Kissinger it......

...excerpt from my daily message to the company.

I was reminded of a story the other day in the leadership team meeting. It was a story about producing your "best work" and how we as a leadership team could push each other, continually improve and become a better, more efficient and effective team.  

It was a story of how Henry Kissinger would get the best work from people. Henry Kissinger was President Richard Nixon's Secretary of State and has become one of the most referenced and recognized Secretary of States in history.  

I researched and found the actual oral history account of the event as presented to George Washington University. 

Winston Lord: Well, basically it was, I went in with a draft, and it was actually of a presidential foreign policy report. This is slightly apocryphal and not directly on your subject here, but I would go in with a draft of the speech. He called me in the next day and said, "Is this the best you can do?" I said, "Henry, I thought so, but I'll try again." So I go back in a few days, another draft. He called me in the next day and he said, "Are you sure this is the best you can do?" I said, "Well, I really thought so. I'll try one more time." Anyway, this went on eight times, eight drafts; each time he said, "Is this the best you can do?" So I went in there with a ninth draft, and when he called me in the next day and asked me that same question, I really got exasperated and I said, "Henry, I've beaten my brains out - this is the ninth draft. I know it's the best I can do: I can't possibly improve one more word." He then looked at me and said, "In that case, now I'll read it."

So, what the heck does this have to do with you or me or Potrero?   

How many times have we just hit "send" on an email to a potential Accuryn customer over the last couple of weeks? Have we produced our best work? Have we earned the right for the customer to read our email or take our call? Are we sending what is in front of us without the critical thinking that is required to "do our best work"? 

I have heard the need for better messaging for our sales efforts. 

Who owns that?  

The answer is we all do. This will not be some magic bullet, someone in a room drafting a message that you then lateral to a customer and a sale falls into your lap.

It will require many brains and intense focus to design a well crafted and articulated message to our customers. You are the pathfinders, the trail blazers, the people that will define for years the pathway to success. It will not be easy, but as previous messages have detailed, you were born for discomfort, born for the challenges that others refuse, born to change the world. Those that want comfort can come to Potrero in 3 years when everything is smooth and easy. It will be smooth and easy because of the heavy lifting we did to get there. The work that went into crafting the message, detailing the "how" and taking on the challenge of finding the path.

We all need to "Kissinger it". Work as a team to craft, slow the game down, review what we know, apply it, test it, refine it and finally drive it.  

There is no "them", only us.  

The power of words to mold our actions - "We", "us", "together", "team"

"We will develop the strongest message" 

"We will push each other"

"It is us vs. the status quo"

Yesterday's message was about the epic fight to beat your internal limitations, expand your perceptions of what is possible, your perspectives (attitudes) so you can achieve more than you ever thought possible.  

 Today is about doing your best work and pushing each other to theirs, all of us to do better. Working as a team nothing can stop us.

Failure is not an option for us - at any level here at Potrero. 

One possible outcome in all of our minds - SUCCESS.

Have a great day!

Joe

This is a series of articles based on the daily letters that I write to my company (slightly modified - company specifics removed). My hope is to share some positive thoughts that gently push the world toward positive thinking and encourage many to achieve their fullest God-given potential.

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