10/26/2022
You may have heard that you have to think strategically and change your mindset if you want to be successful today.
And I understand why you might think that.
Because you see that philosophy being pumped everywhere, all day every day.
But if that were true...
Then everyone who spends time developing their marketing strategy and mindset would already be wildly successful.
And we all know that’s not the case.
So what do people who are having the MOST success with their marketing today have in common?
Well, I remember a story one of my mentors shared.
When he was in the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia…
He and the other candidates were sitting at their desks waiting for another boring class to start…
…when BOOOM!
Their instructor barged into the classroom and slammed a massive book on the desk...
Ordering them to get into push-up position.
Then he yells out…
‘What is the ONE skill that defines a leader?’
So they all start shouting out different answers.
“Communication skills.”
“Courage.”
“Charisma.”
Frustrated, the instructor starts hollering…
“NO NO NO!!!
Not one of you has the slightest clue about leadership!”
So this goes on for about ten minutes before everybody gave up.
Then the instructor finally tells them…
The SINGLE defining quality a leader must have above ALL others is the ability to SEE THE BATTLEFIELD!
You should read that again.
Write it on a sticky note and post it to your computer, mirrors, wherever.
See the battlefield.
Because this is the key to renewing your clarity and unlocking better marketing results faster...
Without wasting time and money chasing bright shiny objects.
Here’s why those 3 words are so powerful.
Because unless you can SEE the battlefield…
…unless you have the PROPER perspective about what’s
happening on the terrain and the environment around you…
It is impossible for you to win.
Think about this.
We live in an era of new knowledge in high speed.
You already feel the impact of this in one way or another.
But did you know the evolution of consumer behavior, society, and technology is evolving FASTER than our ability to adapt?
So much so there’s a definition for this phenomena.
It’s called Digital Darwinism.
This, along with new digital business models...
Is the reason why since the year 2000 over 50% of the Fortune 500 companies have disappeared.
So none of us are exempt from dealing with this.
And unless you’re truly paying attention the dynamics of this new ecosystem (if you can’t SEE the battlefield)…
👉 Here’s what you can expect in the coming months as a business leader…
You’ll find yourself clinging to outdated assumptions as a way to justify your unwillingness to change.
So as you move forward.
You'll keep making decisions with incorrect criteria for deciding if, how, when and for how long you should invest in any given marketing or business growth strategy.
That ends up muddying the waters.
So you'll be unclear about what you really want or what’s possible for you today.
By default, this will impact your ability to truly understand what your clients want (you’ll assume you already know or you won’t commit to finding out).
As a result, you won’t understand how their needs and desires are changing with the market.
(This is how you end up with weak offers that nobody wants to buy and messaging that doesn’t resonate).
And because your messaging isn’t aligned…
You won’t be able to clearly communicate a path for the transformation your clients will experience IF they decided to work with you (people are looking for meaning and leadership, not marketing).
So you'll keep plugging away as best you can.
And unfortunately, this is where too many people get stuck…
…on a plateau with boring, inconsistent follow-up and little to no engagement at all.
By this point, you’re so exhausted and burnt out that when you do hire people to help…
Even if you are lucky enough to free up a little more time for yourself…
You still end up with a half-assed, hodge-podge marketing system...
Because you’re working with multiple vendors (a lot of them have outdated assumptions themselves).
And what sucks is how this translates.
Because how this shows up for you on a day-to-day...
..is a lack of confidence and an unwillingness to fully promote yourself and get your best work into the world faster.
Now you’re stuck in an infinite loop of ‘stop-start marketing’.
Another webinar.
Another conference.
Another meeting.
Another course.
But just when it starts to feel like you’re gaining real traction...
Somehow you end up losing whatever momentum you had.
And after all this…
What sucks the most.
What you’re scared to admit to family, friends and business partners…
Is that it feels like you’re suffocating under the pressure of your own refusal to grow.
I hope you see how important this is.
See, this is why the typical ‘buzzword’ advice of ‘be strategic’ or ‘improve your mindset’ doesn’t work.
Not today.
Because it doesn’t take into account that the very definition of strategy itself is outdated.
Strategy (the old definition), is defined as ‘the art of devising or employing plans and resources toward a goal’.
And mindset, is defined as ‘the habits of mind formed by previous experience’.
And that's the problem.
Because if things are evolving so fast that your previous experience hasn’t prepared you for it…
…and you haven’t had the time to develop new skills, habits, and plans for properly identifying let alone deploying your available resources…
Is it even surprising that so many business owners are experiencing diminishing returns on their marketing?
It's no wonder that so many business owners feel like they’re running out of time...
..chasing shiny objects (or letting people convince them that they should).
This isn’t your fault.
But you have to do something about it.
The first step is to get off the merry go round and embrace a (new definition) of strategy.
💯 Strategy: a long-term plan for achieving an aim that allows you to see the battlefield (no matter how complex it becomes) and make consistently correct decisions quickly (even when a correct move is seemingly impossible to find), no matter what may arise. ~ Mark Joyner
This is what the goo-roos aren’t telling you.
Because this is hard %!)^% #)$ work!
It’s deep work.
And as things continue to get more complex, it’s not going to get any easier.
You can’t solve it with a “new Facebook hack”.
You can’t advertise your way out of this.
You can’t automate your way out of this.
You can’t hire your way out of this.
You can’t ‘influence the influencer’ your way out of this either.
You can’t even spend your way out of it.
If that were true, 50% of the Fortune 500 wouldn’t have disappeared since the year 2000.
For us to thrive going forward…
A NEW breed of business leaders has to emerge.
✅ Business leaders who are committed to learning the new models of business growth at all costs because their generational legacy depends on it.
✅ Business leaders who understand that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what hacks, tricks and tools you have if you don’t execute through to completion.
✅ Business leaders who understand that just because you can use paid advertising to get people’s attention, it doesn’t mean you’re entitled to it.
✅ They understand that their competitors focus 80% of their time, effort and energy on learning the platforms first (eg Facebook ads, Google ads etc) and only 20% on their message/offer.
They know the reality is that this ratio should be flipped.
✅ They know that because their clients’ success is synonymous to their own and because they care MORE than their competitors…
…they embrace the reality that their marketing must attract, capture and multiply demand at EACH STEP of their Clients’ Lifetime Value Journey with them…
…regardless how things change or how complex and competitive the market becomes.
This new breed of business leaders understands that as we commit to up-leveling our perspective…
✅ We must also develop the spiritual acuity, emotional intelligence, curiosity, enthusiasm…
…as well as the right marketing systems and technology to connect ideas that create meaningful transformations.
And we’ll never develop the ethical endurance to pull this off if we’re not committed to transformative leadership.
Listen, my ears are closest to me.
And I’m a business leader just like you.
In no way am I saying that I’ve got this all figured out.
But if this resonates with you...
I invite you to join us by answering one simple question.
Are you competing for the moment…or competing for the future?
