This July, Think about Dependence
“We must all hang together.
Or assuredly we shall all hang separately!”
– Benjamin Franklin
American Printer, Writer, Speaker
Founding Father
(1706 – 1790)
Fusion is and requires a miracle.
Consider Fission and Fusion in the 1700’s… The colonies broke away from England in a demonstration of Fission – great forces splitting up component parts. Then Fusion, as the US came together under immense stress to form a new nation, released an explosion of creative talent, energy, and united resolve.
To become independent, they had to depend on one another. Washington could have become King, but he chose instead to serve in a limited role. Franklin could have remained an inventor and businessman, but he took on the role of elder statesman and Ambassador. Jefferson could have remained a gentleman farmer, architect, lawyer, philosopher, and Founder of the University of Virginia, but… In each case, the founders sacrificed their own independent egos and identities on the altar of forming something together that would endure. “What have you given us Mr. Franklin? A Republic Madame, if you can keep it!”
Fusion in the corporate universe… perhaps some similarities. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a great training program for individuals – helping people and teams to find their voices and speak honestly from the heart about their work and their feelings about it. People learn to speak, sell, manage, and plan by bringing together body, mind, and spirit. Fusion.
Occasionally, something extraordinary occurs. The right combination of servant leadership, dedicated talent, and long-term perspective show up at the same time and place. We introduce the concept of “Orchestration” to the team, and something clicks.
They get it, and begin “pulling together” the field, marketing, and the sales desk. First we teach everyone how to read the music for and deliver stories that are crafted to be recallable and repeatable. The whole team contributes to building the stories through a representative system we call the “Story Senate.”
Marketing takes the raw story over the jumps to execute for the Field, Phones, Literature, and the Web. Then we launch. When the story reaches the retail arena, it’s the same in person, in print, on the web, in the email and at the National Meeting. “One Story, Many Voices!®” When it happens, it’s miraculous! It can change the face – and the fate – of a firm – for decades.
Making it happen requires a lot of small miracles… A leader who can see downstream and hold people together long enough to let the process work… A National Sales Manager who can motivate the team and marshal the Divisionals to coach and counsel each person to keep on telling the story – and keep it fresh. Leadership is more than putting people through training and dumping them in a territory, expecting results. The Formula? Tell the same story “In a new moment,” counsel and advise; then do it again! Four to five times daily… Again and Again. Then on the phone, then in the literature. It’s a titanic grind… and it can bring about genuinely incredible results.
It’s been done. When it’s great, it’s a combination of selfless, long-term perspective and dogged, short-term coaching – for years. The X factor is the recognition that we depend on each other to sacrifice our own ego on the altar of making a successful corporation – for everyone.
Applications
When considering training, ask yourself, “Is this an Event, or an Investment?” Consider how the training will be greeted by the attendees. Will they know what to do with it? Will they need some coaching? And some more… Are you prepared to give it? Are you and your managers going to attend? Master it? Coach it? Or walk away… Can you keep it up long enough to form a culture; create a revolution?
Practice your part for the greatest good for your family, community, and company.
Fusion often is a miracle, but it requires many.
We must all hang together…
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