Re:Focus

The Power of Rachel Beckwith

A few days ago, a 9-year-old girl named Rachel Beckwith died in a pileup on I-90 in Washington state. Her spinal chord was severed and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her life.

June 12th was her last birthday and for her birthday Rachel told everyone that she didn't want any presents and she didn't want a party. Instead, she wanted her friends to donate $9 to Charity Water." Her big crazy goal," said her pastor, "was to raise $300 so that 15 kids in Africa would have safe, clean water." At the time of her death, she was $80 short of her goal.

Inspired by her generocity, Rachel's church publicized her goal on their website...and the donations started rolling in.

When last I logged on, Rachel had raised over $300,000. And her wish to help 15 people will now help over 15,000 people.

Rachel Beckwith may be the most inspring 9 year old I know and I'm proud to support her in her dream to give.

If you're interested in helping Rachel's cause, visit Charity Water. 

If you'd like to donate to help her parents pay the medical bills, you can visit http://bobnw.org to donate.

May we all raise our children to think of others before themselves. May we all raise our children to by like Rachel Beckwith.

 

Fulfillment Is A Right, Not A Luxury

Part 1.

The discovery of Why taught me a valuable lesson: fulfillment, that sense of prolonged happiness in our lives, is not a luxury. In fact it is our right.

I am undertaking a little project to write a manifesto - a statement of belief - to help capture this movement that we are a part of. To put into words the world we imagine and a roadmap to get there.

I sat down with some of the folks on my team, people devoted to this cause, to tell them what I'm up to and what I'm thinking. We recorded the conversation and will share it with all those who want to listen.

 

Outside vs Inside

Ah...the spa. A place of serenity, calm and oneness with the universe.  A place where we can go to escape the hustle and bustle and be treated as human beings. A place where looking after your mind, body and spirit is of the utmost importance. Well...for paying customers, anyway.

It turns out that all that Zen idealism doesn't apply to all living things. There’s a high-end spa I know in a major metropolis that doesn’t treat its employees very well. I was talking to one of the massage therapists who is quitting because she can’t take the abuse any more. Apparently her boss manipulates and berates those tasked with pampering their guests.

She told me she became a masseuse because she wanted to give to people, to look after them. She says she can’t do her job properly when she’s constantly holding in her anger or feeling disrespected or disgusted. So she’s leaving to find another job at a spa that practices what it preaches...a place she can feel proud to work.

So many companies are obsessed with trying to be or act “authentically,” when it seems so many don't to know what “authentic” means. Authenticity means that the way we present ourselves to the outside is a perfectly accurate representation of who we really are. That means, the outside world should be able to guess what it would be like to work there based on their experience. In the case of the spa, how they present themselves is clearly not who they are.

For all those companies that preach customer before profit, I hope they are putting employee before profit, too. If a company wants to stand for innovation, to be seen as challenging their customers to think differently, then they need to be open to new ways of doing things inside their company also. If a company wants to be seen as a leader in their category, then they need to stop obsessing about their competition’s every move or wondering “how will they react if we make this decision.” Leaders lead; they don’t worry about what those behind are thinking. And, most importantly, what’s right for the customer must also be right for the employee.

This is not idealism, it's good business. The more the inside and the outside match, the more those on the inside will invest of their own blood, sweat and tears to see the company succeed. This makes it much easier to match the expectations a customer has with the experience they will actually get. And when that happens, when authenticity really exists, loyalty results.

As for the fancy spa in the fancy part of the city? All their best masseuses, those who are trying to be authentic in all they do, are leaving. Profit is down, equipment is broken and the business is coming apart at the seams. So I guess they are being authentic after all. They are starting to look like exactly who they really are. 

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Small Is Special

It was a complete coincidence. My friend Jules Shell happened to be in Paris for a few days while I was there. She is a remarkable human being. She is the co-founder of Foundation Rwanda, an organization that funds the education of children born to the victims of rape during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and links their mothers to psychological & medical services (if you only give to one charity per month, please give to this one next month). Jules and I are always traveling and we never get to see each other, so it was a total treat that we were in the same city at the same time...and that it was Paris was a bonus.

I took Sunday off and spent the day with Jules. We had croissants for breakfast in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, ate the most scrumptious duck confit for lunch, shopped the Marais, licked Berthillon ice cream on Ile St. Louis, had the perfect cup of coffee in a small, secluded square somewhere-we’re-not-sure-where and finally had, what can only be described as, a hilarious dinner in a Japanese restaurant where we drank French wine with our ramen noodles. Twelve hours we spent together that day and it was great. Then last night we went for a late night glass of wine and a crepe in front of the Eiffel Tower. We laughed and laughed the whole time.

This morning I awoke to an email from Jules.

Totally loved our time together. Straight out of a woody Allen film- the most romantic trip ever among friends. Ah Paris... Everyone should go once with Simon Sinek.

I love Jules’s desire to want to share what we had with lots of people so that lots of people can have as much fun as we had. The problem is, if everyone got to go to Paris once with Simon Sinek or Jules Shell, it would no longer be special for the few that do.

There is something special about small. Small is intimate, spontaneous and intense. Small is...well...small is special. If lots of people experience something special, it is no longer small and, in turn, ceases to be special. Good, yes. Fantastic, even. But not special.

The Pacific ocean was special when few people ever got to see it. Now, it's not so special. Chocolate was special when only a few people ate it. Now, it’s not so special (though there is still some special chocolate out there – like Vosges bacon truffles – but very few people have tried them).

If you stumble upon something special, keep it small. Though you may want to share it with lots of people, which is a good thing, remember that in so doing, what originally made it special will quickly dissipate. But if you do choose to share something special with lots of people, then just make sure you always keep another thing available that only a few special people will get to experience. That way there will always be something special about what you do.

This is as true in relationships as it is in business. When we treat people as numbers, they will never feel special. When we treat them as individuals, they will. Sending a mass email to the company isn't special. Roaming the halls and saying hello to everyone is.

The reason humans like feeling special is because feeling special is human.

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You Are Allowed

Most organizations (even society) publish a set of rules to guide how they want their people to act inside the organization. More often than not, most of these rules tell us what not to do. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't use the copy machine after 8pm. Don't use company resources for personal use.

I think offering a set of rules is a good thing - they help maintain order inside an organziation. Understanding the value of such guidance, I recently issued a set of rules to my team.

But there's a catch. In our organization, there will be no rules to tell us what not to do. Rules that tell us what not to do hold people back. Instead the rules should help push people forward. In our group, the rules consist of a list of the things that are allowed.

It's called the Allowed List, and this is what it says.

You are allowed to:

1.     Make the decision you think is the right decision to make

2.     Start something that needs to be started to help advance the cause

3.     Ask for help whenever you want it

4.     Help others whenever you can (even if they don’t ask for it)

5.     Take time off to do something that inspires, excites and energizes you

Everyone is expected to follow these rules and everyone is expected to hold the others accountable to them. Afterall, if we didn't follow the rules...there'd be chaos.

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