For all those that have been following my personal branding journey, the pattern that you should have recognized is that I am very passionate about three topics: retail, innovation, and leadership. When I am interviewed, often I tell the reporters that I feel I was born in a retail store. That feeling is based on the reality that from Junior High School to a Master's Degree, I worked in a retail store. Post those university degrees, my first role was with the technology company NCR in sales and marketing and the passion for innovation followed.
The success of my retail and technology careers has their origin in a more fundamental building block of my life in the triad of passions which is leadership. Following a difficult week of reflection, I want to take a step back from retail and innovation content and return to the topic of leadership.
McKinsey defines leadership as "a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, to execute strategic plans, and to continually renew an organization." There is one word in this definition that the most important than all the others.
If your ambition is to be a leader, the one word you need to focus on in the McKinsey definition is 'renew'. To renew means you embrace change as a required baseline element for success.
In a 1913 journal article, Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "we but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do." The famous quote that probably stemmed from this journal entry that is attributed to Gandhi (which he never actually said) is "be the change you want to see in the world."
Personally, embracing renewal and change has led to a life of continuous improvement. Every day is indeed 'Day One' which includes both learning something new and exploring endless possibilities for personal and professional growth.
Day 1 Philosophy Explained
Jeff Bezos popularized the 'Day One' philosophy in a 2016 Amazon letter to shareholders. As he wrote, "staying in Day 1 requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight.”
Forbes summarized the key components of the Amazon Day 1 philosophy as follows:
- Focus on results and not process - When process becomes 'the thing', "sometimes companies stop
looking at outcomes and only consider whether they have followed the process correctly, not whether the desired outcome was achieved." - Make decisions quickly - "Speed matters in business— plus a high-velocity decision making environment is more fun too."
- Look outside the company - "The outside world can push you into Day 2 if you won't or can't embrace powerful trends quickly, if you fight them, you're probably fighting the future. Embrace them and you have a tailwind."
- Market research - "Market research and customer surveys can become proxies for customers – something that’s especially dangerous when you’re inventing and designing products."
In the same original 2016 letter, Bezos spent a lot of time explaining the importance of decision making.
- Never use a one-size-fits-all decision-making process. Many decisions are reversible, two-way doors.
- Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.
- Use the phrase “disagree and commit.” This phrase will save a lot of time.
- Recognize true misalignment issues early and escalate them immediately.
Fundamental to the Day One philosophy is continuous improvement which applies to both your professional and personal life.
Bold Reflections of a Life with No Regrets
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, that "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of
it." My American Dream continues to be fulfilled because every day I create my own luck by the hard work in never being satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments.
Each of us has 86,400 seconds every single 24-hour day to improve on the past. Your future has not been written. What you are thinking about right now, could be that spark that either energizes you to find your life mission or sets you back to mediocrity.
Speak up because I learned as late as this week, your voice can dramatically change your life. Don't wait for that magical one thing to reveal itself to lead to the perfect career. Continuously ask for small things as they will eventually will become that 'big thing' you really desired.
Boldness is not something you are born with. It is something you can practice every single day and get better at.
Failure is not an Option
Life is not perfect for any us. In my first book, I listed these famous people and the setbacks
they overcame to achieve their success.
- WALT DISNEY This entertainment pioneer was fired from a newspaper for ‘lacking imagination’ and having no original ideas.
- THE BEATLES This famous musical group was rejected by Decca Recording Studios because they did not like their sound and ‘they have no future in show business’.
- COLONEL SANDERS OF KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN His chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times.2 When he was 65 years old, Colonel Harland Sanders began franchising his chicken business using his $105 monthly Social Security retirement check and KFC was born.
- STEPHEN KING He began submitting short stories to magazines at age 16 and hung the rejection notes on a hook which he had to replace and make larger multiple times. His first novel Carrie was rejected 30 times before it was published.
- STEVEN SPIELBERG You might not believe that this famous director whose movies have grossed $9 billion was rejected twice as an applicant student by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
- THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL Known to many children worldwide as Dr Seuss, his first book was rejected
by 27 publishers. - JK ROWLING This author was a broke, depressed, divorced single mother writing her first novel while studying. The first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times by publishers.
- STEVE JOBS At age 30, Jobs was devasted after being fired by the company he co-founded, Apple Computer. If you want further motivation listen to Steve Jobs commencement address at Stanford.
Above is only a partial list cited in the book of people who experienced major setbacks. All of them, did not let these disappointments define their ultimate achievements. Within you is the spark of alternate differentiated positive futures.
For each of us, history provides unchangeable lessons, but we can certainly design alternate paths forward. It is not where you start. It is not even where you are today.
At any age, you can exceed your expectations and be the change you want in the world. The legacy and where you finish is what makes all the difference.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Start each day with the feeling and believe in the potential that you are just getting started.
