Grow People to Increase Sales

Imagine David Letterman is on the streets of New York City with a microphone in hand. He has one question to ask those who happen to pass by, "What is the purpose of being in business?" What do you think the most common response will be? I would guess that almost everyone, will answer the purpose of being in business is to make money.

I'm going to suggest a different way of looking at this question. Imagine for a moment that the purpose of being in business was to grow people! What would be different? How about everything would be different and you would make more money as well!

I rented a movie the other day about industrial technology. I loved these lines from the movies main character: "Lately I've been reading about some of our great entrepreneurs, Dupont, Rockefeller, Ford. Their ability to create great new wealth depended on the fact they worked on the edge, the leading edge, the frontier. It can be a scary place...but once you've stepped onto the edge, it's impossible to comeback.

"I welcome the challenges of the frontier. Institutions never create anything, individuals do. We are the thinkers, the planners, and the visionaries who shape the future. It is our destiny not only to change to make people community, but to change the way people think."

It is my vision and quest to travel worldwide and speak the code. If individuals and groups would live their lives with integrity, the world would be a safer, more vibrant, healthy, and fulfilling place.

I do understand that this is a new way of thinking. However, all of the research that I have conducted points to similarities between those companies that are considered to be visionary versus those that are not. Companies such as Citicorp, Ford, Marriott, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, and Walt Disney all share a common code of integrity. I will give you my interpretation of that shared code.

These visionary companies live a culture, a belief system that is shared by every level of the organization. One of these shared beliefs is that the purpose of being in business is to grow people. How do you grow people? You do this through coaching and a principle-based organization. The following are the guiding principles that I believe are necessary for a company to be living in integrity.

Three Core Principles:

1. I do what I say I will do.
2. I can't do it by myself. I am far better off as a part of a team where I am never by myself.
3. Accountability -- I am the source of all that I experience.

Core Principle #1:
I do what I say I will do.
This is a fundamental principle. If an individual does not hold this as important, the entire system of core values fall apart. I support this principle by blasting the following myth: I am better off by committing high and falling short than committing lower and falling short.

Please understand that this is a myth. One is not better off by unrealistically committing to big, audacious, and hairy goals. If an individual commits to an artificially high goal, the moment they start to question their ability to reach that goal, their motivation begins to dramatically decrease. The "pull" of hope no longer is present. Replace that myth with Minimum Level Objectives (MLOs). This concept embraces the first principle of living with integrity ? I do what I said I would do. The minimum level at which you would give your word and fall short does not exist.

I have been in the training and coaching business for over twenty years. I can't tell you how many times I have heard an individual say that they were committed to reach some goal and then not take the intended actions. They all had viable reasons, stories, priorities, unscheduled interruptions, and excuses. They all also didn't do what they said they would do!

When you use MLOs, you call upon Newton's third principle of physics: inertia. "Anybody in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by an external force." With huge, unrealistic goals, the external force preventing the continuation of momentum is fear. Once individuals see "evidence" they can't do something, they immediately buy into that evidence as being true and they live their lives in resignation. I've heard it said, "it is the starting that stops most people."

If an individual had set a smaller, more realistic goal, they would still maintain hope and the chance to be successful and honor principle number one: I do what I said I would do. This goes against accepted ways of being, such as "I should set big goals." I'm not against setting stretch goals. I simply request giving a bottom line that you will give your word that you will achieve no matter what. Try it!

Core Principle #2:
I can't do it by myself. I am far better offas a part of a team than I can be alone.
Elite performers will never argue with this. They know they must surround themselves with others. By doing so they create the atmosphere where learning, discovery, clarity, and accountability can occur.

Try this simple experiment. Take thirty seconds and write down as many green vegetables as you can think of. Next, get a partner, and together, come up with one list of green vegetables in thirty seconds. In almost 100% of the cases, your list will be greater with a partner than by yourself.

Core Principle #3:
Accountability -- I am the source of allthat I experience.
The opposite of this principle is blaming. This principle is a source of strength for people. It doesn't allow them to become a victim. This principle embraces the concept that human beings are very powerful at creating results in their own lives. However, these may be dysfunctional results. Someone who is thirty pounds overweight has created a miracle of a result. How would they know how to regulate their intake and expenditure to gain thirty pounds? They are exactly where they are in their weight because that is exactly what their point of view supports. We are very powerful at manifesting our dominating thoughts.

Likewise, someone who has financial difficulties has exactly what they should have given their current financial point of view. If they want to have different results, it is not what is going on around them, the environment, the marketplace, etc. The answer lies in their dysfunctional point of view. If they want to change the results they are experiencing, they must first change their point of view. After all, they are the source of all that they experience.

How do you change your point of view That is actually a simple process. Decide first what you want. Next, what do you need to do to have what you want? Then, what will you do over the next seven days? This declaration needs to be very specific, observable, and measurable.

The process is not complete until you have a structure for accountability in place. This must come from someone outside. Another person is needed to hold you accountable and to check back at the end of the week to see if you actually did what you said you would do.

This is the elite performance system that I have taken domestically and internationally, teaching with great success those individuals that were not satisfied with who they were or what their accomplishments were in life. For those who wanted to be more fulfilled in their health, business, and personal lives, this is the formula.

Try it on. Make a specific declaration to another person and then set out to execute for the next seven days. Design a reward or punishment with that person and watch how your perception shifts. Because you have this dynamic of accountability in your life instead of seeing how busy you are and all of the reasons why you can't do what you said you would do, you will see the opportunities to handle whatever comes your way and still honor what you said you would do.

Put one week after another together like this and you will have a miracle and magical year. Good luck!

The high impact of Bob's program will keep you on the edge of your seat. He is the author of two books, The Sky Is Not The Limit, You Are! and Coaching For High Performance, as well as several audio and videocassette programs. For more info, visit www.bobdavies.com.