Need your team to up their game? It’s as easy as ABC ME
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited NASA for the first time. During his tour of the facility, he met a janitor who was carrying a broom down the hallway. The President casually asked what he did for NASA. The janitor replied: “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
You may have heard this story before. It might be an urban legend. None of that matters, because- if you want your business to thrive- it offers one of the best lessons you will ever learn.
And the lesson applies to everyone, from C-Suite executives to the marketing and communications department team, from large established companies to brand new startups making their way in the corporate jungle.
The epiphany that changed everything
In mid 2020, I had a sudden realisation, an epiphany: my most successful clients had the same five things in common. No more, no less. Exactly five factors predicted whether they would achieve their objective…or fail.
I call these five keys to success ABC ME. So, what are they?
Once I realised ABC ME was the golden ticket to high performance, I built a business around it. And it’s going well (we recently tripled sales figures for a New York scale-up in the modular construction space).
When I implement ABC ME with individuals and teams, one area usually needs to be fixed first. And when it is, everything improves. Can you guess which?
Clarity.
Advice worth taking
So, if you’re feeling like progress has slowed, here’s my most powerful piece of advice:
Write down your goal in one sentence. One clear, concise sentence.
Then spend a few moments imagining yourself at the finish line, achieving that thing.
Notice how your mood, focus, energy changes. And notice how you start to think about what you need to do right now to get moving again.
Putting ABC ME into practice
Let’s say your branding isn’t cutting through to clients. What might that one sentence be? How about: ‘Rebrand with a consistent tone of voice, colour and language’
Now you’ve got the target, what does consistent voice, colour and language look like? Ask the team: who has nailed their branding in your space? What steps did they take to get to a polished brand identity? So…what is your first step?
Take a different example: you’re getting a drip feed of clients, but no investors are showing interest. What’s your one sentence? Maybe it’s: ‘have a clear plan to attract investors’.
I’d say that simple exercise has solved half the problem. Write your sentence nice and large on a sheet of paper. Stick it up in the office. Notice how you – and the team – react. Most will have worked out the details of that killer plan by the time you’ve got the sheet to stick to the blu tac.
Using ABC ME for your career goals
Alisha*, a Senior PX Manager at Pfizer. wanted a new challenge. She was becoming frustrated in her role, reporting indirectly to C-Suite, getting too involved in day to day ops, working with people who dragged their heels.
But Alisha had never clearly articulated what she wanted. During an early coaching session, we came up with the following career goal:
I want to work with ‘can do’, competent people to develop and execute on creative global projects.
Once Alisha had articulated this to herself, once she saw future Alisha in her mind’s eye, it was as though a weight was lifted from her shoulders. Her mood noticeably lifted.
We began planning how Alisha could become this global player, step by step. Alisha started to believe this career shift could really happen; she became super energised and focussed (because clarity increases belief and motivation).
Almost immediately, Alisha started to give off ‘success ready’ vibes at Pfizer. Within two weeks, she was offered a new role in the company (a role she is currently negotiating to be more aligned with her vision). And at the same time, Alisha was approached by an old colleague who offered her an external consultancy role.
That is the power of clarity.
Find your One Big Thing
*name changed to protect confidentiality