Summary: Your Business Philosophy is important for the foundation of how you do business. More importantly, your philosophy helps you grow and engage your most important business assets — PEOPLE! Learn how the Potential Pyramid gives you the framework to develop a People-Centric business philosophy that maximizes results.
When I started my blog, Upskill Create, I went to a blogger’s conference. At the conference, I signed up for a short 10 minute consulting session with a successful blogger. I was really excited to share my 3 minute elevator pitch and get his feedback. I described my motto for my blog and my learning approach that I wanted to teach people: “Learn. Create. Share. Repeat!“. I told him how I wanted to build a community of “givers” who would help each other learn, earn badges and keep their skills up to date. I knew that technology was moving fast and the only way to keep pace was to continuously learn at least one hour per day. I knew that learning had to be documented and I shared about my expertise in digital badges and how I could help people earn them to stay current. I wanted to provide the information and the courses people would need to stay current and relevant. 7 minutes later I was done.
The response from this successful blogger was:
“You are offering preventative medicine – vitamins. People don’t want vitamins. When people are in pain, they want pain pills. They will pay for pain pills right now. Find out what gives people pain and relieve their pain. Otherwise you won’t make any money selling vitamins.”
I thought that was kind of harsh, and after I thought about what he said I was discouraged. Then I vowed to prove him wrong. But, in hindsight I think he was right.
What Pain Pills do you buy online?
As I look at successful content creators, they do sell pain pills.
One content creator I admire is Jennifer Maker. Jennifer is a “Do-it-Yourself” (DIY) blogger and she discovered a niche with a community of DIYers who use a die-cut machine called Cricut. Jennifer asked her subscribers what they wanted to learn about. They overwhelmingly said they wanted to learn how to use the Cricut. People who bought the Cricut machine for $369, didn’t know how to take full advantage of it’s capabilities. They wanted to be creative with the Cricut, but it would sit in their craft room underutilized. This was their pain.
Jennifer didn’t know about the Cricut, but bought one and learned how to use it. She became an expert. She blogged about it and started a Youtube channel delivering Cricut training. Jennifer now makes over 5-figures every month. I met Jennifer at the same blogging conference I mentioned above as she was just getting started. Sign up to be a subscriber to her blog and in her monthly newsletter she shares her Income Report detailing all of the sources from her blog. She sells pain pills.
Another content creator I admire is Kirsty Bonner. Kirsty is a successful “Micro blogger” and Linkedin Influencer and her pain pill she sells is helping people find a job. If you’ve ever had to look for a job, you know how painful it can be. You want quick relief! Kirsty posts short and to the point text based advice (“pain pills”) and she has a huge Linkedin following of over 750,000 (I have just over 10,000 Linkedin Followers). She offers job counseling services that she charges a high fee for, but people are willing to pay, because the advice she gives, helps them get a job which pays a hundred times more than her fee. She sells pain pills.
Kirsty is also developing some video courses to deliver this same content through an online platform. These courses will allow Kirsty to leverage her great advice without having to work 24 hours per day to maximize her income. These video courses are a pain pill for Kirsty as she gets to regain her schedule. Follow Kirsty and stay tuned for updates on her courses.
The Potential Pyramid
The Potential Pyramid offers my business philosophy in an easy to understand diagram. It is Pain Relief for corporations seeking to fill critical positions. It is Pain Relief for HR organizations looking to find the right people. It is Pain Relief for managers who want to maximize the potential of their employees. It is proven pain relief that I have incorporated and used successfully at a Fortune 100 corporation.
It starts from top to bottom and has these three sections:
- The Potential of the Individual – every person should be viewed in light of their potential not just where they are at now.
- Inspiring for Productivity – people want to be part of their own process of improvement. Give them inspiration to serve others.
- Influencing to get paid – Give more in value than you take in payment means that you will never need a marketing budget when others realize the value you give them. Your customers will market your products and services for you!
I base my philosophy on three books:
- Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie (224 pages). Youtube Book Summary
- The Truth about Employee Engagement by Patrick Lencioni (272 pages). Book Summary
- The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John Mann (176 pages). Youtube Book Summary
Each one of these books is short and the authors are excellent story tellers. In the book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball”, the author also provides delightful illustrations from his time spent as an artist at Hallmark Greeting Cards. The other two books include business fables that will keep you reading.
The Starting Point of Seeing Potential
- The Potential of the Individual – when you look at a seed, what do you see? Do you see something small and insignificant or do you see the giant fruit bearing tree that it can become with the proper soil, watering and sunshine? Often times managers do not see what a person can become. But that latent potential is in each one of us. Many times we just need someone to see that potential, identify it and encourage us in that potential. The corporation can be killers of our potential and our innovation, but it is what they so desperately need! If you learn the skill to orbit around the corporation, to use it’s mass to give you acceleration, you can maximize your potential without being sucked into the morass of a tangled mess of corporate bureaucracy. Know your own potential and be the catalyst to bring it out in others.
to learn more read: “Orbiting the Giant Hairball” by Gordon MacKenzie
Three Principles for Inspiring Productivity
- Know – Get to know your employees personally. Learn about their personal lives and talk to them about what is important to them. Don’t do this to manipulate them, but truly care about them as people. Share in their joys and struggles. Don’t let employees feel anonymous.
- Self-Directed Goals – Help your employees create metrics that they help select to demonstrate their job performance. Some metrics are easy to identify, for example, in the story that Patrick told, the wait staff earning more tips was a metric. Other metrics are more subjective like: how many times did your customers smile at you. The bottom line is to help your employees buy into the process by letting them help select the metrics and measure them and share their results with the team.
- Inspire – Show your employees how their job is relevant. It is relevant by serving the customer. It is relevant by serving each other. It is relevant for making the business as a whole successful. Let them know that someone else needs their work effort and without their service other employees or the team would not work.
to learn more read: “The Truth about Employee Engagement” by Patrick Lencioni
Five Laws of Influence
- Value – giving above and beyond what is expected. You might think this is foolish, that you are essentially discounting your payment. This law isn’t about discounting your current product or service, it’s about investing in a future relationship with your client. By giving more in value than you take in payment, you are marketing yourself not only to your client who feels very well served, but also on all of the people that your client shares how well you treated them. Those are potential clients that your client is introducing you and your company. Those free client references are worth every penny of extra value that your give your current client.
- Compensation – realize the principle of amplification. Amplification is simply “the process of enlarging or adding detail to”. If you want to grow your income you simply need to serve more people and serve them well. Often times this amplification takes place by expanding to a digital business. When your create digital products that contain a great deal of value, they are very easy to mass produce at an affordable price. You can then offer your digital products at a reduced cost but at the same time make more money because you can sell to a larger audience.
- Influence – how you view people. Are people just something to be used and manipulated? Or do you view people as unique singularly gifted individuals. If you view people as unique and special, you will seek to place their interests first and in so doing serve others in ways that they feel valued. Your influence will spread as the people you serve realize this and like in the first law they share how well they have been treated by you to their friends and colleagues.
- Authenticity – be vulnerable. People appreciate when you share your life story with them. They want to know that you are human just like them. They want to know your foibles and flaws. This type of sharing is endearing and as people realize you are “real” with them, they want to be “real” with you and will become intensely loyal to you and your business.
- Receive – be willing to receive acts of love through people’s gifts to you. So often, as givers we almost feel guilty about receiving. Taking money can seem almost obscene to someone who is truly altruistic. But, if you will just view money as a “Certificates of Appreciation”, then you and your client will view the payment you receive as one of gratitude not one of you taking their money.
to learn more read: “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John Mann
My Pain Pill
So what is the Pain Pill I am selling? The Potential Pyramid.
I have developed a video based course called “The Potential Pyramid”. In the price of the course, you also receive the three books mentioned above and we’ll read and apply the principles shared in them. I share in detail from my years of HR corporate training experience, how the Potential Pyramid can benefit your HR training organization to maximize the potential in your employees.
Does the Potential Pyramid work? Here are some comments from those that have experienced the Potential Pyramid:
Quotes about the Potential Pyramid Influence
“Robert, thank you for being a great role-model. I really appreciate the useful content and enthusiasm you share with our colleagues. You demonstrate great eminence by imparting your experience and expertise, providing a lot of value internally, by making us aware of various learning resources, badges and best practices. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, passion and encouragement.” (David B.)
“Robert you have been a great mentor and friend since I started at our company. Your enthusiasm is infectious.” (Carl M.)
“I really enjoyed your blogs a lot, I learn a lot, and inspired me to search for new and modern ways to work.” (Laura S.)
“I consider you like the Bob Ross of our company. You know the famous painter? Like you, had a calm and motivating demeanor, and used his creativity to teach the world. I really enjoyed reading your blogs and taking some of your courses.” (Jennifer M.)
“Thank you Robert. You have walked the talk … a true GIVER you were and continue to be.” (Catherine N.)
“You have been an inspiring partner and collaborator.” (Kenneth S.)
“I have always enjoyed your blog posts, your enthusiasm for learning, and your willingness to share your knowledge with the rest of your community.” (Beverly U.)
“Robert, the world needs unicorns – especially such inspiring & enthusiastic unicorns!! Your data science for beginners blog was a real motivation for me, and since then I am progressing with the additional “bonus” learning you summarized there. If I become a data scientist, you have contributed to that ;-)” (Anna M.)
“Your blog posts have been both both informative and inspiring – and who could want for more than that? In a company where making an impact across organizational boundaries is often challenging, you have demonstrated what can be done with a combination of technology, flair and enthusiasm. Thank you!” (Richard H.)
“I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Very thought provoking and engaging posts. You helped to create education paths, guidance, and encouragement to keep learning!” (Stacy S.)
“I hope your next team values Unicorns, they will be lucky to have you. I may not have commented much but I have always enjoyed your posts and your positive can do attitude. Thank you for sharing.” (Michelle B.)
“Thanks for all the information shared, tips and tricks, knowledge consumed, frank discussion, how to code and many other topics.” (Jonathan C.)
“Robert you are shining example of how to share experience and challenge thinking. I thank you for all that you given to us. We need more creativity like yours.” (Kelly L.)
Reference Letter
I highly recommend Robert Mapstead as a candidate for employment. I first met Robert when I reached out seeking a mentor as I began my career and he took me under his wing, opening up opportunities and providing guidance. Robert was pushing forward on innovative learning activities including microlearning, gamification and interactive videos.
Robert has a constant pulse of what is happening in the industry as well as society so he can clearly understand and create fantastic user experiences. Robert created high quality, high impact learning content, led the growth of gamification within HR Learning, and established himself as a key influencer and blogger within our company. His ability to amplify messages and content to the company shows he is a trusted source of information and insight.
While working with Robert, it is apparent the dedication and excitement he had for his work and the passion for driving forward the best results for his stakeholders. The types of interpersonal skills and soft skills that Robert used in his management style made him very easy to follow – he was a leader not just a manager. Moreover, he proved to be a thoughtful, prepared, and positive leader in brainstorming and strategic conversations and communicated with clarity.
Robert is an inspiring person to work with and his willingness to learn and go above and beyond his job responsibilities are great traits for any employee to have. I highly recommend my former colleague and friend Robert Mapstead for any position that he pursues.
Sincerely,
(Nathan R.)
Want to learn more?
To contact me for a discussion about the Potential Pyramid, consulting or employment opportunities, please connect with me via Linkedin at: Robert Mapstead
Check out my professional resume, credentials, references, and portfolio of creative work on my Upskill Create Blog or Linkedin
Make the Potential Pyramid work for you and your organization!
The Infographic
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