“We don’t sell motorcycles. We sell the ability for a 43-year old accountant to ride through a small town dressed in black leather and have people be afraid of him.”
- Former Harley Davidson CEO Rich Teerlink
It’s a great line, and an excellent framing to ask what you do as a leader, and what your business does for it’s clients.
They go with a set of prompts I got from Taki Moore, and there’s some real power in these if you get honest;
Who am I for?
Who am I not?
What do I stand against?
What do I stand for?
How honest?
Well, I’m for leaders, CEOs and board members.
I’m for humans who are, in one way or another, sick of putting up with the status quo that has led to massive levels of inequality and vested interests controlling industrial systems that are killing humanity and the planet and have the resources and the guts to do something about it.
Who am I not?
I’m not for institutional clients that are too regulated to do anything meaningful other than perpetuate short-term shareholder return, and from which any deviation will mean the leadership is fired or, at worse, imprisoned.
I’m not for companies with a Chief Marketing Officer who thinks they already know everything yet are putting no resources into capturing their people's hearts, souls, and expertise into a format potential customers can engage with and share on their behalf.
I’m not for start-up businesses that are technology-obsessed and haven’t understood they need to create value and significantly improve the businesses and lives of a specific group of stakeholders if they want to succeed as a company.
I’m not for any lobbyist or political group that doesn’t believe climate change exists and whose goal is perpetuating the usage of fossil fuels in a measured way as good practice.
I’m also not for businesses that don’t see that rapid technological change, mixed in with intense disruption of our messaging landscape through poisoning the well of public discourse, is a massive challenge and that local, national, and global frustration is ratcheting up the challenges of having a social license to operate.
Question: Who are you for, and who are you not?
Heven & Values
One of my Ten Commandments is 'Thou shall recognise as a leader, the people around, behind and in front of you are genuinely interested in your contribution' and I’m pleased to share two clients who are doing exactly that.
‘We partner with, invest in, grow and support leaders and businesses that care’ - it’s one of the first things Mena Mikhail said to me;
I’ve been unpacking that for a while since, and what I’m encountering is a beautiful community of pharmacists, dentists, local supermarkets, child care, aged care and many others, all working away in the background to mesh our society together.
I’m sure as more people (like you!) learn about what Mena and the HEVEN® Group are doing, recognise how vital this approach is for building a strong society, and that there is a place for you if you choose, the future is bright.
Check out the launch below;
AND the idea that people haven't taken the time to align their investments with their values blows my mind! Hear from Kylie Charlton by clicking here;
Question: Are you taking up the necessary space, so those who need you to, can follow? What’s an action you could take in the next week to lean in?
Late to the game
Happy Friday :)
I love the Harley-Davidson story. Years ago I read a piece about their strategy which was basically that their value proposition was creation of an 'alternate identity' and a group with which a person could associate that alternate identity, that of bikers. I remember thinking at the time that this was an acute piece of socio-psychology on behalf a motorbike company!