The Brandbuilder (Olivier Blanchard) posted another solid entry on his blog again today. (I read his blog most of the time, but especially over the past few days, since he, Chris Brogan and I will be heading to England to speak at the Like Minds Conference next week). He titled the post “The answer to most of your business problems is simply this: Be helpful.” It reminded me of the long running “Be” series written by Warren Weirsbe of the last century.
With the world continuing to change so quickly (new technology, new media, new publishers and more), maybe it’s time to refocus on helpful stuff that doesn’t change—principles and admonition that have stood the proverbial test-of-time. Here’s a start:
The Be-Attitudes for a New Millenium
shhh…be still, be quiet, listen: experience the sensation of new life. And, yes, I'll be a grandfather this year. As soon as my grandson arrives, I'll post pix of him!
- Be alert.
- Be quiet.
- Be available.
- Be visible.
- Be responsive.
- Be generous.
- Be helpful.
- Be quiet.
Be alert: there’s an inherent conflict implied. You may either be self-centered or alert. (Being alert to one’s own self doesn’t quite fit.) Companies, politicians, and people who are alert are focused outwardly, which sets them up for success.
Be quiet: so much of the world is consumed with “getting the message out.” (Please, if you catch yourself saying, “we just need to get our message out,” rest assured your message probably just isn’t worth getting out. Whenever you hear those words, picture Saint Jude and hear the words as, “I am confessing I am a failure.”) When you’re quiet, you can listen. When you listen, you increase your chances of getting a message IN. The rest of the world needs you to get the message IN; they’ll probably be okay even if they don’t hear your message. If they know you heard theirs, you both win.
Be available: yep, this is a 24/7 world. Banker’s hours went away as an acceptable measure of availability a long time ago. Being available means having enough media options available for your customers to express themselves to you when and where they want to. Being available also means responding through those same channels. For instance, if you’re a politician who has made the choice to dive into social media, you have chosen to make yourself available to your constituents through social media. Yes, you do indeed have a moral obligation to be responsive to them there. If you do not want to pay attention to them and respond to them then you simply should not be there in the first place. This far into the social media product life cycle, if you don’t have the knowledge and the decency to follow your constituents back on Twitter, for instance, you have no business saying you represent them. It really is just that simple.
Be visible: don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet. Being visible probably doesn’t mean what you think it means. It doesn’t mean non-stop self-promotion. Instead, it means having a sufficient presence wherever “your people” might be hanging out they know you’re there when they need you. If they’re on Twitter, be on Twitter. If they’re congregating on Ning, congregate with them. (But stay out of their way. You’re there for when they need you, not to get them to do something for you.)
Be responsive: blinding flash of the obvious, or as Grandpa would say, “a healthy dose of just plain common sense.” If “your people” ask you a question, give them an answer. (See, it would probably be cool for you to be visible wherever they’re getting together to ask these questions, huh?)
Be generous: the days of protecting your turf are long gone. Just watch what’s happening to the dinosaurs grasping at DRM. Take a look at how well John Piper’s books SELL. He also gives away a PDF of every one of them for free. (More, much more, on this in Spitball Marketing. Also in Napoleon Hill’s work, Zig Ziglar’s, Bob Burg’s, The Bible, etc.)
Be helpful: see Olivier’s post and Chris Brogan’s post. Help people solve their problems; good things will happen.
Be quiet: do a little research on how quietness is linked to humility is linked to greatness. It’s amazing to think through the names of the great ones who radically changed the world quietly. (Yes, the loud ones changed the world, too, but it often took the following three or four generations to clean it up, too.)
The world is changing. If Einstein’s famous quote was appropriate when he first uttered it, it is surely appropriate today: “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking as when we created them.” Maybe even a little twist on his expression would fit for today’s world, too: “We cannot solve our problems or seize upon our opportunities with the same way of being we enjoyed last year.”
Maybe you have an even better twist?
