this great for the company because it leads to new products but it gives people a chance to matter.

Google’s original mission statement was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Its unofficial motto was “Don’t be evil,” a phrase which appears on its Code of Conduct page for employees and investors.

But Part of Google’s Magic is Old School

Reading this might make you think that to be a great place to work these days you need to be “cutting edge”, have great stock options, and be in the headlines every day. But here is the thing, part of the magic at Google is very old school. Twenty years ago I made a visit to a relatively unknown bank named Synovus that had just been named the Best Company to work for in America. Less flashy and sexy than Google, they made the list because of their down home good values, the fact that it felt like family to work there, their commitment to make a difference for customers and because you got to bring your brain to work (and have your ideas valued).

While Google has lots of sizzle, team members talk about it feeling like a family, really feel they are part of the culture through town halls and open communication, and talk about lots of collaboration. Given our age of disruption it might surprise you that number two on the great place to work list is Wegmans Food Markets of Rochester, New York, which is one of 12 companies that have appeared on the list for all 20 years, and has also been designated one of the Great Place to Work Legends. The grocery chain has locations in six states, including Maryland. Its employees say “there’s a lot of love and caring” at this 100-year-old family-owned grocery chain, where workers have flexible schedules, ample promotion opportunities and “feel like family.”

Purpose can working on cool stuff at Google or it can be treating customers and each other with respect, or as Jimmy Blanchard, former CEO at Synovus told me twenty years ago “You have to have the power of love.” So, by the end of the day I realized that Google isn’t number one because they are new school, they are number one for the same reason that leading companies have always been great places to work. Purpose plus the feeling of being part of the family equals magic! Google is kind of like NASA with free food.

Thriving in an Age of Disruption-A Few Google Gems

Of course, the Google team reminded us that no company can rest on its success these days and that disruption is always waiting right around the corner.

So here is some advice I got that helped me in my business and it just might help you too:

The most important question is- If you were starting your biz again from scratch what would you do differently? If you aren’t thinking that way your future competitors are, watch out.
Fail Fast, Fail Often, and Fail Cheap. Test everything you do and stop if it isn’t working. Stop Fast.
Make sure you are building the right It before building It right. Most companies and individuals get wed to having the right It before we know if It will work. We invest money, energy, and time into doing “right” what may not be the right thing to do at all.
Make it some people’s job within your company to disrupt your existing business. Tinder was born because Match.com picked some people and said Disrupt our main business! – Make it your mission to put us out of business.
Almost all innovation is not new but the combination of existing things. The wheel (and horse cart) plus the engine was a car. A hotel plus a private home was AIR BNB. A private car plus a taxi was Uber. You get the idea. Maybe it’s not that hard put your mind to it.
And some good news- Don’t worry about computers replacing human intelligence anytime soon. They told us that right now the smartest machine learning is about like a three year old-phew. Only now can a computer tell the difference between a dog and a cat.

So, thanks Google for a great day to remind us all that what is old is new and what is new is old. Have a purpose, create a company that feels like a family, treat people with respect and for goodness sake know that anyone can disrupt you at any moment, so never get arrogant.

The post What I Learned about Purpose at Google HQ appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

What I Learned about Purpose at Google HQ

Last week I spent an amazing day at Google Headquarters in the Silicon Valley. Given their success and the fact that Fortune Magazine has named them the Best Company to work for in America eight of the last eleven years made my visit feel that much more important. In this blog I will share why I think Google is the best company to work for, why what seems New is Old School and some great gems I got from Google on Thriving in an Age of Disruption.

The reason I was there is Coca Cola sponsored a Summit of Chief Marketing Officers from across the United States and I was one of a select few thought leaders invited to keynote at the event, which focused on Thriving in the Next Industrial Revolution.  The second day Google hosted us to share their vision for the future and to crack the door into Google culture.

I want to tell you what I learned at Google but there is some bad news. I had to sign a big time non-disclosure to spend the day there, so I can’t tell you much of what they told me but I can share my impressions.

First Impression-Wow

My first impression was about the reaction of the Chief Marketing Officers and thought leaders who joined me that day. They (including yours truly) were falling all over each other to take pics as if we were all on a long anticipated holiday and wanted to show it off. I asked the rhetorical question, “If a group came to your HQ today would they be doing this?” Everyone said, “Absolutely not.”

Our first interactions with Google team members and leaders confirmed what I suspected- when you work for a company with this kind of global reputation, there is an incredible pride that pulsates. Not one person seemed less than energetic to be there.

Purpose is at the Heart of the Google Magic

Most of you know that Google offers free amazing food at all their sites which is true and we got to taste some of it. Apparently, some Googlers eat all three meals at work! They have great perks, are well paid, have generous sick leave benefits and get help paying for education and all that stuff. But it didn’t take long to realize that the BIGGEST benefit at Google is you get to be part of changing the world.

Whether it is self-driving cars, reducing traffic (they say eliminating traffic), reinventing how you pay for items in a store, or reducing carbon, this company is way more than an internet search firm. Surrounded by scores of excited millennials reminded me of something I often tell people- What matters most to the millennials is “the millennials want to matter.” They want to work on cool stuff and feel they contribute to changing things. This is the biggest perk of all and Google not only lets you be part of that but frees up team members to devote part of their time to projects of passion (in much the same way that 3M has done for many years). Not only is this great for the company because it leads to new products but it gives people a chance to matter.

Google’s original mission statement was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Its unofficial motto was “Don’t be evil,” a phrase which appears on its Code of Conduct page for employees and investors.

But Part of Google’s Magic is Old School

Reading this might make you think that to be a great place to work these days you need to be “cutting edge”, have great stock options, and be in the headlines every day. But here is the thing, part of the magic at Google is very old school. Twenty years ago I made a visit to a relatively unknown bank named Synovus that had just been named the Best Company to work for in America. Less flashy and sexy than Google, they made the list because of their down home good values, the fact that it felt like family to work there, their commitment to make a difference for customers and because you got to bring your brain to work (and have your ideas valued).

While Google has lots of sizzle, team members talk about it feeling like a family, really feel they are part of the culture through town halls and open communication, and talk about lots of collaboration. Given our age of disruption it might surprise you that number two on the great place to work list is Wegmans Food Markets of Rochester, New York, which is one of 12 companies that have appeared on the list for all 20 years, and has also been designated one of the Great Place to Work Legends. The grocery chain has locations in six states, including Maryland. Its employees say “there’s a lot of love and caring” at this 100-year-old family-owned grocery chain, where workers have flexible schedules, ample promotion opportunities and “feel like family.”

Purpose can working on cool stuff at Google or it can be treating customers and each other with respect, or as Jimmy Blanchard, former CEO at Synovus told me twenty years ago “You have to have the power of love.” So, by the end of the day I realized that Google isn’t number one because they are new school, they are number one for the same reason that leading companies have always been great places to work. Purpose plus the feeling of being part of the family equals magic! Google is kind of like NASA with free food.

Thriving in an Age of Disruption-A Few Google Gems

Of course, the Google team reminded us that no company can rest on its success these days and that disruption is always waiting right around the corner.

So here is some advice I got that helped me in my business and it just might help you too:

The most important question is- If you were starting your biz again from scratch what would you do differently? If you aren’t thinking that way your future competitors are, watch out.
Fail Fast, Fail Often, and Fail Cheap. Test everything you do and stop if it isn’t working. Stop Fast.
Make sure you are building the right It before building It right. Most companies and individuals get wed to having the right It before we know if It will work. We invest money, energy, and time into doing “right” what may not be the right thing to do at all.
Make it some people’s job within your company to disrupt your existing business. Tinder was born because Match.com picked some people and said Disrupt our main business! – Make it your mission to put us out of business.
Almost all innovation is not new but the combination of existing things. The wheel (and horse cart) plus the engine was a car. A hotel plus a private home was AIR BNB. A private car plus a taxi was Uber. You get the idea. Maybe it’s not that hard put your mind to it.
And some good news- Don’t worry about computers replacing human intelligence anytime soon. They told us that right now the smartest machine learning is about like a three year old-phew. Only now can a computer tell the difference between a dog and a cat.

So, thanks Google for a great day to remind us all that what is old is new and what is new is old. Have a purpose, create a company that feels like a family, treat people with respect and for goodness sake know that anyone can disrupt you at any moment, so never get arrogant.

The post What I Learned about Purpose at Google HQ appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

Thriving in an Age of Disruption-The Power of a Compelling Purpose

“The soft overcomes the hard,
everyone knows it but few live by it.” Lao Tzu

There is an old story about a man whose horse and wagon were stuck trying to cross a small river. A philosopher came along and asked him, “Have you discovered the meaning of life?” The man looked at him with incredulity and said, “I don’t have time for riddles, can’t you see I’m stuck in the mud?!”

Many businesses today feel they are stuck in the mud of almost unrelenting change.  They wonder if a having new focus on Purpose is perhaps the correct lever to move forwards. To many executives, the idea of using purpose seems soft- and about as silly as the philosopher asking “Have you discovered the meaning of life?”

The Age of Disruption

We live in an Age of Disruption. The nature of disruption is often rooted in emergent technologies that can render seemingly stable businesses irrelevant in a short period of time. Take the example of streaming technology, which decimated the DVD movie and CD music businesses almost overnight. Or new Amazon’s delivery model, which quickly ripped apart the traditional brick and mortar retail world, and today provides a vast array of products that far exceed its initial foray into books.

Technological change has also disrupted the delivery of financial services. Traditional mutual fund companies have lost market share to low-cost ETFs and “robo” advisors, whose performance is as shown to match or exceed human counterparts.  New competitors are also on the horizon and they may be upstarts from outside the financial sector.  The CEO of one of my large banking clients recently told his leaders, “I am not worried about the other banks, I know what they are doing.  What keeps me up at night are the Googles, the telecommunication companies, and many people who are going to realize that in the age of the smart phone you don’t need all this infrastructure to manage money or transactions.”

The Purpose Revolution- A Disruption of Values

Alongside the competitive and technological disruption runs a parallel disruptive force in the form of changing values. We call this value disruption The Purpose Revolution, an emerging global desire among employees, customers, and investors for their working, buying, and investing to provide purpose and leverage social good. Studies by global players like Globe Scan show that as many as 50% of millennials are highly motivated to work for companies whose values align with purpose and over 40% of global consumers now prioritize the social impact of a company in their choice of purchase. Investors, while coming to the purpose party more slowly, are showing a strong trend towards seeing ethical and sustainable business as the right place to invest and have been burned by high profile scandals at places like BP, VW, and Wells Fargo that have decimated shareholder value.

Financial services firms often find themselves at the epicenter of a growing disillusionment with business, exasperated by the financial crisis where this sector bore the brunt of the public’s blame. Studies show that many young talented professionals are increasingly attracted towards purpose-driven enterprises and away from ones primarily driven by profits. In fact, research shows that while half of millennials would take a pay cut to work for a company whose values they believe in, over three-quarters of them believe the company they work for is mostly focused on the growing profit than on the interests of their customers.

How Purpose Can Help Your Company Navigate Disruption

But why does purpose matter in an age of change?  Well, there are really three reasons why it matters a great deal.  The first is because having purpose will help you attract and keep the best talent. As importantly, when you model your purpose, those people will work harder for your success.  Research has shown that people who see their job as a form of service are more committed, work harder and perform better than those who simply see their job as a way to make money or as a career step to something else.

Second, purpose becomes a magnet for customer loyalty in an age of commoditization, where companies must successfully brand themselves to differentiate their goods from the competition.  In this age of disruption, consumers are able to choose cheaper goods, thanks to technological advancements, global distribution networks and vertically integrated industries in manufacturing.  Yet there are companies like Seventh Generation, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and countless small local financial institutions that have demonstrated the ability to win much higher customer loyalty by connecting to their customers’ desire to buy from companies they believe in. Many of these companies have shown clearly that having “connection to their purpose” drives and retains customer loyalty, even when their competitors offer similar products at meaningful discounts.

Finally, purpose is often what keeps team members engaged in driving and thriving in a changing atmosphere. I advised Qantas Airlines as they navigated a major financial crisis as well as a large competitive challenge. The company worked hard to connect their employees to the true purpose of the airline to “exemplify the Australian spirit.” Drawing in large part on that pride, the company raised their Net Promoter scores by 60% even while cutting 5,000 jobs! Purpose is often what keeps people working hard and fighting for your business in the toughest times.

Closing the Purpose Gap

But in this new world of social good, there is a gap in terms of the expectations of customers and employees. In business, “gap” means opportunity—if people want something and companies are not delivering it, then those companies who close the gap between people’s expectations and delivery will succeed.

Most companies are currently failing at providing purpose to their employees, customers, and investors.  Those who provide purpose are usually sub-optimizing its potential impact. Research has shown that almost 70% of employees say the company they work for is mostly interested in profits and serving its own needs rather than society or customers. Compare this stat to the 86% of employees who “believe it’s important that their own employer is responsible to society and the environment, with over half (55%) feeling it is very important,” and 60% who want their work to have purpose—it’s obvious to see a meaningful gap has been created.

Customers experience the same gap with only 16% saying that they have any significant confidence that the companies they are buying from are “good.” In fact, consumers globally say they wouldn’t care if about 70% of the world’s brands, even ones they buy from, disappeared.

But winners in the Purpose Revolution will help customers connect to their story of purpose and leverage a new loyalty based not merely on product or price.

Can Purpose Save Your Company?

Let’s return to the opening story. Most companies today, especially in financial services, are about to enter unparalleled disruption. We may feel stuck in the mud but just pushing harder probably won’t get you where you need to go. But asking: What is the meaning of your enterprise, and How can you connect your employees, customers and investors to that purpose just might just be the kind of “soft” thing that “overcomes the hard” that Lao Tzu meant.

 

Dr. John Izzo is the bestselling author of eight books including Awakening Corporate Soul, Values Shift and the forthcoming Purpose Revolution. He has advised over 600 companies across the globe and spoken to over one million people. His clients include RBC, Manulife, Ford, SAPA, and Qantas Airlines.

The post Thriving in an Age of Disruption-The Power of a Compelling Purpose appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

Thriving in an Age of Disruption-The Power of a Compelling Purpose

“The soft overcomes the hard, everyone knows it but few live by it.” Lao Tzu

There is an old story about a man whose horse and wagon were stuck trying to cross a small river. A philosopher came along and asked him, “Have you discovered the meaning of life?” The man looked at him with incredulity and said, “I don’t have time for riddles, can’t you see I’m stuck in the mud?!”

Many businesses today feel they are stuck in the mud of almost unrelenting change.  They wonder if a having new focus on Purpose is perhaps the correct lever to move forwards. To many executives, the idea of using purpose seems soft- and about as silly as the philosopher asking “Have you discovered the meaning of life?”

The Age of Disruption

We live in an Age of Disruption. The nature of disruption is often rooted in emergent technologies that can render seemingly stable businesses irrelevant in a short period of time. Take the example of streaming technology, which decimated the DVD movie and CD music businesses almost overnight. Or new Amazon’s delivery model, which quickly ripped apart the traditional brick and mortar retail world, and today provides a vast array of products that far exceed its initial foray into books.

Technological change has also disrupted the delivery of financial services. Traditional mutual fund companies have lost market share to low-cost ETFs and “robo” advisors, whose performance is as shown to match or exceed human counterparts.  New competitors are also on the horizon and they may be upstarts from outside the financial sector.  The CEO of one of my large banking clients recently told his leaders, “I am not worried about the other banks, I know what they are doing.  What keeps me up at night are the Googles, the telecommunication companies, and many people who are going to realize that in the age of the smart phone you don’t need all this infrastructure to manage money or transactions.”

The Purpose Revolution- A Disruption of Values

Alongside the competitive and technological disruption runs a parallel disruptive force in the form of changing values. We call this value disruption The Purpose Revolution, an emerging global desire among employees, customers, and investors for their working, buying, and investing to provide purpose and leverage social good. Studies by global players like Globe Scan show that as many as 50% of millennials are highly motivated to work for companies whose values align with purpose and over 40% of global consumers now prioritize the social impact of a company in their choice of purchase. Investors, while coming to the purpose party more slowly, are showing a strong trend towards seeing ethical and sustainable business as the right place to invest and have been burned by high profile scandals at places like BP, VW, and Wells Fargo that have decimated shareholder value.

Financial services firms often find themselves at the epicenter of a growing disillusionment with business, exasperated by the financial crisis where this sector bore the brunt of the public’s blame. Studies show that many young talented professionals are increasingly attracted towards purpose-driven enterprises and away from ones primarily driven by profits. In fact, research shows that while half of millennials would take a pay cut to work for a company whose values they believe in, over three-quarters of them believe the company they work for is mostly focused on the growing profit than on the interests of their customers.

How Purpose Can Help Your Company Navigate Disruption

But why does purpose matter in an age of change?  Well, there are really three reasons why it matters a great deal.  The first is because having purpose will help you attract and keep the best talent. As importantly, when you model your purpose, those people will work harder for your success.  Research has shown that people who see their job as a form of service are more committed, work harder and perform better than those who simply see their job as a way to make money or as a career step to something else.

Second, purpose becomes a magnet for customer loyalty in an age of commoditization, where companies must successfully brand themselves to differentiate their goods from the competition.  In this age of disruption, consumers are able to choose cheaper goods, thanks to technological advancements, global distribution networks and vertically integrated industries in manufacturing.  Yet there are companies like Seventh Generation, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and countless small local financial institutions that have demonstrated the ability to win much higher customer loyalty by connecting to their customers’ desire to buy from companies they believe in. Many of these companies have shown clearly that having “connection to their purpose” drives and retains customer loyalty, even when their competitors offer similar products at meaningful discounts.

Finally, purpose is often what keeps team members engaged in driving and thriving in changing atmosphere. I advised Qantas Airlines as they navigated a major financial crisis as well as a large competitive challenge. The company worked hard to connect their employees to the true purpose of the airline to “exemplify the Australian spirit.” Drawing in large part on that pride, the company raised their Net Promoter scores by 60% even while cutting 5,000 jobs! Purpose is often what keeps people working hard and fighting for your business in the toughest times.

Closing the Purpose Gap

But in this new world of social good, there is a gap in terms of the expectations of customers and employees. In business, “gap” means opportunity—if people want something and companies are not delivering it, then those companies who close the gap between people’s expectations and delivery will succeed.

Most companies are currently failing at providing purpose to their employees, customers, and investors.  Those who provide purpose are usually sub-optimizing its potential impact. Research has shown that almost 70% of employees say the company they work for is mostly interested in profits and serving its own needs rather than society or customers. Compare this stat to the 86% of employees who “believe it’s important that their own employer is responsible to society and the environment, with over half (55%) feeling it is very important,” and 60% who want their work to have purpose—it’s obvious to see a meaningful gap has been created.

Customers experience the same gap with only 16% saying that they have any significant confidence that the companies they are buying from are “good.” In fact, consumers globally say they wouldn’t care if about 70% of the world’s brands, even ones they buy from, disappeared.

But winners in the Purpose Revolution will help customers connect to their story of purpose and leverage a new loyalty based not merely on product or price.

Can Purpose Save Your Company?

Let’s return to the opening story. Most companies today, especially in financial services, are about to enter unparalleled disruption. We may feel stuck in the mud but just pushing harder probably won’t get you where you need to go. But asking: What is the meaning of your enterprise, and How can you connect your employees, customers and investors to that purpose just might just be the kind of “soft” thing that “overcomes the hard” that Lao Tzu meant.

 

Dr. John Izzo is the bestselling author of eight books including Awakening Corporate Soul, Values Shift and the forthcoming Purpose Revolution. He has advised over 600 companies across the globe and spoken to over one million people. His clients include RBC, Manulife, Ford, SAPA, and Qantas Airlines.

The post Thriving in an Age of Disruption-The Power of a Compelling Purpose appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

The Lesson of the Goat Handler

 

Lessons for business and life often come from unexpected places. This unexpected lesson is exactly what happened to me in Sicily when I encountered a “goat handler” standing next to a crater on Mount Etna. Janice and I spent eight days in Sicily in July, fulfilling a visit to my father’s homeland for the first time. If you haven’t been there, let me say the people are warm, the island is beautiful and the food delicious.

On our day hike to the active volcano near the top of Mt. Etna we ran into a middle-aged man standing there with his goat. People were flocking to have their picture taken with him-both adults and kids- and leaving behind a hat filling up with donations.

My first thought was something like: How the heck does someone differentiate their business just standing around with a goat and asking for money? But my brief encounter with him told me a secret. When I went up to have my picture taken, he greeted me with a warm, infectious smile. Rather than just posing for a picture with him, he asked me where I was from and if it was my first time to Sicily.

After the picture was taken I had already put my donation in his hat when he stopped me. “Before you leave, don’t forget this” as he handed me a small volcanic rock with two tiny red plastic lady bugs glued on the top. “This is for you to have a blessing and to wish you a good life.”

Walking away from this simple experience I realized why he was doing so well. What made him stand out was not the cute goat, or even that he was the only one asking for donations in that spot. What made him successful was that he had a purpose and it showed. Even in that oh so brief encounter, it was obvious he wasn’t just doing this for the money. He loved seeing the smiling faces, he obviously got a sense of purpose from making someone’s day and that “hand off” of the rock with the lady bug blessing had nothing to do with the donation- it was part of why he did this.

That week, I was doing the final edits on my next book The Purpose Revolution and connected the dots. When we have a purpose it shows, whether you’re a goat handler, a leader, or a large business. Purpose is magnetic and we can sense it a mile away. We can tell if someone just wants to sell us something or if they really care about our well-being. We can tell when a business is just about profits or wants to create a better world now and for the future.

So next time you are leading a meeting in your organization, ask yourself: Can my people tell I have a purpose beyond profits? Next time you run a campaign to communicate with your employees or customers, ask if they can see with clarity that you are trying to create a better world for them and for others?

And don’t forget that when we have a sense of purpose ourselves, we simply perform better. Research has shown that when people see their job as a way to make a difference, not just a way to make a living, they are more productive, provide better service, call in sick less, and are more committed. Research shows about four in ten employees are now focused mostly on purpose and over 50% of millennials say they’d take a pay cut for greater purpose!

The goat handler has a purpose- to inspire a smile and give a blessing. What’s your purpose?  And is the purpose of your enterprise so apparent that it’s contagious?

Be well and do good work,

John

The post The Lesson of the Goat Handler appeared first on Dr John Izzo.

Branding from the Inside Out

For almost two decades, United Airlines had a brand slogan that was simple and easy to understand: The Friendly Skies. Not surprisingly, that drew large laughter at a recent keynote when I put it up on the screen given that in the weeks before, the airline had gone viral worldwide for dragging a passenger against his will off one of their flights. I joked that perhaps the slogan needed to be changed to “At United, the skies are friendly until they’re not, then we get really unfriendly!”

What is a brand anyway? Research shows that customers only believe about 16% of what we tell them our brand is. Our advertising and marketing mostly create an expectation in the minds of our customers. The truth is our brand is mostly how our people act every day and how they talk about the brand to customers (and potential ones). Most leaders don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about how to get every team member to live the brand and to be an absolutely positive ambassador for it. I call it Branding from the Inside Out, a frequent topic for my keynotes.

Today I want to share with you three ways to get every person to be your best ambassador.

Be Clear on What Your Brand is

If you want people to be your best ambassadors, you need to get clear on what the brand really is. Don’t think slogans, start asking what does it really mean to live your brand?  The Friendly Skies is meaningless if we aren’t clear on what that means in every moment. At the Ritz Carlton, they have a clear set of behaviors that show what it means to exceed expectations every day. They rotate through them at daily meetings (example: we remember names)- you can’t forget what it means to live the brand at the Ritz. I am working right now with Air Canada as they try to up their service game. For them it is “care and class.” To live the brand means they show they care and do it with class (meaning not homespun perky friendliness but refined). They aren’t there yet, but getting 100% clear on what it means to live the brand is job # 1. How clear is that on your team or in your organization?

Focus on Purpose, Not Profits

In my forthcoming book Purpose Revolution, I feature research that shows that when people see their job as a calling, they are more engaged, more committed, and simply perform better. Manulife is a company I’ve been working with this past year and their purpose is “to help people achieve their dreams and aspirations”. Your people won’t truly be ambassadors for your brand unless they truly connect to its purpose. Profits are not a purpose, they are a reward for having a purpose! How often do you talk about your true purpose to serve and make things better? As a leader, how often do you highlight the real difference you make for customers through stories? And in moments of truth do we demonstrate that we really are focused on purpose not profits?

One of my favorite leaders at Air Canada constantly reminds his people that tears are common at airports. By truly serving with class and care his people can make someone’s life better every single day. One of the most successful franchisees at Molly Maid constantly reminds his cleaning professionals that many of the older people, whose homes they clean, have little social interaction. So, in addition to cleaning homes they are alleviating loneliness. People live the brand when they think it stands for something truly noble.

Ask Your People to Be Ambassadors

Although customers only believe about 16% of what we tell them in our marketing efforts, research shows they do believe what our team members say. I personally heard lots of bad press about RyanAir but a ten-minute conversation with two of their pilots at an airport in Spain changed my view of the operation. They were 100% positive ambassadors for the brand! A few years ago, Cisco’s CEO John Chambers asked team members to tell the story about what they loved about Cisco via youtube videos and even offered to buy a video camera for anyone who agreed to tell their story. The videos got hundreds of thousands of hits. And they were believable. I love that he asked them to be Ambassadors.

So why not ask your people to be your ambassadors? I am amazed how many leaders NEVER directly ask their people to be ambassadors for the brand everywhere- at parties, on the commute to work, talking with a passenger at a gate even when you aren’t on duty. Help your people to see how to do it, highlight when to do it, and for heaven’s sake ask them to be honest if they aren’t enthusiastic about doing it.  Measure whether they are proud of their services and products (and what would make them even more proud). Take action on the things they say would make them proud to do so.

Your Brand is Your People

Your brand is your people. Your well-crafted slogan means nothing if in moments of truth every day, your people don’t know what your brand is, if they don’t truly see its purpose, and if we don’t ask them to be our ambassadors. Remember that advertising only bought you an expectation in the minds and hearts of your customers.  If your people aren’t living it, it’s not your brand.

 

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What I Learned During My Mother’s Death

As some of you may know, my mother passed away six weeks ago now, just short of her 82nd birthday. I appreciate the many well wishes I received from so many of you. Many of you have lost a parent so know the enormity of this loss. Though I usually use this space to provide leadership tips, this month I wanted to share some reflections on life.

Death is hard especially when saying goodbye to someone we love deeply. Death is also a great teacher if we are open to its lessons. Steve Jobs once said that death was the greatest invention in the history of life, because it gives an urgency to how we live and is used by nature to adapt. Each generation of life, human and otherwise, tries to improve the future.

Today I want to share the three lessons learned at my mother’s bedside that last week of her life. It was easily the most difficult week of my life as I cried a million tears, but also the most meaningful. The three lessons are Letting Go, Staying Open and Leaving Behind.

Letting Go

My mother and I were very close, especially in her later years. As the only child of a single mother we had a special bond. We only found out she had cancer a few weeks before she died. There wasn’t much time to let go. In the final days of her life she taught me a great deal about letting go. I watched as she gently released all the regrets in her life. She challenged me to put aside any feelings that I might have done more to be a great son; she urged me to let go and surrender to even death and to be curious about what this might teach me. Each day I had to practice letting go of my desire to control life, to change the past and to surrender to each moment.

My oldest daughter Lena could not come to mom’s bedside until four days into her hospital stay and her life was slipping away. I clung so hard for my mom to hold on for that last goodbye but she merely surrendered to the moment. “If it’s to be, it will be, it will be ok.” When my daughter’s flight was delayed by five hours and my mother lay unconscious, I held on so tightly to the need for them to have a goodbye, until I finally I had to let it go. Though in the end mom hung on so they had a loving and peaceful farewell, the beauty of that moment of surrender has stayed with me.

I remembered how so much of happiness in life is surrendering with curiosity to the challenges we face.

Staying Open

The second lesson was Staying Open. One of my mother’s greatest gifts to me was her non- judgmental nature. Except for those who were bullies, she always gave people the benefit of the doubt. “Walk in someone’s shoes” she would say, “before you judge”. Little did I know that I would have the chance to re-learn that lesson in her final week. It happened most poignantly when the man who shared the room with her, a man in his late forties, was particularly loud. He had many guests and often had his TV on without a headset. I judged him to be an insensitive person.

Then as three days passed, my mother had become very weak. When I arrived one morning the man called to me. “What are you here for?” I asked. “Well, I have been battling cancer for almost ten years now, and it looks like I am finally losing.” He then went on, “your mother is really struggling now. Sometimes at night she can’t ring her call button for help. But I want you to know I have been listening for her and when I hear her struggling, I ring my button for her.” The man I had judged was a guardian angel for my mother even though he himself was battling for life.

I couldn’t help but think of all the times we judge others without truly taking the time to know their story. What a better world it would be if we all saw others as my mother did. She was not naïve by any means, but she believed that if we see goodness in others we are more likely to bring it out in them.

Leaving Behind

The final lesson was Leaving Behind. My mother focused most of her life on how she could make things better for others. Even in those final hours, her main concern was not for herself but whether I would be fine. The nurses even commented to me about how they could tell she was “a very good woman”. Even in pain, she was most concerned about what she left behind and worried about how her death would affect the rest of us.

Watching how she lived and died, I was reminded again that the great task of life is to live so that life is better for others because you were here. This is as true for a person as it is for a leader and even a society. The true test of our success is whether we improve life while we are here. So much of my life is spent trying to get leaders to think about their legacy, to ask “How do I want this company and the larger society to be different because of my leadership?”, and “What will I leave behind?”

My mother taught me so many things. The way she quietly stood up to racism as I grew up in the United States, the way she railed against the loss of civility in society, how she role modeled kindness and her belief that we are here to serve. The way she always spoke up for what she thought was right even if it wasn’t popular.

It made me think that there are really three questions we ought to ask every day of our lives:  What did I stand up for today? Did I leave everyone I met today better than I found them? Did how I lived today help leave a positive legacy for the future?

The Biggest Lesson

Perhaps the biggest lesson from her death is the most obvious. Cherish those you love right now. Be kind, be generous, and if there is something you must say, this is the moment. Years ago, a wise man told me that no matter what your relationship is with your parents you will miss them incredibly when they are gone. Often, I forget and think I must call my mother. If you can call your loved ones, see them, be there for them, do it. Do it now.

The other obvious lesson is to live now. For years I have taught this in my books The Five Secrets and The Five Thieves of Happiness, but today I feel it in my bones. This is the day, now is the moment, to enjoy each day, to live as if it could be your last and should be your best.

With love for my mother, Irene Izzo-Parisi and all those parents out there. Thank you.

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How to Achieve Sustainable Happiness

Why is it so hard to stay happy? Find out the secrets.
A Conversation between Marshall Goldsmith & Dr. John Izzo

 

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