"I've Got a Golden Ticket!"

My new friend @Ribeezie direct messaged  me, (also known as “DM”), on Twitter this morning and told me to “Now bring back some of that good stuff and share ” about Zappos Insights inaugural conference.  Zappos, a billion dollar online commerce destination, is known for their leadership in customer service.  Insights was created as an educational forum to guide entrepreneurs to successfully attain milestones. It was a privilege to be a part of their LIVE event, a revolution in leadership and corporate happiness. One of the speakers at the event, social media maven Brian Solis,  said it perfectly, “In the end we’re measured by our actions, not our words.”

Three huge takes aways from the event that will transform the productivity and efficiency in our organizations.

1. Share….Stop self promoting and start listening. Share information that you know delivers value because you have been listening. Whether it be employees, personal relationships, twitter followers or facebook friends. The way to effectively intrigue people to  take action is fueled by being inspired.
2. Discover your foundation before you start building.… The most crucial component in determining success in a company and in your personal development is first discovering what matters to you most.; Your core values.  It starts with you, outside of your professional life. The business owner behind closed doors.  When you look in the mirror what do you see? Integrity, Transparency, Adventure… Deceit…? In order to grow we must be honest with ourselves.  It is so clear to me now that if I had taken the time to discover, write down, and share my core values with my team  it would have reduced management, increased productivity and complimented my company vision. But instead I found ego was something in my company that created road blocks for our success. What’s interesting is ego is so far from my personal values. If I had taken the time to write down what’s important to me, I would have quickly discovered my team mate  strayed from our core values and that situation could have been remedied with eloquence and efficiency.

Zappos Core Values: Direct Link

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

3. Half of the world is searching for the other half of the world, but don’t know how to find them.  Brian Solis emphasizes that before even planning an online marketing strategy establish your identity. Most brands don’t even strategize, they just jump on a band wagon. But lets say you are developing a strategy, before that DISCOVER your identity that you plan to communicate in this strategy. I LOVE that Brian reinforced this. I hadn’t even thought of charting out my brand identity before planning. I figured my identity is obvious. Surf brand means you’re a surfer right? No, not necessarily. You must establish your brand to stand for something. A Cause. Something bigger and selflLESS than selling a pair of board shorts.

Establish your brand identity

Last night I realized that in loving my team as much as I love my company I don’t love myself enough. What does that mean. If they get upset I say how can I fix it and immediately blame myself for allowing any moment of discomfort to take place. If there is a decision to be made I am perpetually afraid I am not going to make the best one because haven’t I made so many mistakes in the past. But of course I have! Because I am a true entrepreneur, a risk taker. If I weren’t I wouldn’t be in business and definitely not for 10 years strong. So last night as I started to doze off I had a moment of clarity. That a firm decision is better than no decision at all even if it ends up being a mistake. People respect confidence and authority. And there is no way that I single handedly can or even need to prevent every issue before it arises. I am not perfect, nor is my staff. But it is about understanding one another. Providing them a leader to follow. And doing the best we can. A teammate isn’t about being their equal. It is about being what the team needs. A male friend of mine said he was autocratic with his staff because he didn’t have time to be friendly. His approach is command and control from above, no power in the masses. Maybe that polar opposite style isn’t the way for me. Each business owner is entitled to their own methodologies. But without a doubt my staff needs to start seeing the leader and the executive in me rather than the girl next door. Because truth be it if people walk all over me its because they think they can, no matter it be consciously or unconsciously. Both equate to the same results.  I’m ready to start the day a new woman a new company.

My best friend recommended this book: “How We Lead Matters” by Marilyn Carlson Nelson.

To Lead is to Inspire

Just got back from the Bay Area and CEO Shanna Tellerman from Wild Pockets said it best for being an effective manager – stop reading business books and start reading pre schooler development books. Because quite frankly at the end of the day we can’t have all the toys we want to play with whenever we want and in order to alleviate frustration and encourage progression let’s go back to pre school.