147: Part 2 ‘Know What You’re For’ with Jeff Henderson

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Summary:

Welcome to Executive Minds! This week in episode 147, David Farmer continues the discussion with the author, speaker, and brand consultant Jeff Henderson as he prepares to release his new book Know What You’re FOR: A Growth Strategy for Work, An Even Better Strategy for Life. Jeff is a master communicator having been recently named by Forbes Magazine as one of 20 speakers you shouldn t miss. As always the case with Jeff, this was a lively, insightful, and informative discussion about bringing a big idea to life.

Since 2003, Jeff has led three of North Point Ministries churches. Prior to serving as a pastor, Jeff worked in marketing with Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta Braves, Callaway Gardens, and Lake Lanier Islands. He has helped launch several organizations including Champion Tribes, Executive Minds, Preaching Rocket and The FOR Company helping businesses, churches and individuals grow using the FOR strategy. Jeff s book, Know What You re FOR, is available at JeffHenderson.com. This episode, we ask Jeff to outline some of the book s principles as we learn more about what it means to be FOR.

Welcome to episode 147 of the Executive Minds Podcast.

Links + Resources:

• Know What You’re FOR Book
• Jeff Henderson
• Jeff’s Profile

Three takeaways:

1. Unlock the mystery of the Other box!

In marketing research, one of the most common questions is How did you hear about us? Often times, the most consistent response is not TV, billboards, radio, print, or social media. But rather, it s the elusive Other . More times than not, Other is a stand-in for positive word of mouth. The co-founder of Intuit, Scott Cook, says, a brand is no longer what it tells customers it is. A brand is what customers tell other customers it is. For this reason, it s imperative that companies find out the answer to the following two questions:

• What do you want to be known for?
• What are you known for?

These questions remove the enigmatic mystery of the Other box and answering them will grow your business and career.

2. What do you want to be known FOR? | What are you known FOR?

In addition to unlocking the Other box, the answers to these 2 questions will help grow your business and career. The first question ( What do you want to be known for? ) is important for any business or organization to ask internally. This can be polled formally or informally by asking your team. What is your unique proposition? What is your compelling vision? If there s confusion in the office space, then there s going to be confusion in the marketplace. You can t be known for everything, but you can be known for something. The 2nd question ( What are you known for? ) is an external one. This is the customer s reflection on how you re doing. This will tell you how your compelling vision is being experienced. When what you want to be known for is what you are known for, then you can leverage the Other box. There is no perfect company out there, but we should work to shrink the gap between the answers of those two questions so that we are well-aligned.

3. There are 4 groups to be FOR.

It s no longer about being the best company in the world. It s about being the best company for the world. As an organization or business, you can be for the customer, team, community or you. When it comes to the customer, businesses must move from customer service to customer engagement. Become a fan of the customer (not the other way around) by proactively and personally engaging with them via social media. The customer is eventually treated like the team is treated by the higher-ups. The culture of the team is transferred to the customer, which is why it s important to be for your team. As for the community, it s important that businesses find their purpose. If your sole purpose is to stay in business, then you won t. Brands have to be meaningful for the community. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you are a group to be for. You have to remain inspired because nothing big happens without inspiration. Identify some systematic ways to stay inspired like consistently getting enough rest. Be known for being for the person right in front of me.

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