Leadership and the Disciple – A Customer Loyalty and Leadership Adventure

Today my thoughts have wandered on the topic of leadership and those who are brave enough to follow those leaders and why. My adventure today would be considered synchronicity.


My good friend Ed Kless sent me a great video this morning from TED, an non-profit organization whose mission is “Idea’s Worth Spreading”. This particular video was from Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action. What I loved most about what Sinek said, was his statement about what you “believe”. It made me think about what I believe, and how I want to continuously inspire others in their thought processes every day.
 
I found the topic was sent to me at the perfect time, because it inspired great thought for the business that I am in (Marketing Strategy at Blytheco, LLC). Then, because I was already on the TED site, I decided to look other video’s on leadership and was inspired by Steve Jobs speaking at the Stanford University Commencement on: How to Live Before You Die.
 
What I loved most about this piece is that Jobs talked about continuously loving what you do and that one thing leads to another (synchronicity). His story related to how getting fired from Apple was the best thing that ever happened to him because it took him back to the basics of finding what he loved to do.


Another shorter video, could hurt right? The next venture was from Derek Sivers, who I feel I have watched for years as he started CD Baby and went on to other businesses. Sivers spoke about leadership and those that follow leaders and the important relationship between the two.

In both cases Sivers and Sinek talk about the tipping point in which adoption becomes widely acceptable. I’ve always thought of the tipping point in terms of market penetration of product, but never in terms of leadership. The early adopters are your most loyal enthusiast and are important to the movement. Great thought!


When starting a new business both your employees and your first customers are your disciples. They are the important people who stood up and said “Yes, I will follow you”. This following, reaches the tipping point and creates abundance of customers, but not with the same experience as those early adopters.

The remaining question is: How do you remain small while getting big?

Here are my suggestions:

• Find what you love to do and your customers will follow

• Define your desired customer experience

• Create customer touch points – so that you always stay connected

• Regular cycles of customer feedback

• Get up off your chair and visit with customers – in fact, make it a strategy

• Care about what happens to your customers in their business and track their success

• Meet regularly with your employees to change processes and procedures that don’t fit your desired customer experience