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Tag: impact

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Scale Your Impact

Written by Mark Miller on . Posted in Character, Development, Personal Effectiveness. No Comments on Scale Your Impact

Our leadership is a composite of many factors: our background, our experiences, our skills, our character, our relationships, our personality, etc. Some of these things we control, some we do not. One of the things we can affect is the way we approach our world. Do you live in a small world or a large one?

Your choices determine your impact.

Here are 7 ideas to open your world and your leadership:

  1. Read widely – For me, this is very powerful–and a struggle. When I do it, I grow. The challenge is my backlog of leadership reading. One way I approach this is through abstracts and summaries. The more widely I read, the better I lead.
  2. Travel – I know this is not possible for everyone. Personal constraints, financial constraints, family, and job issues can limit our options. I get it. However, travel has life-altering and leadership-altering potential. Travel as much as possible; your view of the world will expand.
  3. Experience other cultures – Don’t assume this is about travel. It can be, but doesn’t necessarily need to be. I’ve been to other countries but missed their culture entirely. How is that possible? I visited people and places very similar to my hometown even though I was halfway around the world. Also, don’t miss the opportunity to experience different cultures near your home. If you don’t think this is possible, visit your local homeless shelter.
  4. Ask more questions – Great questions can take you places you’ve never been. Do you have favorite questions you ask? If you had 15 minutes with a leader you admire, what would ask? Ask more questions–you and your world will grow.
  5. Try a new hobby – Think about the last time you started a new hobby. I’m guessing you learned a lot. Your world got bigger in a hurry. What have you always wanted to try? Maybe it’s time for a new hobby.
  6. Vary your routine – Do you drive to work along the same route every day? Do you take your vacation at the same place every year? What would happen if you intentionally added some variety to your schedule? You may find the world is bigger than you think.
  7. Seek out experts – Who are the thought leaders in your field? Do you know them? Could you find a way to meet them? I was at TED years ago and was delighted to hear a presentation by Edward DeBono, the creativity expert. After his talk, I asked him if I could buy him a meal. He said yes! Seek out experts. They’ll help you grow!

As we open our world, we can turbocharge our growth and our leadership. Enjoy the journey!

What do you do to open your world and grow your leadership?

 

A close-up picture of the figures of men in a table football game A close-up picture of the figures of men in a table football game

Who Is Your Competition?

Written by Mark Miller on . Posted in Creative Thinking, Organization, Vision. No Comments on Who Is Your Competition?

Who is your competition? It may not be who you think it is. I was reminded of this as I read a Knowledge@Wharton interview with former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga. You might think MasterCard’s competition would be American Express or Citibank – no, Ajay says their competition is cash.

As Banga explained, 85% of the world’s transactions are conducted using cash. He asserts that to focus on his traditional competitors means wrestling with them for 15% of a global market. He’d rather go after the other 85%. Genius!

So, let me ask again, who is your competition?

  • If you operate a local theater, you may assume Netflix and Amazon are your competition. What about other sources of entertainment?
  • If you sell sandwiches, certainly you’d consider Subway a competitor. What about grocery store deli counters, or even bigger — what about the grocery store itself?
  • If you’re selling wallpaper, I guess your competition would be anyone who sells wallpaper. But what about paint stores?
  • If you drive a taxi, is Uber your competition, or is it mass transit? Or maybe it’s walking? It probably depends on where you drive your taxi.

So, really, who is your competition and why does it matter?

Accurately identifying your competition will have far-reaching impact. Here are some of the ways it may change your organization…

Your Thinking – Perhaps more than anything else, broadly and accurately defining your competition will impact your thinking. Coca-Cola decided a few years ago that their competition was not limited to only other soft drink manufactures — their true competition was all the beverages consumed globally on a daily basis by every man, woman, and child. It changed their view of their business. Today, it’s not just about Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite – Coke has over 500 brands and sells more than 1.9 BILLION servings a day. This would not be the case if Coke thought Pepsi was their only competitor.

Your Positioning – If this isn’t a term you’re familiar with, it is a marketing term. It represents how you want to position your product or service in the mind of your customer, or potential customer. In the MasterCard example, I don’t know their official positioning statement, but in light of Ajay’s comments, it probably says something like:

MasterCard is the safe and convenient way to pay for all your purchases.

Your Advertising – If you wanted to position your product based on the previous statement, your advertising could show a group of people at a restaurant who realize they don’t have any cash; panic turns to delight as they realize one member of their group has a MasterCard! (I know this sounds bizarre to an American audience, where 50% of our transactions are already purchased using credit cards. Ajay is thinking much bigger than just the US.)

Your Planning – When you change the items above, your goals change. When your goals change, so do your strategies. Then your strategies must translate to the tactics of day-to-day operations to have any effect. And ultimately, the tactics you select should determine how you allocate resources – people, time and dollars.

Who is your competition?