Humans love getting gifts. The biggest reason we've accomplished so much and come so far as a species is by building cooperation through gift-giving.
Back when most of the world was made up of small tribes, people would offer gifts to those in their tribe and to other tribes to show they wanted to work together.
The successful leaders gained that influence primarily because they gave away everything they had to their tribes. This built goodwill and showed their leadership was in service to the tribe.
While a lot has changed since those days, human psychology hasn't.
Too often, we see business owners who only want to take.
Most of their messaging focus on asking their audience and prospects to give to the business, whether it's in the form of attention or money. Both scarce resources that people hold onto tightly.
And then these business owners wonder why no one comments on their social media posts, responds to their emails or phone calls, and ultimately never does business with them.
If this sounds familiar, it means you haven't earned their attention or money yet.
This isn't Field of Dreams. If you build it doesn't mean they'll come. If you give them more, then they will come.
As business owners, we have to take on all of the risks and give our best self first, without expecting or asking for anything in return.
This is the Strategy of Preeminence, a philosophy popularized by Jay Abraham. It's worth diving deeper into.
He proposes that we take fiduciary responsibility for the people we seek to serve. We must become their guide, showing them the path and how our services can solve their problems and change their lives.
At this point, you're probably wondering how you do this and might be hoping for a step-by-step process. Unfortunately, I can't give that to you. It doesn't exist.
Becoming a leader and serving your tribe isn't a system or step-by-step process you follow. It's being so invested in your tribe's success that you can't help but show up in the world wanting to help them.
You have to get to know them on a deeply personal level and discover what their fears and aspirations are. You have to understand what motivates them and what holds them back. You have to learn why they want to change and how you can help them along that path.
It's also about knowing that everyone has to walk their own path, and some will be ready right away, and others won't be ready for a long time. And the trick to being truly successful is making sure you don't leave the second group behind.
When you take this approach to business, your mind shifts from finite thinking to infinite thinking. Business isn't like sports. There's no time limit, the rules are constantly changing, and you have no opponents.
The goal is to keep playing the game and adapt to changing circumstances. Those who are successful realize this and change when necessary. Those who fail do so because they hold onto one way of doing things even when they don't work.
The internet and social media have resulted in those changes happening more often, but one thing that will stay the same is our desire to follow a leader who is willing to give first, who will show up, and who will keep their tribe's best interest at the core of their mission.
Spend some time thinking about how you can show up more for your tribe and your patients.
Until next time,
-Jason Duprat, MBA, MSA, CRNA