As most seasoned business owners know, the primary purpose of a business is NOT TO MAKE MONEY.

Note that I said the “primary” purpose is not to make money. Making money is a by-product of the primary purpose. So what is the primary purpose of your business?

The primary purpose is bringing value to your customer/client. If this is done well and consistently, then money will follow naturally. You know you are doing your job, and providing great value when your clients continue to pay you. If people are not paying, you are not providing value.

People can miss this simple concept because they get fearful when business begins to drop off, and they slip into “survival mode.” Survival mode clouds judgment and the focus becomes “getting more business,” instead of what fuels the business in the first place.

The first step in renewal of purpose is in recognizing when you have fallen into this condition. A few warning signs include:
o being regularly worried and concerned.
o working much longer than usual.
o having trouble enjoying the moment.
o being less optimistic and positive with your employees.
o finding your interest in the business waning.

Getting out of this state requires an intentional commitment to rediscover your primary purpose. Ask yourself why you started the business. What were you passionate about? What contribution did you want to make?

Sometimes, being an entrepreneur and business owner can be a lonely experience. We often keep things to ourselves, managing our thoughts and fears alone. This can lead to more isolation and delay breakthroughs. Often, talking through our situation with an outside confidant and good listener will make a huge difference. By opening up and sharing our concerns, we can often gain a distance from these concerns and see them in a different light.

This allows us to get back in touch with our primary purpose, being of service to others. Being of service to others leads to business development, which leads to making more money, the by-product of our primary intention.

– written by Mike Whitehead, as published by Greater Charlotte Biz Mag

At first glance, compliance might seem like a pretty attractive idea. After all, don’t we want our employees to produce, perform and deliver? Hasn’t the carrot and the stick worked for centuries?

Well, yes and no.

Incentivizing and penalizing employees can create compliance. However, once an organization meets (or doesn’t meet) its objective, the company needs to come up with a bigger carrot (expensive), produce a bigger stick (costly in morale), or hire a new rabbit (costly on both points.) My guess is that these are undesirable options for a company that wants to achieve great results.

But the biggest problem with compliance can be found in the very definition of the word. When we ask or expect our employees to comply, we are literally asking them to “conform, acquiesce or yield.” Do you really want a building full of people whose main purpose is limited to these three options? I suggest if the answer is yes, your results are likely predictable, you may be having a hard time getting people motivated for the next objective, or perhaps the performance of your people is actually slipping.

This is because in the state of compliance, people are creating results to mold to the expectations of a person, goal or set of rules, and that’s it. The objective is to meet the requirement, and stop. Create a new requirement, comply, and stop. When individuals are required to constantly chase a goal external to their deeper interests the net effect is to create a treadmill where the greatest result – personal satisfaction and next-level performance– is never fulfilled.

Since we are interested in great results, let’s look at the other possibility.

To create commitment, give employees an opportunity to develop and enroll; to become an integral part of the mission. Allow people the freedom and creativity to invest their gifts and their personal vision in the actual outcome. Success for the committed employee is its own reward. To create these conditions:

• Hire people for the gifts that they bring. Appreciate them for it.
• Involve people in the decisions closest to them.
• Lead them to connect with a purpose greater than themselves.

Every person in an organization, regardless of position or skill set plays a critical role in the company mission. Whether that employee sees that role as one of mere execution or contribution is up to the leader.

– written by Mike Whitehead, as published by Greater Charlotte Biz Mag

“Civility is claiming and caring for one’s identity, needs and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process.”

Civility is about more than merely being polite, although being polite is an excellent start. Civility fosters a deep self-awareness, even as it is characterized by true respect for others. Civility requires the extremely hard work of staying present even with those with whom we have deep-rooted and perhaps fierce disagreements. It is about constantly being open to hear, to learn, to teach and to change. It seeks common ground as a beginning point for dialogue when differences occur, while at the same time recognizes that differences are enriching. It is patience, grace, and strength of character. - Institute for Civility

Why is civility important? Better yet, how does it fit in to our busy, day-to-day lives?

The answer to this question has become increasingly evident as tempers flare over the health care debate, and more people experience the economic and emotional consequences of the recession. Breakdowns in civility are also becoming increasingly common in popular culture.

These breakdowns seem to highlight the importance of civility in public. But what role does civility play in our daily lives – at work. At home. At the committee meeting. In traffic…

Consider:
-           How present are you during a disagreement?
-           How well do you hear?
-           Are you open to learning, teaching and changing?
-           Does a difference of opinion look like conflict, or opportunity?
-           Are you aware of what beliefs and assumptions you hold strongly?

On April 8th, we will experience a full day session learning to navigate conversation with a deeper understanding and practice of civility. Mediator and conflict resolution expert, Andy Sachs will lead us in a discussion to develop the fundamental skills toward finding common ground in difficult conversations.

If you would like to join us for this important conversation and have not registered yet, please click this link.

The session is from 8:30-4:30 at Queens Sports Complex at Marion Diehl Park. The forum is being hosted by several local leadership initiatives. Details and other logistical information can be found here.

I usually have to read Seth Godin in small bursts. Two-thirds of the way through his new book, I now know that this overwhelm is not just because of exciting ideas.  It’s because his brilliant ideas trigger what he calls my lizard brain.

Lizard brain is an ancient, authoritative, and cunning voice that keeps things from moving forward. It’s the oldest part of the brain, and it was designed for survival.  But since many of us are lucky enough to not have to worry about staying alive on a minute-to-minute basis, the lizard gets bored – so he keeps us anxious instead.

After several stops and starts trying to read the book –I got it. Linchpin offers a real-time experience of lizard brain. Here’s how it looks:

Every few sentences:
“Wow – right on – I need to put down this book right now and go work on my stuff!”

Then in sneaks Lizard Brain:
“Maybe I read too much – think about all those books. If I’d only been DOING! I should start a list and get planning.”

Put down the book. Engage in busy work. (Lizard brain LOVES busy work!):
“There is so much to do! I’m buried.  I’ll never be able to build this. Surely it will be done by somebody else faster and better. I need a break…Better check my email.

Guilt-Inadequacy-Fear. Guilt-Inadequacy-Fear.  Believe it or not, this lizard-speak is the source of what many business people are complaining (loudly) about. The boss asks, “Why aren’t my people speaking up, offering new ideas, and being accountable for the big picture?” While the employees say “The way we do things around here makes it impossible to do my job well, much less enjoy it.”

It’s no wonder that people have a hard time getting things done.

Change creates fear and fear triggers paralysis. If you follow paralysis downhill, you find missed commitments, disappointments, resentment, and blame. And the lizard brain is so cleverly disguised, it looks like we are all just heroes working really hard against insurmountable odds.

Hogwash.

If we keep checking our email, gathering more data, pushing decisions around the org chart, talking endlessly about strategy, and tweaking ad infinitum, we never have to – as Godin says – “ship”. What’s more – it’s never our fault.

The good news is that once we get familiar with lizard brain, we not only have a choice, but a pretty strong idea as to which direction to go. It takes a little practice to identify your lizard, and some intentional steps to quiet it. Here are a few suggestions:

Notice Your Experience
Notice what ‘overwhelm’, ‘stress’, ‘frustration’ or ‘working hard’  feels like – physically. Can you locate tension, pain or discomfort? Begin to identify that feeling every time it occurs.

Identify the Thought
Once you are aware of the feeling, try to identify the thought that goes along with it. Do this by putting it in a sentence. “Here I am, stalled again.  I can’t get this done because I need Joe and Marty’s input and they are never around.”

Ask WHY
Question your thought. Why do you need sign off?  Is it because you are afraid to put your name on it? If so, what could you do to change that?  Is this sign-off a rule? If so, is it a rule that is serving your organization? Have you offered a solution to this stall that you claim is holding things up? FYI -‘Why?’ is the taproot of innovation.

Act Different
Systematically quiet the lizard by consistently thumbing your nose at him. Name the problem and create a solution – even an imperfect one. Ship. Each time you do this, courage increases exponentially and makes more room for your gift.

Maybe the hardest step is to get okay with failing. Godin says it best –“the secret to winning is losing well.” Our ego doesn’t naturally let us say – “What a GREAT lesson, I can’t wait to do that totally different next time!” But if there is one common denominator in great thinkers, this might be it.

Try it out. Enjoy experiencing your lizard brain. Let us know what he has to say.

August 28, 1963

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

The social media expert told him, “It’s not about the technology… it’s about empathy.”

The rise of social media has helped highlight the Golden Rule of any successful relationship – the ability to get in the shoes of somebody else and really listen.

For example, when a blog post or newsletter shows up from one of my favorite thinkers – I read them right away. They exhibit this incredible quality that makes it sound like I’m sitting at a coffee table right beside them, nodding my head.

On the other hand, I also get a lot of well-written newsletters full of facts, tips and techniques that I wish I had the time to read. But I don’t. Here’s why – they show up like a flat sheet of paper in my inbox – as valuable data, but not a conversation.

And social media is just the most recent and visible way to see how empathy works. It’s everywhere. For example – good product designers really get empathy. They take the time to ask users what really turns us on, and what really ticks us off. Then when the product comes to market – it looks like somebody really understands us.

Compare this to the products designed for consumers. (The stainless steel refrigerator gleaming in the showroom that’s covered with fingerprints 10 minutes after you get it home.)  The life cycle of these items fades as soon as something shinier or more affordable comes into town. And the customer goes right along with it.

Think about the products you love. The folks you really like to be around. Business people who have loyal and engaged employees. Really good salespeople, or marketers. Causes that move you. People you friend on Facebook or follow on Twitter. Chances are they – and you, have the empathy thing going on.

In a marketplace where things are always changing, understanding people well enough to anticipate what will make their job, life or process work better is invaluable.

Unfortunately, empathy can’t be bought or assimilated by reading a book.  It’s more like a muscle that must be exercised to get stronger.  To do so we keep an eye out for our tendency to fix, tell, correct, solve or even make others feel better.

This isn’t always easy, and the curiosity needed doesn’t come naturally to everyone. But while some people have a higher level of empathy than others, we all have the room and the opportunity to grow. In the process we make work, life and the world a better place.

He’s creative and generous, and he is using his “marketing” superpowers to make a dramatic difference in the world.

He’s done it again with a free 82 page e-book called “What Matters Now.” It arrived in my inbox at 5:24 this morning, and now that I have gotten over (mostly) my initial wave of creative envy, I can’t stop thinking about how we can use it to make a difference in our community.

The ideas in “What Matters Now” can be used by anybody and everybody to get people excited and engaged and EMBOLDENED. You really should just stop and click here now to read it, but if you need background, simply know that it includes one page missives on the most powerful change-making concepts in the world, from people Seth calls “the smartest people I know.”

We will be using this in many ways to create conversation and empower everybody we touch to think big and ’go long’ – but I don’t want to waste another second to pass this along to you.  Keep it moving, will you? Download it and pass it along with Seth’s blessing.

**On the last page of What Matters Now Seth invites us to add our own ideas to the book.  ”What Matters Now” – to you and your organization? Leave a comment – maybe we can create a page together!

Leave it to a company that “sells cars” to find a creative way to get people to actually change their behavior.

VW’s corporate spirit is ”Learning, Innovating, Cooperating, Giving.” For over 70 years they have become known for their playful ideas and sense of humor. And it pays off.

People using the stairs increased a whopping 66 percent…and, this video has been viewed over 1.5 million times.

I have heard this statistic a hundred times – and have no idea where it came from. (FYI – when I researched it, I ended up in an online, space-time continuum.)*

However, I sifted through a lot of data that suggest why a lot of change initiatives fail. Here is what it boils down to:

Change initiatives require changed behavior.

To lose 30 pounds, we have to close the Haagen-Daz lid at the very moment when we really want to cozy up with a half-pint.

Businesses also have things that feel good, but aren’t necessary good for the business. In a time of economic flux, doing things “the way we’ve always done them” is at the top of the list.

And just like we try to kid ourselves about one more spoonful – we also like to hope that a little more effort, a little more push, a little more tweaking or number crunching will fix things. We keep looking for the magic bullet, or hold out, waiting for things to normalize.

Well, guess what?

Waiting is creating the new normal. Whether we are cynical or hopeful, sitting is still sitting. Tick-Tock.

Which is why a lot of businesses are clamoring for assertive leadership, more accountability, bias for action, innovation, candor in communication, and big-picture, out-of-the box thinking.

For a company to break through an old paradigm its key influencers must experience the ability to view their roles and situations differently, to establish a common vision, and execute. They also need a strong ability to engage the intellectual capital, strengths, and commitment of others.

Perhaps what the alleged 30 percent knows that the majority does not is that it deep change requires a movement, which really involves an organization full of leaders. And what that means is that we’ve got a group of people ready and willing to try on new behavior for a worthy goal.

*PS – If you know where this stat came from, please comment – thanks!