Today, we're going to explore the idea of creating heroes.
So what do I mean by that?
Well, to illustrate, let me tell you two stories.
The first is when we were running our software company, we had about 80 people and we installed
a ship bell, this massive bell in one of the hallways and a big whiteboard.
And anytime there was a breakthrough, it didn't matter what it was, any breakthrough, anything
to celebrate, you'd hear the bell go ding and it was so loud, it literally reverberated
through the entire floor of the building which we occupied.
And so it was fantastic and then you wrote on the board what it was.
And so whether you closed a deal or you came up with some breakthrough in technology or
something was a breakthrough.
We installed a new system that was now working, ding, and we'd go the bell.
Now this idea of a bell, sometimes people would just kind of stand near the bell and
just look at the whiteboard and just look at all the things that were going on.
And then once a week, just erase it and start again.
But what this did is it created a culture of celebration.
And where that led us was to the next step which is celebrating individuals where we
make somebody else the hero of the story.
You know, life is really short but we have to give people their moment in the spotlight.
They're not going to do it for themselves and if they do, you know, it's a bit awkward.
And so this gets past just the trivial great job, good job, all that sort of generic stuff
that generally means very little indeed.
Something that is detailed, specific with a kind tone.
I remember when one of our customer service people, several years ago before we had our
modern AI tools, installed a brand new AI product in the customer service department.
And instead of getting on a call and going, great job, thanks Natalie, good job, I stopped
for a minute and I said, folks, you've got to know what Natalie did.
Natalie installed a new AI program in our customer service department.
She had no prior knowledge of AI or any program experience, yet in six weeks, she implemented
a brand new technology and it's reduced our support calls by 50%.
Natalie is the true hero of the story.
And in that moment, Natalie is seen.
At that moment, everybody turns and sees Natalie, gives her her moment.
Now this is something I've learned over the years that making someone the hero of the
story is a very powerful thing.
And so what I have learned is that if you tell them in advance, before Natalie implemented
that, she was not sure she could do it.
Now, we gave her some very powerful support and she had the help of some very experienced
leaders.
Yet in that story, everybody agreed beforehand, hey guys, let's make Natalie the hero of the
story.
And sometimes I'll say to people, I'd love you to take on this project and you're going
to be the hero of the story.
I tell them my intentions upfront that I want to make them the hero of the story.
Because a lot of people would say, well, if you acknowledge her, you have to acknowledge
so-and-so and so-and-so.
Well, I get that all out of the way by agreeing upfront, we're making Natalie the hero of
the story.
And so then, part of it is I would often write the narrative beforehand and then share it
with them.
It's like before Natalie started, I said Natalie, and then I gave her the script, so to speak,
or the narrative that I just shared with you, that this is what we were going to say.
And she told me later on, that literally upheld her through some very long nights and
some very difficult moments.
And she worked relentlessly, I mean, I think she probably worked 18-hour days for those
six weeks, Saturdays and Sundays included.
She said it really drove her through the process.
You know, Ben Zander talks about this idea of giving people an A. So Ben Zander, who
is the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, also teaching at music school, a lot of the
students that come to him, master's degree students, these are people who are masters
of their instrument.
These are people who are incredible, talented musicians.
And at the beginning of the year, there's this huge nervousness and this kind of competitive
thing in the class.
And to get rid of that, Ben said, okay, here's what we're going to do, we're going to give
everybody an A.
Guys, it's day one of the year, we're giving everybody an A.
Now, what you're going to do, your homework is to go home and write a letter and post
date it at the end of the course, nine months from now, post date it at the end of the course
and tell me why you got an A.
What this did is it positioned people in the reverse, instead of them...
earning their way to a place, they started in that place and then justified why they got it.
So, giving people an A as a leader in your mind pulls them up into a new space.
Brian Robertson writes at great length about this concept of the heroic leader,
whose job it is to predict and control and the fate of the enterprise is in their hands.
Now, honestly, in a world of ever-expanding complexity, this concept is entirely unattainable
and it's becoming less and less attainable. Look, true leaders are not heroes. True leaders
create heroes. Let me say that again. True leaders are not heroes. True leaders create heroes.
Look, the more heroes you create, the better your organization can pivot in difficult times.
When the company, when the market's changing, when the company's facing challenges,
having a group of heroes who are also a team of leaders is the best combination. You know,
it's a huge relief to buck the trend and for the leader not feeling like you have to be the hero
to your team. And it doesn't matter, you know, whether you have a team of three or five or you're
the main person who leads the whole group. You don't have to be the hero to your team. Instead,
create heroes. Now, making someone the hero of the story is a really beautiful process because it
sends them the message. It sends a message to everyone. Everyone can excel. And how I first
learned this, I was a 15-year-old on a young men's camp and our instructor, I noticed, kept picking
on the one young man that everybody kind of considered the, you know, the guy who maybe
wouldn't make it. It was a survival camp. It was tough. And he kept talking to this young man and
made sure he felt included. Kind of the least, not that there is such a thing in reality, but
you know, that emotional view that teenage boys tend to do with each other. But he kept talking
about this young man as like his friend. And he kept calling him up. And when he did that, he kept
complimenting him and making him the hero of the story. Well, the message it sent is, well, if he
can make it, we can all make it. Everybody's included. So, it's really good to pick people in
your organization who maybe are quiet, who maybe are in the background, who maybe don't push
themselves forward and make them the hero of the story. You know, we've had so many situations in
our team, because this is so deeply embedded in our culture at Brilliant, that what we do is
we find that we're always looking to make people the hero of the story. So, everybody gets to be a
hero several times a year, at least. Because what it does is it makes space for new leadership to
rise in the organization. Because it gives people a profile. It helps people see what you see.
So, it's easy for people in your team to just be overlooked or underestimated. You know, people will
not create a profile for themselves. So, when we create one for them, when we make them the hero
of the story, everything changes. You know, I think one of the hardest things for a leader to accept
is that our team members will make different mistakes than we made. And it's a hard thing,
because we don't want them to make, you know, we see their flaws maybe a bit too easily and we
usually miss the areas they handle well. You know, or maybe areas they handle well or areas we could
mess up in. So, we kind of project them. So, we design strict systems to keep them in line and
protect them from failure. This is the horrible way to live. It's a horrible way to work. And it's
certainly a horrible way to train people to fulfill a mission. So, look, heroes are born out of
courage that comes from getting knocked down, learning, making mistakes, getting up and doing
it again. You know, if nobody ever gets knocked down, they'll never get stronger, they'll never
grow and they'll never learn. And that's a difficult thing for a leader to create space
for that sort of thing to occur. Great leaders are not heroes, but they can inspire and empower
others to become heroes. They create a clear sense of mission. They allow people to embrace
their own mistakes and help them get up when they've been knocked down. You know, we're going
through one of the most disruptive elements in business maybe in modern history. And in this age
of disruption, heroes are needed more than ever. And we have the power to inspire and develop
individuals to become and embrace challenge and become heroes, transform them into greatness.
I think
It's a fantastic thing. We do not know who will rise. In my experience of doing this
over 27 entities, over 35 years, I can tell you that my intuition about this person or
that person is usually wrong because it's always the people that will surprise you who
suddenly rise in the organization. And that's the thing. People will rise to the occasion
and bring about positive change. And even when the system itself is faltering, great
leaders make stuff happen. So, I think it's time to unleash the power of the full potential
of your team. You know, it's all upside from here. Again, remember, great leaders isn't
trying to be the hero to your team. Great leaders is somebody who creates heroes for
others to rise into that wonderful space. Now, as we go through this, take a minute
and think for a second. Who can you recognize as the hero of the story? So, as an exercise,
why don't you go to someone and say, I'm going to make you the hero of this story.
Tell them what the narrative is going to be at the end when they complete the project.
And then give them every kind of support they need. And if you're pulling other people in,
tell them, my friend, hey, we're going to make Natalie the hero of the story.
Get everybody's buy-in. And when you have that moment and Natalie has made the hero of the story,
you're going to find that creating a lot of Natalies in your organization is going to
accelerate your business in ways you never imagined. Hope you enjoyed it.