Three Minute Leadership- On Standing Out and Being Remarkable
To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning
In a 2003 article Seth Godin discussed what it takes for great leaders to truly stand out from the crowd. By way of introduction he speaks about the origin of sliced bread. The fact, he notes, is “that for the first 15 years after sliced bread was available no one bought it; no one knew about it; it was a complete and total failure.“ It was Wonder Bread who broke the code about spreading the idea and appeal of sliced bread. Godin’s message about standing out is poignant: “The way you’re going to get what you want, or cause the change that you want to change, to happen, is that you’ve got to figure out a way to get your ideas to spread.”
Great leaders learn well the lessons of sliced bread, applying it not only to ideas, but to their business, professional and personal life and their own self-branding. Just spreading an idea is not enough. Great leaders offer what is different, what is remarkable, what is magical. These are the characteristics that people look for, what people want. Great leaders unfold the possibilities of what can be. They build or find their own ‘tribe’ of passionate and committed followers who embrace their idea, spread it and create appeal for it.
James Matthew Barrie, Scottish dramatist and novelist best known as the creator of Peter Pan, wrote: “As soon as you can say what you think, and not what some other person has thought for you, you are on your way to being a remarkable man.” Stand out! Be remarkable in all that you do. Set fire to the imaginations of the people around you. Open their minds to the infinite possibilities around them and within them. Help them to be remarkable… to be more than they ever dreamed that they could be.
Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!
Mike