Published:
01/22/2012 11:02pm
6 Ways To Make 2012 an Inspiring Year
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business
~ Henry Ford
A new year, a new beginning. A time for contemplation. What did you accomplish last year? Did you evolve your business, your team, yourself? Where did you miss the mark? How can you improve this year?
Almost always, when I ask clients what they want to accomplish in the new year, the answer is more. More sales, more customers, more product innovation, more profit, more capital - and the list goes on. I understand in the game of business score is kept by dollars and equity value, but I wonder whether "more is better" is really the right goal-post?
My experience is the "wanting" behind "more" can never satisfied. It just creates more wanting. It's truly insatiable. I'm not saying more profit is wrong by any means. I believe profit growth and a new form of capitalism can bring tremendous fulfillment and balance to the entire globe. But I also believe an unconscious drive for more is destructive and can never fulfill. So where is fulfillment then?
The greatest sense of fulfillment comes when we incorporate humanistic values into business, and seek to serve - to give to the flow of life, rather than take from the flow of life. And when humanistic values are inculcated into corporate cultures, and stakeholder service business models replace stockholder biased models, profit and value creation well exceed the value realized by the stockholder biased, "more is better" models. It's already happening. Take a look at the profit and market caps of values based companies like Whole Foods, Southwest Airlines, Google, IKEA, Zappos and Amazon.
The truth is the greatest sense of fulfillment doesn't come from the things we get - sales, profit, customers, it comes from the things we give - interconnection, trust, compassion, generosity. Interesting how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett now realize that allocation is a higher order than accumulation, as they continue to allocate their total wealth. So what does winning at the game of business really mean? Yes, smart business models and growth. But holistic growth incorporating people, planet, and profit. I'm absolutely convinced that this is growth that fulfills, and doesn't' beget a restless yearning for more.
As we move toward an expanded definition of success, following are 6 ways you can support broader growth and fulfillment, and make 2012 a truly inspiring year.
1. Serve your stakeholders. Take the opportunity this new year to shift your attitude from expecting, demanding, commanding, controlling (however your leadership shadow takes form) - to serving - your employees, your vendors, your investors, your community, in addition to your customers. This creates a powerful shift in moving from a competitive adversarial paradigm - which just creates lack, to a prosperity based paradigm - which creates abundance. When we serve we receive. It's natural law.
2. Expand your balance sheet. We all know success comes from doing the right things, and greater success comes from leverage - empowering your people to do the right things. Empowerment comes through connection, which comes from openness, authenticity and trust. So when inventorying year end "material" assets and liabilities, consider inventorying year end "leadership" assets and liabilities - such as trust, authenticity, humility, courage, motivation, and come up with a plan to shore up your personal leadership balance sheet. The net result will be a clearer path to greater satisfaction, and greater prosperity.
3. Develop yourself. After you do your inventory - which can be done through a 360 degree survey to unconceal your blind spots, commit to changing one thing that will create the greatest leverage for yourself and your business over the coming year. Then find someone, a coach, a colleague or a friend to hold you accountable. Leadership development is personal development, increasing awareness from the inside out, and making positive changes within the expanding awareness.
4. Cultivate Gratitude. What are you most grateful fo
