Leadership and marketing are a lot like cooking. Likewise, parenting, business development, sales, and entrepreneurship also share similarities to cooking.
Scan the business bookcases in my home, and you will see hundreds (truthfully thousands) of books on all of the above topics. Bestsellers from recent sages like Seth Godin and Kim Scott and timeless classics from Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and W. Clement Stone.
Likewise, our family has every gastronomic book published by current chefs like Ina Garten, Alice Waters, and Giada De Laurentiis, balanced of course with Julia Child’s seminal book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and the all-time classic Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. You know, the one your mother had—the cover has the red and white cross hatch on the cover, with the staples of American life at the dinner table for the past 70 years (can you believe it was originally published in 1951?!).
What’s my point?
As much as everything in life changes, everything in life stays the same. Principles, Dr. Covey could have called them. There are leadership, marketing, parenting, and cooking principles that never change. Technology hasn’t changed them. Not a pandemic, globalization, artificial intelligence, or crypto currencies. All of these inventions, interruptions, and improvements won’t change the basic principles that govern our lives and relationships.
Keep some of these in mind as you look at the way your organization connects with current and future clients:
- It’s never been more vital to pay the price to understand the exact circumstance your client or prospect is in.
- Everyone wants to be treated respectfully and have their time valued.
- In the onslaught of digital marketing messages, a postcard or creative piece of print mail might well stand out in the crowd.
- Everyone loves to be asked their opinion. And loves it even more when the request is sincere.
- Superb service trumps everything—always.
- Most people just want to be heard. So talk less and listen more.
- Ask open and larger questions. Move off your own point of view and experiences, and open your mind to another’s.
- Recognize when you’re confusing your feelings, opinions, and emotions with facts. They are all valuable, but facts matter most.
- Sunday evening pot roast, cooked in a $40 slow cooker, simply can’t be beaten.
About the Author
Scott Miller is a 25-year associate of FranklinCovey and serves as Senior Advisor, Thought Leadership. Scott hosts the world’s largest and fastest-growing podcast/newsletter devoted to leadership development, On Leadership. Additionally, Scott is the author of the multi-week Amazon #1 New Releases, Master Mentors: 30 Transformative Insights From Our Greatest Minds, Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow, and the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Everyone Deserves a Great Manager: The 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife and three sons.