At the moment I am researching into what makes some
businesses more successful than others and in the process redefining what
success means. My last post looked at how a community has been formed in North Herts based around a common interest,
motherhood, and how that is now transitioning to a profit-making business.
In this post I want to talk about two very different people
who have a similar approach to life and yet are achieving success in very
different fields. The first is Ted Leonsis and the second
is Lynn Serafinn. Both are American and
perhaps more importantly both have strong values which drive their
business. In both cases their focus is
on happiness or fulfilment rather than wealth as defined in the world’s terms
and yet financial gain has been a by-product of their activity. This is a subtle distinction but a very
important one – the driving force in their businesses has not been around
making money. To explain further, let me
give you the five rules that Ted lives by:
1) Active involvement in local communities – this is
because as humans we are first and foremost social beings and need to connect
to others. He thinks it is vital to
volunteer and support projects within our local communities because apart from
anything it makes us feel better about ourselves
2) Allowing self expression – for Ted this has come out in
two ways: the discipline of blogging on a daily basis and more recently
filmmaking. The latter has led to the
coining of a new phrase filmanthropy to describe the power of documentary films
to inspire, enlighten and serve as agents of change. He has established snagfilms.com to continue
this work. Another manifestation of this
is found in employees and advocates....
3) Astounding levels of personal empathy – this could be
likened to a reservoir of empathy to empower others. Ted describes how he got alongside the
cleaners in his current company and cleaned a stadium with them. Although this happened some time back, they
talk about it today more than President Obama’s visit to the stadium.
4) Acts of service – in his daily life Ted is constantly
grateful and looking for ways to give back
5) Articulation of a higher purpose – it is not just about
doing business, it is about being clear about your calling and allowing that to
be transparent in the way that you do business
How does Lynn Serafinn fit into this mix? She has been inspired to write a book called
the 7 Graces of Marketing which goes into detail about what creates good marketing
in essence. She talks about how the
current way businesses do marketing is making people ill and encourages us to
follow the 7 graces rather than the 7 deadly sins of marketing. She defines these as:
The Graces The
7 deadly sins
Connection disconnection
Inspiration
persuasion
Invitation invasion
Directness Distraction
Transparency deception
Abundance scarcity
Collaboration competition
What really resonates with me is connection. It is about remembering that everyone wants
to be heard and to feel valued closely followed by collaboration. When are we going to realise that we can
achieve more by working with others?
Recently Lisa Pearson aka the mummy whisperer when talking about her new
book explained that it had been road tested by 35 Mums. It is her content and yet she checked out
with those in her community whether her ideas worked. I do a lot of work in the corporate
environment and competition is still alive and well. Looking at Ted’s five rules to happiness, I
am reminded that most businesses fail because the owners become so absorbed in making a living that they have no time for living
(Ralph Waldo Trine) and forget about the higher purpose and the big picture.
Going through Lynn and Ted’s lists, which of these
concepts do you feel drawn to and what could that mean for your business or the
way that you live your life?
For more details on how to buy Lynn's book go to http://fb.me/1chTz55BC
