Seen and Being Seen

In a recent conversation with a martial arts school owner, I asked him what he was doing that made him unique, different, or in some way allowed him to stand out in the crowd from his competitors. His response was typical. He offered a traditional martial arts program, a grappling program, a weapons program, and a reality-based self-defense program.

Nothing distinct or different than what any other school owner was doing in his community.

So, I asked him a very specific question, “How do you want to be seen in your community?”

At that point, he began to share with me his passion for wanting to be a safe place for children to come and not only learn the physical aspects of traditional martial arts and how to defend themselves against bullies, but to also be a place where those students could learn important character traits and values that would give him a head start in a cheating a greater level of success in life.

I then asked the instructor a second question, “Is this how your school is being seen in your community?” 

Short answer, NO!

My third question to him was, “Do your instructors, students, and parents, know this is how you want to be seen? Do your staff members understand the vision of your organization, and are they living that out in such a way that it becomes evident to your students and their parents this is what makes you unique and different, and that you truly want to make a powerful impact in the lives of your students?”

Again, the short answer was NO!

This is a problem far too many business owners in all walks of life fail to come to grips with. It is one of the major reasons most organizations do not achieve their full potential and truly become a brand that people believe in, become raving fans of, and want to actively support.

So how do YOU answer this question?

If your staff or employees do not know have you want to be seen in the community, how can they successfully create that experience for the community members that you serve?

In the book, FOR, Jeff Henderson shares his experience in working for Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. Jeff shares a life-changing event that happened in a car ride when he came to realize that the success of Chick-fil-A was due to Mr. Cathy making it his mission to be continually casting vision to those on his team, and continually investing and their own personal and professional growth and development.

Mr. Cathy understood that he was NOT in the business of building a business. He WAS in the business of developing people…and that is how his business grew. 

The end result? Over 50 consecutive years of year-to-year growth. Mr. Cathy made it his mission to be constantly reminding those on his team how they wanted to be seen, how they wanted to serve the community, and the experience he wanted each member of the community to encounter every time they visited one of his establishments.

No matter what type of business you are in, there are competitors in your community who do very much the same thing that you do. It's the same in every community. There's always more than one restaurant more than one clothing store, more than one grocery store, competition is everywhere.

Your customers are asking a question that most businesses had yet to answer. And that question is this.

Why should I choose to do business with you over any and every other available option to me, including doing nothing?

When you have clearly shared your vision, and the experience you want for your customers when they walk in the door, and you are consistently investing in the personal and professional development of your team members so they can continue to become better at who they are and what they do, they began to live that out and desire that same experience for the customers they serve.

But it starts with sharing the vision of how you want to be seen in the marketplace.

Your opportunity to improve your results and go beyond just having customers to creating raving fans who cheer you on is predicated on you consistently casting vision, modeling it before your team, and continually investing in their own personal and professional growth and development so they too embrace and live our your vision for your customers.

Who doesn’t want their customers to become walking, living, breathing, billboards for their business?

You’ll never scale your business to its full potential or make a lasting impact in the lives of those whom you serve every single day until you realize what Truett Cathy realized over five decades ago. 

Your business is about developing the people who work in your business. Sharing your values and your vision, and continually investing in their own personal and professional growth so you’re constantly up-leveling how your Team is effectively serving your audience – your customer.

2X martial arts Hall of Fame inductee, John Terry (The Black Belt Leader) is passionate about helping others become Black Belt Leaders in Life. He is a motivational speaker, leadership, sales & communication coach, and trainer.  For more information, to purchase John's books or training content, or to schedule John to speak to your organization or schedule training or coaching, visit www.beablackbeltleader.com.  

If you are a faith-based organization, learn more about John's international outreach to churches, para-church organizations, or faith-based volunteer groups by visiting www.DunamisFactor.com.