Leadership books often talk about being “authentic.” While traveling to Italy this week, I got a new angle on what authentic might mean: know, and then show, what you care about.
The first meal we had was from Sergio who owned a small restaurant under the apartment we rented. (For you foodies out there, I ordered Pizza Napoli.) Sergio spent maybe five minutes telling me about why the five little anchovies on my €7 pizza were the best he could find. Where he got them. What about them made them the best and what made for bad anchovies. He was proud. We felt special.
Sergio was being authentic. He knows what he cares about and he focuses on that every day. We sat in plastic chairs–because it would be harder for him and his very small staff to care about the food and the décor equally. The décor would be a distraction. He told us to come back in the morning and he would make us (and it felt like it was only for us) his special cappuccino layered with chocolate and crème.
We were back in the morning.
I often work with private businesses who fail to either understand and/or to show what they care about. So this week, ponder the following:
- What does your company really care about?
- Does your customer care about what you care about? (Don’t know? Go ask.)
- And does your staff, your website, your processes, the people you hire clearly show that this is what you care about?
Do you have a Big Strategy?
Our three-minute Big Strategy Assessment is designed to get you thinking. To get your team talking. To begin to answer the question “How do we create better growth?” Take it here and get the conversation going.
~Tony