In our Vivid Vision, we address important principles such as radical candor as fundamental to organizational culture, health and well-being. A related construct is revealed in James Jacobi’s book, Radical Integrity: 7 Breakthrough Strategies for Transforming Your Business, Sales, and Life. While the author focuses on growing sales, his notion of radical integrity have enormous influence on organizational performance.
Jacobi posits his strategy under a moment that starts with a self-transaction: a Rubicon moment, a point of no return, where an individual decides to embrace being 100 percent themselves, fully alive, fully authentic, emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually. When our Rubicon moment happens, when we set that standard for ourselves, a new schema of how we do what we do emerges. Jacobi captures how to enable our Rubicon moment to come to fruition through his steps for “S-U-C-C-E-S-S:”
· Set goals higher—unrealistically, high, in-fact. Make them 100 percent or 10X bigger than they were before. Consider goals in the spheres of Business and Sales, Income, Team Growth, Health, Impact and Influence, and Family. Relentlessly pursue these BHAGs (remember Collin’s Big, Hairy Audacious Goal?) every day, adjust when needed, and 10X the effort frequently. All goals, no matter how large or inconsequential are unachievable before they are established.
· Utilize and practice daily gratitude—to be a leader, hone emotional intelligence (also called emotional quotient, or EQ); which grows through developing an awareness of ourselves and others—ours and their emotions, mood, body language, and patterns. Being grateful creates the standard for how both you, your team, and your clients approach situations. Practically, record affirmations that you can look at throughout the day, and repeat them into reality. Athletes often use such techniques to enhance performance.
· Change circles of Influence—Massive success often results from collaboration and those whom you associate with personally and professionally become influencers and collaborators. In our Vivid Vision, we seek a multiple outcome where 1 + 1 = 11, rather than 2! Hire, collaborate, and associate with beautiful minds who are unique and different from you in encouraging ways—and, if you can, minimize association with those who say, “you can’t.” Seriously evaluate who you are allowing to influence your decisions. Humans naturally hang around others who think like themselves; the risk is that confirmatory bias may not yield optimal choices that deserve consideration.
· Catch Fire with your sales growth—Jacobi argues that the new rule to live by is “no negativity allowed.” Negativity undermines sales, gratitude grows sales. Even when struggling, don’t “fake it until you make it,” but work from a place of authenticity and integrity—rather, make a choice. Know your value, and set standards that enhances repeat customers which will sustain your business long-term. Contemplate who your ideal customer is, what problems they are trying to solve in their business, what their competitive angles are and what their weaknesses are. This will allow you to engage in client-centered communication methods and business strategies, developing clout with the clients and giving you the authenticity that it takes to make a difference in sales and customer relations.
· Elevate your personal brand—In our Vivid Vision, which promotes being humble, hungry and smart, we must focus on building our personal brand in a way that is genuine and absence of hubris. In turn, it becomes the company brand. Why? Because this is what enhances trust with others. Where possible, solicit testimonials from clients, email introductions to new prospects, and establish yourself as the ultimate authority on your subject matter. Post well considered articles on LinkedIn, videos on Facebook and YouTube, and publish content that affirms your expertise and credibility.
· Serve your People with Radical Integrity—We can do nothing without our team. Serve them and lead them well, and you win. Support them, so they can support you and the company mission. Being authentic in your demeanor and message, even when mistakes are made, will create a dynamic of transparency and real-time learning. Our team benefits from seeing us make mistakes, learn from them, and develop corrective actions with an air of humor, humility and gratitude. We learn the most from failure. Establish a team vision, and work tirelessly to create this company culture; personal and professional development should be non-negotiable if they are going to be working for you. We have sought to embrace this critical principle in our Vivid Vision.
· Serve your family First, Last, and Foremost. Always seek to be present with them and others when we are with them. Avoid carrying the concerns of work home (and vice versa).