Feb
04
Sometimes when I’m asked a profound question I just blurt out the answer.
My own voice surprises myself.
Then the longer I think about it and can give 10 other answers, then I think “Ya, ok I’ll go with the first answer”.
That is what happened to me this year when I was picking my word for the year.
This is a process I delight in – I love words! It’s a big deal.
The year I chose “brave” was marked with some decisions that would not have happened if that voice in the back of my mind weren’t urging me to pick the brave opportunity. It wasn’t always comfortable but the choices were indeed brave.
Last year I chose “collaborative”. Even in a pandemic, opportunities to collaborate were game changing. The collaborative choice, both personally and professionally, always came up with the game changing “stretch” opportunity.
Like brave, collaborative wasn’t always the easy choice. The actions these words inspired become part of my story and I carry them forward.
My smart, sassy, impromptu answer this year was “lower your expectations.” I had a “who said that, did I really say that out loud moment?” Who was I kidding? I’m a raise-the-bar, farther, faster kind of gal.
But damn the answer persisted. And I did my best to resist.
I thought back to my perfectly planned 2020, complete with vision board, which by mid- March was eye candy, nothing more. (But super nice eye candy.)
Maybe there was something to this gut reaction.
Lowering expectations felt quite freeing not defeatist.
Central to how I would define the concept was the idea of releasing the need for an outcome.
It’s a raw answer that is deeply invested in creativity and curiosity and felt like an invitation to keep growing.
Show up, ship it, give the benefit of the doubt. However you want to say it, lowering your expectations says, “this might not be perfect but I’m pushing forward. Please love me anyway.”
So 2021, I’m pushing forward. I’ve got exciting plans for you but likely you have exciting plans for me too. I’m ready and open.
Where does your mind go if you release expectations?
What might your word be for 2021?
The exercise of defining your purpose, vision, and mission creates two camps.
The first camp will participate in the exercise but they don’t believe it will truly make a difference.
And for them it doesn’t.
The second camp engages in the process and turns these statements into something that generates fulfillment and growth.
The Edelman study found that on every business metric the companies that were committed to being purpose driven were 86% more successful. Doesn’t this sound like the better camp to be in?
Often the reason these statements are not effective is simply because there is a lack of understanding of what the differences are between each one and how to translate them into something real, measureable, and actionable and fun!
As with everything keeping it simple is an art!
Rambling long statements don’t create change. (I once saw a purpose statement written on the wall of a large corporation. It took the entire wall, had 4 paragraphs and could not be remembered or repeated.)
Below are simple ways to define each of these incredibly valuable statements.
Purpose statement: this answers your why and explains the impact your good work has on the community you serve.
It is one succinct statement that is memorable and repeatable. It appeals to our emotions, is aspirational and everyone in the company should feel personally aligned to the purpose statement.
As you grow and change your purpose should stretch with you.
Your purpose makes your ideal client want to be part of your community. Purpose drives strategy but it will fail if it is the strategy.
Vision Statement: Where are you going and what do you do? What problems are you uniquely solving?
Mission Statement: How will you achieve your vision and purpose every single day?
This last year has shown us that the “what” and “how” of business rapidly changed and our “why” proved to be our rudder, our compass, for making key decisions and finding opportunity.
If you want to be part of the 86% nothing would make me happier than to help you get there. 🙂 My purpose is to elevate others through the power of their own story and I know your story needs to be told.
I have a beautiful, big, journal that I bought at the most amazing store called Paper Umbrella. It’s a local store filled with so many treasures!!! I am inspired every time I go into the shop, not just because they have such an irresistible array of paper goods, sassy cards, and drool-worthy pens, but because the owners Theresa and Brad provide an experience that always lifts my day. They understand community in the purest sense.
All through the pandemic they have held imaginative and kind activities. One of my favourites was “letter love” where they encouraged us to write a letter to a senior in a care home. Brad and Theresa would deliver them to various homes and the notes would find their way to those who needed to know they were being thought of.
When we couldn’t go in their store we could order and have curbside pick-up. Our paper bags always adorned with a personalized note splashed with beautiful calligraphy.
Then there was the “daily dose” a five-minute video every day on something you could craft yourself and you could count on it like clockwork. They showed up to cheer us on and cheer up others. I won’t ever forget that.
Back to my journal….
I keep all my notes for blogging in this journal. It’s a fab “evening azure ocean blue colour” (Can you tell that I always wished I had a job where I could name colours and paint!) There is something about being able to sketch out a blog on paper first that appeals to me, and then I translate that using a keyboard.
But today my tried-and-true system is unavailable. I’ve broken my right wrist, so the keyboard and the journal will be getting dusty for the next little while. This is my very first voice-dictated blog.
I feel a bit like I’m flapping in the wind, in freefall gripping the armchair with my one good hand, reaching out for something that is familiar.
Then again it is 2020! Working within a constraint has become familiar! A broken wrist? No problem just another constraint!
Constraints have been shown to lead to better practises, to the transformation of businesses, and the invention of vaccines! (Which last year we never even knew we needed.)
I admire so deeply the many businesses who have had to change their business model on a dime, and be nimble enough to respond to even the most remote opportunity to rewrite what is possible. These businesses chose to believe in a narrative that taking small steps forward would pay off.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Aimee Schulhauser, owner of two restaurants (Tangerine, Slice), a cooking school (Schoolhause Culinary Arts) and a catering business (Evolution Catering). Infact she opened a new restaurant right at the start of the pandemic! As you can imagine she has been hard hit.
“The fact that we are so nimble really paid off for us”, says Amy. “We were able to respond very quickly to the needs of not only our customer but our community. When we could no longer seat people in our restaurant we thought about how we might be able to help. At that time many grocery items were hard to come by. We opened up a mini-grocery with items like flour and yeast and some fresh fruit. We expanded our takeout with what our customers wanted, which was not our trademark salads. They were looking for mac & cheese and meatloaf! We became very determined to just keep showing up however we were needed.”
We are not in control of the constraints put upon us by this pandemic, but we can control the ambition and inventiveness it can generate in ourselves and in our business. Despite this, not every business story or personal story will end well. That reality hurts our collective hearts.
So how do we move forward?
I think the first step is accepting the constraint, changing our mindset to remove some of our traditional ways of solving problems, and asking new questions.
The type of questions you ask yourself can change your direction. Try asking yourself propelling questions. A propelling question is defined by linking together a bold ambition and a considerable constraint. It is a hopeful question challenging us to find the right idea. The practice of asking propelling questions can be used at all levels of business.
Some examples include:
How can I maintain relationships with our customers when our business is closed?
How can we expand our business when we don’t have an advertising budget?
How can I elevate the customer experience and reduce my expenses?
How can we prevent layoffs when our sales have slid?
Asking propelling questions will introduce tension and discomfort and make us examine what we thought we knew. I believe it will also propel us to new solutions.
Like voice dictating a blog. 🙂
*this blog is not endorsed or sponsored it is simply an opportunity to cheer on purpose driven brands
Don’t wait for normal to return, it is not coming back.
Take chances now.
Playing it safe right now is too dangerous a strategy.
If you are trying to play it safe you are missing a significant opportunity to stand out. And you need to stand out!
I gave this advice at an event this spring at the dawn of Covid. And about a month later one of the participants messaged me to say that she took my advice. She said, “I quit my job and started the journey that I always wanted to take, but hadn’t really had the courage to do it.” Now was the time.
Now is the time to invest in yourself, relying on yourself as your most valuable asset.
Understanding who you are, being able to articulate your purpose, and how you can use your genius work to help others; this is your portable equity and it is worth gold!
It is easy to lose ourselves right now, and yet the opportunity to find ourselves is the one we need to say yes to.
If you are ready to invest in your portable equity and declare your purpose we can help!
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