Human brand specialist Rob Opie has developed an acronym that would raise eyebrows in polite company which he uses to get people motivated. Make an ASS of yourself is his message, with the letters standing for authenticity, simplicity and synchronicity, not your posterior.Rob, like many other experts who inspire and motivate teams, bases his work on theory. In this case, he has drawn on case studies from business, sport and life to come up with guiding principles he has encapsulated in ASS. He wants you to be ASS – in the nicest possible way.
You may think he has a quirky way of conveying his key points, but do read Rob’s blog to the end. There are some interesting ideas here for building staff morale without resorting to getting your employees to rethink mission and vision statements that no-one will revisit after a corporate day away. At the very least, Rob will give you some food for thought. – JCMaking an ASS of yourself is better business sense than a mission statement: human brand specialist
By Rob Opie
In tough times the question is often: How do we do more with less. The answer is to unlock potential, hence to fully unleash the power within your team.
Company leaders are always looking to do just that! But, they often fall way short of their best intentions for their teams.
Take heart. One can unleash potential by simply tapping into the ‘collective wisdom’ of the great champions of business, sport and life – who have gone before – what they already know, what they do and what they don’t do – it’s as easy as 1.2.3: Authenticity, Simplicity and Synchronicity. So why re-invent the wheel!
The other day in Durban, after one of my seminars, the first question was: Are you asking us to make an A.S.S .of ourselves from the words: Authenticity, Simplicity and Synchronicity?
I had to laugh, but my answer was to the contrary. I’m asking you ‘not to ASS it all up! Not to waste time and energy at that place called ‘the school of hard knocks’. Here’s how, and it’s all derived from hundreds of cases studies of the Great Champions of business, sport & life. Those that have gone before and achieved sustained success and significance in life.of human purpose)
Motivating teams is a waste of time and money. And, it just costs more and more money! The trick is to inspire your team.
Nobody arrives at some place of work, unless they perceive and derive some value. If that ‘value’ is only a monthly pay cheque, then the road to fully unlocking the potential of your team will always be bumpy and costly. You will always be playing catch up to your competitors. Inspiration, on the other hand, comes from clearly articulating one’s higher purpose in life. Here are few examples:
Disney: To make children smile
Coke: To create happiness
Google: To organise and disseminate the world’s information
Microsoft: Uniquely empowering people to do more
Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, one neighbourhood at a time
You will notice there is no mention of annual budgets and how much money these companies make or lose at any point in time, but they sure do make a lot of money. It’s the reward for inspired teams knowing and doing what they love to do each day – making a difference!
It’s important for teams to know how they impact the universe, when they walk through that office door each day – however small their role or contribution may be! This creates happiness, which in turn creates sustained higher performance levels.
Hard Work + Happiness = Human Greatness!
Higher Purpose is the difference between being ‘inspired to do’ and ‘requiring motivation to do’.implicity (The power of human focus)
Bill Gates said the most important thing in his life was learning early on to focus his energy on what he deems as important in his life. Surprisingly, when I ask organisations or individuals what are the five most important things in their lives are – that they value – they are unable to articulate and answer clearly.
No wonder the ‘school of hard knocks’ often comes into play. Simplicity means focus. In America the latest management thinking is coming from a group of management gurus whose website is “The one thing”. Greatness comes from practising one’s “one thing” – one’s higher purpose, and then making sure one’s strategic actions (Focus Five) are focused on achieving it .
Too often, I see daily challenges turn into long-term constraints, because organisations or individuals cannot articulate their “focus five” – the five things that will add most value! No wonder the organisation’s and individual’s energy levels are sapped by things of lesser importance. Leonardo da Vinci read it well when he said: ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistification’.
Synchronicity (The power of human balance and alignment)
We have all heard the saying: “seek a balanced lifestyle and maintain a balance perspective”. Well, there is a lot of truth in that, judging by all the’ human implosions’ we witness of late.
Balance is the key, if one wants to fully unleash potential. It’s vital that one’s current year’s goals are realistic, but more importantly fully aligned and balanced with one’s higher purpose and top five focus areas. When on gets this right it’s called being “in sync”. In sport it’s called being “in form”! Things just go right. Things look easy. This is because one’s game plan ‘is made of the right stuff’.
The ‘wrong stuff ‘has been filtered out and dumped! So, it’s as easy as 1.2.3. Make an A.S.S of yourself! Forget all those long-winded ‘wishy-washy’ mission statements concocted by everybody having their final say at a corporate spanbou in the bush’, and then hung on the back of toilet doors – or never ever accessed on corporate websites.
Leaders are tasked to make it all simple by clearly articulating the team’s higher purpose, agreeing the team’s focus five areas of strategic action, and aligning/setting the top three priority goals for the current year. Great leaders then pay special attention to aligning (communicating) their team game plans from the helm – to all within their teams! If not, you will be continually going to bed at night wondering why you are falling short. Keep it ASS! Your team will go from good to great to greater – when you treat your people like citizens, not staff. They will feel they belong – and they will love you for it!
