The quote “Formula for uccess: under promise and over deliver” by Tom Peters has never been so true as it is today. In this day and age where promises are broken both right and left, the people who live true to their promises will win in the end.

My husband, Mike and I were talking this past week about a few colleagues who we consider to be at the top of their game who have promised a few things and never delivered on them. We were talking about the amount of time we spent trying to get them to follow-up and follow-through, only to be a bit disappointed in the end. You see…the promise of payment, the promise of a task or the offer of a favor never came through. So, not only did we spend time trying to get the follow-through, we spent a lot of time worrying about why the promise fell through the cracks.

I have learned in life that you just don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you think there is any way on earth that you won’t be able to follow-through, you simply say “no”, and then if you can follow-through, the person is totally surprised and delighted! If you think you can get the report in on Monday, tell the client or colleague that it will come on Wednesday, and when it comes on Monday, the person will sing your praises to the masses.

I am someone who once did everything people asked me to do…so much so that I was exhausted. It was hard for me to say “no”, and with a bit of coaching, I learned to say “no” to just about every request. I still say “yes” to opportunities and volunteer work which are meaningful for me, but saying “no” is actually a huge favor to others. It frees both you and them up to move along.

If you are reading this post today, I would ask you to consider “What have you promised, and have you delivered on that promise?” If not, I encourage you to clean that up today.

Person Tom Peters

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Over the last two years of working closely with colleagues and hundreds of millennials, I have been inspired by stories of both struggle and hope.  And with each story told, I became more and more clear that a huge part of my life path is to be of support to our emerging leaders.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you can use to connect with other people and to make an impression, because each time you tell a story, people connect with you on a human level.  While you can certainly use rhetoric and intellectual facts and figures to build your credibility, you will hit home when you engage people using a time in life when things changed, or a story about your roots or a time when you fell.

One of the best articles on this subject is the article Storytelling that Moves People  by Robert McKee and Bronwyn Fryer.  In the article, they say “If you can harness imagination and the principles of  a well-told story, then you get people rising to their feet admid thunderous applause instead of yawning and ignoring you.”

I leave you today with a question “What stories can you tell?”  Once you answer that, then go tell it!

I have found that many company mission statements are very long, difficult and boring, and many leaders will use that company mission statement as an attempt to try to inspire people. But the key here is to get people fully engaged in a mission that is exciting and that lines up with not only your customers’ values but your employees’ values. Getting people engaged in your mission statement is just like having a powerful marketing engine. If you want to be successful in marketing, you have to keep things simple and then sell a solution to a pain that the buyer is feeling, to their desires, needs and wants. So, when it comes to getting people engaged in your mission, it is important to make the mission super simple and then go to your constituents one by one, getting their buy-in using the pains, desires and needs of that person as a pitching point. At the same time, in today’s workforce, people have to know that the work they are doing is meaningful and is helping change the world in some way. This is why companies like Google are so successful. The employees say that they are inspired by meaningful work and a company that is dedicated to changing the world for the better.

When getting people to engage in your company mission, consider the following:

1) Keep your mission simple. Disney’s mission to make people happy meets the needs of not only theme-park visitors but employees around the world. Happy employees make for happy customers, and the Disney team knows that this is the mission that permeates every decision made.

2) Answer the question “Why are you in business in the first place?” Did you go into business to have more freedom, to be more creative, to help people become healthier, wealthier or wiser? Answer this question, and let your customers and employees know exactly why you are here/why they are here.

3) How can you deliver extraordinary service? Your mission statement should in some way let both your customers and employees know that you are doing everything in your power to be quick, deliver outstanding quality and to deliver a true experience that will be rewarding. Employees will be much more engaged if they know that work is fun, exciting and educational.

4) Consider the type of relationship you want to develop with both your customers and employees. Do you want mutual respect, collaboration or teamwork? Spend time with your employees discussing how to design the relationship so that your company’s mission is achieved.

5) What are your core values and philosophies about life? Have you shared these with your customers and employees? If not, then it’s time to do it by including your beliefs in life in the description of your mission statement. If your goal is to “make people happy”, then why is that important?

6) Get your employees involved in discussing your mission statement. Hold open forums and town hall meetings to get the juices flowing.

7) Use words that “sizzle.” By using the word happy, excited, or inspired, you touch an emotional chord with people, and as we know, emotions can get people engaged in a deep way in your company.

Like anything in business, developing a short, simple mission statement takes time. By giving some thought to the above questions, developing a great mission statement that meets the above and then getting your employees involved in it, you will find that work is much more fulfilling and joyful…and that’s what we all want…to be happy!

To learn more about how to engage your team in the mission you are trying to achieve in your company, pre-order EDGE: A Leadership Story today.

This is such a juicy topic…Do your clients have a pecking order? You know what I mean…Do you pick up the phone with more urgency when a “special” client calls, or do certain clients get preferential treatment over others? Hmmm…very good question indeed.

I had a meeting last week with a biz owner…someone who is quite successful, and she commented to me about a situation. You see, she had hired a web designer for a project about two years ago. At that time, she was in the middle of a transition, and she was doing fairly well but not well enough to write home to the family about her business.

She hired a web designer to help her through her transition. The designer did a great job for her, and she became a walking billboard for his business. As time moved along, the designer began to get more clients (because of her testimonials) and obviously more “important” clients, because this designer began to promote the “more important” clients over her to the public. Hmmm…interesting that she picked up on that.

You see…this biz owner is someone who thought her web designer was a true partner…someone who would stand by her and support her, because she was a first client. But, as time went on, she became like a puppy who then became an old dog…the shine was gone. She was that first client, but now, she was someone who no longer had the pull of the “more important clients” for the designer. She no longer was famous enough for him. Such a shame (in my opinion, because I know this person and her ability to send thousands of people his way.)

I was raised by parents who always taught me “Dance with the one who brought you.” As you may know, this phrase (probably southern) suggests that we need to always remember the people who helped us get where we are. They are the seeds that we plant early on, and they are (in my opinion), the most important people in our business. They help us plant seeds that yield incredible fruits of our labors (more clients, more connections.) My adivce is…take care of those people, thank them and never forget that they helped you get where you are today. If you forget it, your business will take a big hit. It always does.

If this situation is true for you, I have a few suggestions on the topic:

1) When you make announcements about your clients, do it in alphabetical order. You may be saying “Well, I want John Smith to be first on the list, because he has more credibility.” That is bullshit!. By ordering your clients according to who you think is most important, you send a loud and clear message to your other clients: You are not as important! (I also want to remind everyone that money often buys prestige, position and power, so the person who you think is “so important” may have bought their way to success, which then diminishes the efforts of your clients who are working their way up through hard work, sweat and tears.) By listing your clients in alphabetical order, you take the “preferred client” scenario out of the equation, and you put everyone on a level playing field. If you are ordering your clients according to power, position and prestige, you are essentially “playing favorites.”

2) Each time a client does ANYTHING for your business, thank them over and over again. Your clients can never hear gratitudes enough.

3) On just one occasion, take the client who you “think” is your least influential, and move that person to a prime position. Give that client an MVP award or some type of award of distinction. You will be rewarded forever for that one effort.

4) Each time you decide to move a client to the bottom of your list, stop to consider his or her network and his/her ability to get out and talk up your company. You may be making the mistake of a lifetime by moving this person to the bottom of your “pecking order.”

Walt Disney was well known for the quote “My business is making people, especially children, happy.” This is not just a quote he spoke to the masses, but this statement is a part of Disney’s mission statement.

I don’t know if you have ever been to Disney World
or Disney Land, but it is truly impossible (in my opinion) to be in a bad mood as you move  through the park. The characters are hugging you, the employees are smiling and sweeping up each tiny fleck of dust (I have never seen anything so clean in my life…and cleanliness always makes people happy) and the air is filled with children laughing and some crying…and the crying is even okay, because there’s a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar to soothe the tears.

In both business and life, we all have a mission. My mission in both is to develop leaders. I know that this is what I was born to do. I don’t really connect with having a “life purpose”, because I get all hung up on that, but I know that in some way, I have been called to help, guide and support leaders in changing the world. It’s just that simple. As I write this post today, it is my hope that a leader will stumble upon this and go out and start fully living out his or her mission in life.

My question for you today is “What is your mission?” Once you answer that question, then go out and live it and live it to the nth degree! You will be so fulfilled if you live it!

And…while you are reading this post, click on the links over to Disney World and Disney Land…you will be happier today just by doing it!