Leigh Simpson
If Failure Isn’t An Option, Then Neither Is Success
Opening the first full day at Inbound 2018 is Beth Comstock, former Vice Chair of one of the world’s largest companies, GE.
Talking about how organisational change begins with the individual, ground up and how this approach strengthened GE and led to exciting developments for the business.
Are You Afraid Of Change?
Can you imagine a better future? A better way of working or delivering success to your customers?
Could you be a Changemaker, going head first into what's new? If you fail to engage with the future you risk getting left behind.
We’re living in an age of emerging change, change that is increasingly complex and sudden.
Things which seemed impossible just a few years are now inevitable.
Getting Past The Gatekeepers
For decades, we’ve insisted that our people work like machines, with little if any scope to flex their creativity and think.
65% of people don’t feel creatively fulfilled in work – this is the imagination gap. There is so much potential to tap into this, either as a leader or on a personal level.
“Change happens when you give yourself permission to imagine a better future, and then you make it happen.”
The first step to creating change is getting past the ‘Gatekeeper’. They’re frightened of progress, stifling creativity and imagination. They don’t understand the possibilities of the future and try to hold you back.
The favourite answer from the ‘Gatekeeper’ is “No”.
When you hear ‘No’, what you need to hear is ‘Not Yet’ be persistent. Be relentless. Continue to disrupt to drive progress.
Discover Where Change Is Happening
So how do you find the ideas that can bring change and give you the advantage?
The answer is in front of you – right out there. It’s in tour space, with your team, your customers your suppliers. Live in your market and be curious. Watch, Listen. Ask.
Where will discovery take you? Be present in the world and see connections. When connections join up they become patterns and then they become trends.
Trends are the lifeblood of change for your business. Being on trend enables you to be ahead of the curve and maintain or gain competitive advantage.
Spend at least 10% of your time being ‘out there’, that’s one day per fortnight. Get out with your team, with your customers, talk to your suppliers. Get into spaces where things are happening.
Change Is Active, So Lead It
To get your ideas adopted, you need to develop a strategy for the change you want to bring forward.
Strategy is a story well told. Tell your story well and you will be seen as a visionary.
Lead the way to create momentum around your vision and shift attitudes and make your ideas a reality.
Experimentation is key to success. You need to prove your ideas will work. Through experimentation, you can improve, develop and fine-tune your vision until it works and becomes successful.
Don’t be afraid of failure. Avoiding failure invites failure. Only through taking risks and making mistakes can you get things right, so failure and learning from it can help you to thrive.
This is a different approach for most of us, but only those who are different will stand out.
Do you want to be just like everyone else, in the background, unknown to the powerbrokers and your potential sponsors?
Failure gets you noticed. Learning from failure gets you respected. Be brave. Don’t play it safe.
“If failure isn’t an option, then neither is success” Beth Comstock
Winning Marketing Strategy
Contact Insynth today to define a winning marketing strategy for your building products brand. Insynth will introduce you to experimentation that will highlight your strengths and help you to grow better.
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About Insynth
Insynth Marketing is a leading UK construction marketing consultancy based in Shifnal in the West Midlands. Insynth employ the latest inbound marketing techniques such as construction inbound marketing, to help building product manufacturers grow their businesses by aggressively driving sales lead generation activity.
As the only HubSpot certified agency to major on construction marketing, we bring together construction marketing strategy, digital strategy, website design, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, sales automation, marketing automation and HubSpot CRM implementation to produce successful campaigns and great results for our clients.