Leadership: In what way do you distinguish yourself as a manager?

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Business Coach Nuno F. Assis speaking about leadership

Dear Readers,

The recent months of economic and financial crisis have have had a strong effect on many industries and, if we take a look at the current problems of the various state budgets, the high levels of state debt, the huge budget deficits and the enormous sums used to save banks and other companies appear to hang over us like a sword of Damocles. Most people don‘t recognize these connections and also don‘t understand why these factors play a role in the daily life of every single one of us.

But if you just take a closer look at the customers you encounter in the course of your daily business, you‘ll notice that their attitude, perspective and behavior have changed. And it is just the same with those working for you. So if you now want to survive in your company or your industry, you‘ll sooner or later not be able to avoid devoting some thought to this. But which thoughts should you be considering as a businessperson or manager?

A few days ago I organized a special telephone conference for an exclusive circle of readers of my columns with some of the best marketing professors from various universities. Within the framework of this telephone seminar closer attention was devoted to why the current global situation has an effect on the lives and everyday life of every individual. In the course of this a few major questions became the center of attention. These were:

Are you in a position to distance yourself from your competitors and, if so, how?

And if not, why not?

How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors? What means do you use to differentiate yourself from them?

In the course of the telephone seminar the significance of “being different” for your success in business became very clear one again. And it was noticeable how many entrepreneurs still make heavy weather of finding this out for themselves and implementing it. For this reason I‘d like to use the opportunity in this post to look more closely at precisely this topic and to consider with you the questions: What is so special about “being different” for a manager or an entrepreneur? And how can you in particular be “different” and “unique” in your industry?

The basic dimension

Before we look at this more precisely I‘d like to demonstrate to you an idea that many businesspeople forget:

You are expected to be just like your industry. In fact, this is expected both in relation to your company and in relation to yourself as a manager.

Please read the last sentence again and let it sink in. What does this mean?

There are actually two dimensions of your behavior as an entrepreneur or a manager. And in fact this is completely independent of whether you are a oneperson operation and whether your staff is small or large. The first dimension consists of what most people expect your industry to be. Yes, you‘ve read that correctly. The first dimension doesn‘t consist of how you are perceived but of how those potentially interested in you, your customers and your staff see the industry! So if you satisfy this first dimension, ultimately you‘re only doing what‘s expected of you anyway. That‘s all. And it‘s precisely there that the problem lies. Do I have to be 50% different? A very good question. And the answer is:

NO, NO, NO and NO!

First it‘s important that you understand that, if you only fulfill the expectations that those interested in you, your customers and your staff have of your industry and thus also of you as a manager, you‘re no different from all the others. Then you are simply in the basic dimension. In the dimension most people presume – quite rightly! – to be a matter of course. But fulfillment of the basic dimension has only a limited effect on promoting the desire to buy in customers and on the desire to work for or with you in new members of staff. Just as, for example, you expect there to be toilet paper in the restroom of a 5-star hotel. Simply the fact that you find toilet paper there will never be the catalyst for staying there again or even for traveling home and relating enthusiastically about your stay there.

But how can you be different?

Most businesspeople as well as most managers commit a grave logical error in believing that “being different” necessarily has something to do with radically changing their company, their service or their staff management. As a result they try out great changes and radical reorientation of their company or radically change their management style after every book or seminar.

The dimension of enthusiasm

But in order to distinguish yourself from most competitors and so get your income and your success to grow more strongly you only have to be 1% (only one percent!) different. Precisely this one percent allows you to raise yourself from the first dimension and takes you into the second dimension. The dimension where the magic takes place. You see, everything that is special and extraordinary happens in the second dimension!

And you enter this dimension when you start to “overfulfill” the first dimension. If you give more than is expected of you. You share more information with those who are interested than they expected. Your products and services have more value and utility than your customers reckoned with. Your actions as a manager “overfulfill” the expectations. In this way you develop wonderful relationships with those who are interested, with your customers, staff, suppliers and business partners. In this way you make those who are interested and your customers into “fans” of your company! You know this principle very well from other aspects of your life. Just imagine you woke up tomorrow morning, stepped onto the scales and suddenly you weighed 30 kilos more. How would you feel?

Or just imagine you looked at your online banking portal or your bank statement and you suddenly had €100,000 less (for some of you it might be better to imagine that you suddenly had €100,000 more) in your account. How would you feel? Absolutely right! If such radical, even dramatic changes were to happen, we would react with fright and consternation. But after all life is like that only on the rarest of occasions. In truth reality looks different: There it‘s the one extra bar of chocolate, the one extra piece of cake, the one extra glass of beer, etc. you treat yourself to without thinking that it‘s precisely this ONE that‘ll make the great difference IN THE LONG TERM. That‘s the €5 for cigarettes, the €3 for a knickknack or the €30 for the inessential piece of clothing that immediately wanders into the wardrobe with the dozens of others. Most people indulge in these “trifles” without thinking that it‘s precisely these trifles that make the big difference in the long run.

Crawfish and frogs

Do you know how you cook frogs or crawfish? In principle just like some people lead their lives. If you were to throw frogs into boiling water they would immediately jump out again because the difference would be too great. So you throw them into cold water and slowly turn up the heat and finally the frog, without noticing it, is boiled alive. That‘s just how some people live their lives and they‘re surprised that they get “cooked.” This is how debts arise, this is how overweight arises in many cases, this is how bad habits develop. Some businesspeople overlook this principle for their own company and their marketing or advertising. Just as many managers forget this fact in relation to their everyday management and their work as managers with their staff.

They try to find distinguishing features that in 8 cases out of 10 ultimately correspond to the first dimension. And when they succeed in finding approaches where they can really “be different,” then these changes are too radical and too dramatic. When they try to “be different,” many entrepreneurs act like a pendulum that swings too far in both directions and after a certain amount of time swinging back and forth returns to its starting point. Such radical changes succeed only very rarely and they demand great discipline, stamina and a really novel and innovative approach. As the various professors in the telephone conference stated, for every example where such a dramatic change was successful, there are hundreds (even thousands) of examples of failed attempts to be different in this way. So why make things more difficult than you have to?

Therefore I challenge you today to be an unconventional businessperson or manager. A “manager for the 21st century” who‘s made the principle of the second dimension their own and is implementing this systematically with an ingenious plan. And doing so in 1-percent steps! For this reason I want to ask you directly now: Do you think you are capable of achieving growth of 1% in the next 1 or 2 months in the most important areas of your industry and your company? Do you think you‘re capable of improving yourself by 1% in the most important areas of management in the next few months? Let me repeat these question a bit differently: If in the next 1 or 2 months you want to do 1% more for those interested and/or your customers, what would you do? Because if you enter the second dimension, the dimension of enthusiasm, you‘ll notice that your business will grow more quickly and more easily.

Mnemonic:

If you “overfulfill” the expectations of your target market or target group, then these will respond with exactly what you expect!

So be an unconventional businessperson and an unconventional manager. Take some time straightaway now. Note down the most important expectations of your target market and ask yourself:

How can you do 1% more in each area than is expected of you?
How can you “be 1% different” in each of these areas?
Which are the important areas of your work as a manager and how can you improve by 1% in these?

Remember: 1% sounds very little – but it can change your success in your job dramatically! Because: Leadership is action and not position.

Most cordially,

Your Coach, Nuno F. Assis