Page 13 - GBC spring 2016

The first step in winning the battle for time is you need to be a rebel with a cause. You need to believe in something beyond your job, your course, or even golf itself. It’s not only more important, it’s a heck of a lot more interesting. You can talk about membership fees once or twice but unless you ele- vate the conversation to something that’s more interesting than all the other conversations going on about membership fees, your audience will be falling asleep.
In life and in business, it’s never good to be ignored. It’s why Red Bull has become a media property who happens to sell a beverage, as opposed to a beverage company that pumps out branded commer- cials. They believe in something that’s more important than the product itself. They believe that life is better lived to the extreme.
That’s far more interesting than repeatedly saying, “Red Bull gives you wings”.
The “what” they do (sell caffein- ated beverages) isn’t as important as why they do it (because life is better when it’s lived to the extreme). You’ll never see a Red Bull snowboarding video that actually features someone drinking from their can. They don’t do it because Red Bull puts purpose before product.
They’re not alone, either. The Co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, created and tracked a list of organizations he referred to as “Firms of Endearment.”
They’re organizations that don’t define themselves by share- holder value. They include Whole Foods, Google, Southwest Air- lines, Starbucks, Costco, REI and other companies who are driven by a higher purpose.
Over the past decade, the list has outperformed the Good- to-Great Index and the S&P 500. Clearly, believing in something beyond the product isn’t just a touchy-feely-warm-and-fuzzy- ethical-group-hug. It works.
“In life and in business, it’s never good to be ignored.”
“Above every elevator button was a sign: “Walk down. It’s healthier.” But they didn’t just say it, they lived it.”
LIVE YOUR VALUES
Last year, Volkswagen proudly stated that their mission was to, “... offer attractive safe and environ- mentally sound vehicles which can compete in an increasingly tough market and set world standards in their respective class.” Well, unless you were asleep for most of 2015, you know how that worked out. I thought “Fahrvergnügen” meant “driving enjoyment” but apparently, it means, “a ghastly breach of ethics.”
As Volkswagen demonstrated, it’s really easy to say you believe in a higher purpose. It’s pretty difficult to live it. Posted values are great and all but to compete in the Expression Economy, people shouldn’t read your values. They should experience them. Like this:
My wife and I stayed at Casa Camper in Berlin, a hotel owned by the Spanish shoe company, Camper. When I asked the General Manager why a shoe company would own a hotel, she replied that they weren’t a shoe company but rather an organization defined by three val- ues: health, simplicity, and design. Those values sounded progres- sive but given my inner-skeptic, I doubted they would live up to them.
Golf Business Canada 13