Guiding lights & invisible buyers

New wings

I witnessed a remarkable transformation last week.

With my son Jasper, and twenty other 14-17 year-old boys and their fathers, I attended a week-long camp called "The Making of Men." No, it's not some cheesy motivational seminar. Instead, imagine?if Brene Brown teamed up with Steve Irwin. Camping and wilderness challenges, artfully combined with Jungian ritual theatre, and some pretty intense sharing circles.

Everything was designed to create, in our sons, a model of ‘healthy masculinity’, modelled by us, the older men.

Was it a success?

Outstandingly so.

I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the formative experiences of my life. Jasper says confidently, “I went there as a boy. I came back as a man”. He returned more grounded and ready for responsibility.

The experience led me to realise that three of my strategy clients require identity shifts for their staff:

• A power infrastructure company that wants its sales team to change identity from estimators to account managers.?
• A local government that wants its functional managers to see themselves as change leaders.?
• A medical college needing overseas-trained doctors placed in rural towns to integrate as community members, not just be transient professionals.

So, here are a few lessons from the Making of Men that I’m looking forward to helping these clients apply:?

• A powerful internalised view: Questions and conversations that cause a person to ‘future-imagine’ themselves in a new way.?
• Shared symbolism: Common words, labels, rituals and actions that signify the new ways, differently from the ‘old ways’.?
• Sharing vulnerabilities: Talking as openly as possible about the path and its challenges, led by those who’ve done it. ?

Question: How can you create rapid, immersive experiences to catalyse identity shifts in your organisation?

Energy from the night sky?

A CEO client, Jenni, is fond of the expression, “North Star”. As in, “We need to follow our North Star”.

Airbnb’s North Star is “Belong anywhere”. Disney’s is “Make people happy”. Back in the 90s, Microsoft’s was, “A computer on every desk”.?

Like Jenni, I like the concept. A lot. Why??

If you think about the North Star literally, astronomers will tell you it’s actually Polaris, visible only in the Northern Hemisphere, and is only the 44th brightest object in the night sky.?

But, as a metaphor for a guiding principle in a business, it works:?

• It’s visible to all
• It’s stable, unchanging
• It guides the way, when we’re in the dark
• It’s still there, even when obscured by clouds

The real power lies in the energy centre – the key word or concept that drives action. It helps Airbnb select hosts who embody their belonging ethos (those who help guests belong in a foreign city), or Disney decide which film projects align with their happiness-focused mission (they won’t make action movies, or violent thrillers, or adult-theme laden dramas).

Question: Does your company have a North Star, and how do you use it to navigate in the dark??

When buyers aren’t your customers

In the month my son officially became a man, my mother, Gabriella, 92, officially became an old person.?

She moved out from a retirement village where, in almost 20 years, she’s never told anyone her real age. Even as she declined physically, she made herself up every day, dressed well, drove her car to the shops until she hit 90, and smiled at everyone.?

But now she’s in residential aged care.?

The place she’s in is great. But while Gabriella is the real customer, they’re treating me like I am. They took pains to show me the features and services. They send me all the paperwork. They are getting me to approve all the financial arrangements.?

Now, my mother is perfectly capable of all this. She’s cognitively sound. So, why are they treating her as if she’s not??

It’s because aged care providers realise that the ‘economic buyer’ is often the child of the customer (precisely the opposite of schools, where the customer is the buyer’s child).?

And, if you think about it, there are many instances where there isn’t a single customer that a business needs to appeal to:?

• Uber has to balance both driver and passenger needs.?
• Health services aimed at men (or families) need to appeal to women, who are mostly decision-makers.
• Tech products must attract both end-users and their procurement gatekeepers
• Property developers must satisfy residents and mortgage lenders

Each of these scenarios — and many others — demand a nuanced approach to value proposition and customer experience. You're not just selling a product or service; you're orchestrating an ecosystem that satisfies multiple stakeholders.

Question: If you have multiple customers, or buyers who are not your customers, how do you calculate your value to all?

I’m not asking for a star, but I am asking for a ‘Like’.

Do click it if something above resonated with you. Why? Because it’s a small energy signal that tells me you’re out in the 5MSM universe. If you want to drop a bigger signal, send me a message and let me know what the above questions triggered for you.?

I’ll be back right here again next Friday, and look forward to sharing another three observations of the world around us.

Andrew