Your Organization's Most Important Heroes

Hulk Hogan was my childhood hero.

Not the dark, villainous character of the late '90's, but the energetic, t-shirt-tearing leader of the hulkamanics a decade before. For me, he was a real-life comic book superhero. I watched his shows, bought his toys and even shook his enormous hand at a local toy store meet-and-greet.

The great thing about heroes is that they're personal. We get to choose our heroes. And I've chosen many since Hogan.

We admire our heroes. We respect them and would do nearly anything to show our gratitude for their actions, big and small. We long for our heroes to succeed and valiantly overcome every obstacle they face.

Have you overlooked this hero?

In our professional lives, we choose heroes - executives, nonprofit leaders, authors, speakers, company founders and others. There is one however that often goes unnoticed. Their heroic may be veiled by the appearance of commonality. The busyness of life distracts our attention from their importance. Who is this hero, so easily passed over?

Your customer. Your client.

Do you choose to look at those you serve and see the flashes of heroism in their lives? Do you see the struggles that they battle to overcome? Whether your customer is developing new technologies to improve the lives of everyone around the globe, or is a single parent working three jobs to ensure a successful future for his or her children, each is worthy of your admiration.

How would making your customer your hero change the way you do business?

Looking at our customers with a renewed admiration and respect could impact all areas of our organizations. It would make them hero-centric - a place where the first objective is to improve the lives of our customers and to help them succeed. Too often, we build factories that deliver minimum service at the cheapest cost and hope to keep complaints quiet. As Seth Godin says, it's a race to the bottom. Our customers deserve better.

Think about your organization. How would this change:

-Your product design?

-The way you answer your phone or how you respond to emails?

-Your marketing promises?

-Your quality control?

-Your storefront?

-Your office hours?

-Your website content?

Choose your heroes

Not only will your heroic mindset affect how you serve your customers, but how you serve your team as well. Their efforts to grow your organization - their commitment to you - should be continually recognized with gratitude and rewarded sacrificially.

I don't argue that everyone should be your hero, because then no one would be. Just those that matter most.

Lead with a mindset of awe and admiration for those you serve. Every individual is unique and valued and should be viewed as such. If a business that I patronized treated me that way, I would be a customer for life. Wouldn't you?