Jeff Henderson makes a great challenge as we stand on the doorstep of 2020: Know What You’re FOR. Henderson is well known in the Metro Atlanta area as a Pastor in the North Point Church organization. I knew that he also had a background from Chick-fil-A and enjoyed learning more about that too. In addition to a person knowing what they are FOR, they should constantly be assessing what others know them FOR. If there is a gap between those two things, that needs to be addressed. This is something that should always be evaluated.
This book is an awesome read for anyone because we all need to grow as individuals before we can grow as leaders of the teams the Lord has put in our care. If you are planning a day away or some sort of sabbatical soon, this book would be great to include in your thinking process. In fact, Jeff recommends thinking for 30 minutes a day. I think that’s a great thing to consider for the year ahead!
I highlighted several things while reading and posted those notes below:
- The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Fyodor Dostoevsky Location: 295
- In a hypercritical, cynical world, one that is often known for what it’s against, let’s be a group of people known for who and what we’re FOR. Location: 363
- When you are FOR the people in and around your business, the people in and around your business become FOR you. Location: 396
- Healthy things grow. Unhealthy things die. Location: 403
- Instead of shouting about how great the business is, we need to start talking about how great our customers are and engage with them about their life. Location: 416
- A business with a FOR mind-set understands that the first customer a leader has is the team. Location: 462
- The best gift you can give your customers, your team, and your community is an inspired, rejuvenated, fully alive you. Location: 482
- As Scott Cook, cofounder of Intuit and a billionaire director of both Procter and Gamble and eBay, correctly points out, “A brand is no longer what it tells consumers it is—it is what consumers tell each other it is.” Location: 544
- Mr. Schulze is the chairman and chief executive officer at Capella Hotels and Resorts and Solis Hotels and Resorts. Location: 548
- “The number one question customers are asking about a business is, ‘Do they care about me?’” Mr. Schulze says. Location: 552
- 1. What do we want to be known FOR? 2. What are we known FOR? Location: 694
- Joey Reiman, author of The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy, says, “Purpose is where your company’s distinctive gifts intersect with the needs of the world.” Location: 735
- When purpose lives in an organization, the organization lives in purpose. Location: 784
- To prepare you for that, I have a few items for the agenda at your next team meeting: 1. Ask each team member to identify one of their favorite companies, and why it’s one of their favorites. 2. Then ask them what’s the one thing that company is known FOR. 3. How are they delivering on their brand promise? 4. Transition the conversation to your organization by asking, “What are we known FOR?” 5. Follow this by asking, “What do we want to be known FOR?” 6. Finish the meeting by identifying gaps between these two questions. Location: 887
- The future is going to reward businesses and organizations that are designed to see the world from the customer’s perspective. Location: 904
- Perception is often what customers use to make decisions about a business. Location: 919
- These four strategies will help you keep the main thing the main thing: 1. What you see 2. What you celebrate 3. Where you meet 4. What you talk about Location: 963
- Bottom line—keep the vision visible. Location: 981
- What does your organization celebrate? What are the stories you can tell? What is your system to find stories to celebrate? Remember, when purpose lives in an organization, an organization lives in purpose. Location: 1,018
- Winning organizations of tomorrow will be more concerned with becoming fans of their customers instead of convincing customers to become fans of the organization. Location: 1,078
- Great service alone no longer generates lifelong customers in and of itself. The power of lifelong loyalty happens when you surprise, wow, and engage them. It’s why customer engagement is the new customer service. Location: 1,135
- Customer service is reactive; customer engagement is proactive. Location: 1,151
- Customer service will get you there; customer engagement will keep you there. Location: 1,296
- It’s why one of my favorite insights from Andy Stanley is this: “Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.” This isn’t just a great thought; it’s a great system. Location: 1,368
- Personable leads to remarkable. Remarkable leads to memorable. Location: 1,461
- the pathway to creating fans is becoming a fan. Location: 1,504
- Four Social Media Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid
- Mistake #1: Treating Social Media as a Megaphone and not a Telephone
- Mistake #2: Believing That Content Management > Customer Engagement
- The more personable the interaction is, the more remarkable the experience will be.
- Mistake #3: Valuing Social Media over Email
- Mistake #4: Never Visiting Customers’ Social Media Platforms and Interacting with Them There Location: 1,602
- Yellow highlight |
- Four Strategies FOR Your Customer
- Strategy #1: Follow Your Followers
- Strategy #2: More Dialogue, Less Monologue
- Strategy #3: More Likes, Fewer Posts
- Strategy #4: Talk More about the Customer, Less about the Business Location: 1,680
- How can you shift the spotlight from the business and start highlighting the people in and around your business? This is where thriving businesses are moving to—less transactional and more relational. Location: 1,701
- An example of this is what I experience every time I walk into Sid Mashburn’s store. GQ magazine named Sid’s business the “Best Men’s Clothing Store in America.” Location: 1,739
- “If our team doesn’t experience hopefulness and helpfulness working here, our customers will never experience it shopping here. Location: 1,751
- Your culture is created by default or by design. There is no middle ground. We’re either moving forward or backward. Location: 1,786
Image Location: 1,794
- Innovation is fueled more by belief in the team than criticism of the team. Belief sparks innovation. Criticism sparks fear. Location: 1,850
- My challenge to you is to write three thank-you notes a day, five days a week. Location: 1,927
- To show the team you are FOR them will require you to have some type of system to collect stories. It’s a vital way to turn this from good intention into sustainable reality. Location: 1,977
- A person who feels appreciated will always do more than is expected. Location: 1,999
- Believe abundantly. Appreciate consistently. Location: 2,007
- Three years ago, I decided to give it a try. I started framing my meetings around these three sections, with the corresponding questions under each one as a guide.
- Thought Leadership: How can we see and shape the future?
- People Leadership: Am I growing? Are we growing?
- Project Leadership: How can we be more effective and efficient at the same time? Location: 2,063
- When an organization gets better at meetings, the meetings make the organization better. Location: 2,077
- “Tell me more” is so powerful because it shows humility, curiosity, and value. Location: 2,106
- “When do we do our best work together?” Location: 2,116
- How can we listen actively?
- Ask great questions.
- Listen for insights.
- Act on what you hear. Location: 2,131
- One of the ways you reinforce the mission and vision is to say it over, and over and over and over again. Leaders are repeaters. Location: 2,186
- Vision rarely repeated is quickly forgotten. Location: 2,226
- “What did you do today to build your business?” Location: 2,250
- How the team is treated is eventually how the customer is treated. Location: 2,273
- Here’s the road map on how to design a FOR culture:
- Believe abundantly.
- Appreciate consistently.
- Develop intentionally.
- Listen actively.
- Live repeatedly. Location: 2,279
- We should be about more than just selling chicken. We should be a part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve. TRUETT CATHY Location: 2,293
- Selling is transactional. Loyalty is relational. Location: 2,366
- The pathway to brand loyalty leads through four mileposts: 1. Belonging leads to buying 2. Purpose in the purchase 3. Influence beyond the business 4. Impact from the business Location: 2,374
- Creating a sense of belonging > getting someone to buy something. Location: 2,398
- How are we serving our community?
- What problem is our organization trying to solve for the community?
- How are we making the community better?
- Why should the community care if our organization starts to struggle?
- What larger purpose do customers or participants belong to when they support our organization?
- What would we like to be known FOR in the community?
- What are we known FOR in the community?
- Where are we doing good for goodness’ sake, no strings attached? Location: 2,407
- Thriving organizations understand how to transition people from benefiting from the mission to participating in the mission. Location: 2,505
- Great teamwork questions to ask on a regular basis
- How’s your day going?
- What’s the best tip on parenting you’ve ever heard?
- If you could only go to one concert, what would it be?
- What’s the best book you’ve read in the past six months?
- Who in our community deserves encouragement and recognition?
- Who was your biggest influence before you turned twenty, and why?
- What’s the best vacation spot you visited in the last two years? Location: 2,609
- This leads us to another series of questions—influence questions—to ask ourselves and the organization:
- What kind of expertise do I have that I can freely share with others?
- What kind of experience do I have that would be valuable for others to learn from?
- How can our organization become a leading voice of influence in our category? Location: 2,683
- As marketing expert Joey Reiman says, “The purpose of business is not just to create value but to add value to people’s lives.” Location: 2,750
- It’s impossible to have a healthy organization with unhealthy people. Location: 2,817
- Thinking more is the key to more. Location: 2,927