January 21, 2015
So I attended this Drum event just before Christmas which was all about how to run an agency and be a leader.
Half of the session was led by Simon Hartley from Be World Class whose whole business mantra is focused on what differentiates world class performers and leaders. He is an ex sports psychologist who truly believes in mindset rather than attributes which as you know if you’re following my #dailypositive series on my Instagram is right up my street!
Simon states: “In my experience, the differences between world class performers and the rest of us are pretty subtle, but incredibly profound. The difference is not DNA, it’s PDA; it’s their perceptions, decisions and actions that set them apart. Their mind-set enables them to achieve incredible things. This means that, by changing the way we think, we all have the potential to achieve the extraordinary”.
He took us through what he believes to be the 8 characteristics that sets these people apart, which got me thinking actually some of these can be applied on social and I felt compelled to share.
Have a dream or passion
This follows what we always advise our clients – you need to pick your remit – if you are creating a social profile – what do you want to be seen to stand for? What is your objective? What is your story? All things you need to think about. And once you’ve picked your passion – stick to it and be consistent – it is much harder to resonate with your audience with sporadic messaging.
Don’t always focus on the next step
As much as we all like to add call to actions to any piece of marketing – one of the things that all leading business heads have in common is that they don’t focus on the outcome they are focused solely on the moment. Which reminded me of the conversation that often pops up in regard to value. At the end of the day often people on social are simply looking to be entertained and if one of your objectives is engagement perhaps sometimes we should take a step back and work on achieving that before we even think about driving them into the business funnel or onto a purchase.
Keep it simple
This follows on from point 1 – once you’ve picked your story and stuck to it – you need to ensure that it’s easy to understand. Whilst as marketers we love wrapping ourselves up in the intricacies of why we are doing something and what it means we often forget that when you remove all the planning actually is this something that someone outside of marketing can understand.
Be mentally tough
I know it is hard to believe but sometimes people won’t like your content however amazing you felt the idea was. Simon explained that what great business leaders do best is show courage – they aren’t afraid to fail so don’t be on social. It’s about finding your feet and what works with your audience so be brave and don’t take things personally. (Something I have also learnt in business!)
Be yourself
Again this follows on from point one – you can only be consistent if you are actually being true to yourself – this is true of personal profiles in particular. It is hard to keep up charades online so perhaps don’t – believe in yourself and who you are and followers will believe in you.
It really was a great session and I learnt a lot – Simon is extremely inspirational and definitely worth connecting with on twitter if you are looking for daily pick me ups or insight: @worldclasssimon
If you have any further questions about the points made or the session I attended please feel free to tweet me @katiecolbourne