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Love the people first; sell the fish second
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This is me about to catch a fish.
Last week, I was in Seattle, Washington, for one of my favorite events: The Exchange Gathering. One morning, we enjoyed a presentation by the guys from the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market. If you’re not aware of them, “the Fish Guys,” as they call themselves, are famous for great fish and even better customer service. At least four books have been written about their philosophy and methods. And the Fish Market is known as one of the most fun places to work.
They also put on a bit of a show, shouting and throwing fish back and forth over the heads of customers. In our presentation, the owner, John Yokoyama, shared their commitment to customer service and world peace while his guys launched a few large salmon around the conference room. They even let us try our hands at catching fish.
(I got my chance down at their shop. And for the record, I caught the fish as it flew past my head.)
One of my favorite lines from the Fish Guys was this: “Love the people first; sell the fish second.” I think it encapsulates so much of what I believe about business. People don’t care what you know until they know that you care. The second of my 5 levels of leadership is all about relationships. And I believe that you can’t lead people if you don’t love people.
I look for personal growth lessons all around me, and I find them in the most unusual places. Who knew that a bunch of fishmongers would remind us of what’s really important in life?
What about you? Does your organization have a similar mission – to love the people first, and do business second? It makes sense philosophically, but it’s also good business advice. John Yokoyama also said, “We’ve made a commitment to have our customers leave with the experience of having been served. They experience being known and appreciated whether they buy fish or not.”
The Pike Place Fish Market develops lifelong relationships with their customers, and this has made them world-famous. What are you doing to serve the people you lead or do business with?
2 winners of 10 of The 5 Levels
Posted by: | CommentsThank you to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway of cases of The 5 Levels of Leadership. It was wonderful to read all the comments and book reviews from everyone.
And on Friday, we were happy to choose two winners at random (via random.org) from everyone who both commented and posted a review on a bookselling site. Each winner will receive a case (10 copies) of the book to use as they see fit.
The winners are:
Ajit Damodaran
Ajit will use his case of ten books as welcome gifts for the group of business owners that he is developing.
Al Getler
Al plans to share each of his ten books with a different leader or potential leader in his life. Then he plans to buy another case to give to the members of a local J-ROTC group.
Thank you for all of the reviews! And especially for how positive they were! It was wonderful to see how the book had already helped you. I hope it continues to serve you well.
Also, I have great news on the assessment tool within the book. We’ve received many requests from audio and e-book readers for a printable version of the evaluation so they could easily assess their leadership level. Thanks to my publisher, Center Street, we now have a downloadable PDF online for your use. You can find and download the assessment at:
A case for reviewing The 5 Levels of Leadership
Posted by: | CommentsIf you follow me on Twitter, you might have read the exciting news that The 5 Levels of Leadership made it onto the Wall Street Journal hardcover business bestseller list. What an honor. I know a lot of that is because of you, and I’m grateful! Thank you.
I really believe in this book and its ability to help people learn to lead people better. If you’ve had a chance to read The 5 Levels, and you’re interested in letting others know what you think of it, I’d love for you to review it with the online booksellers. Positive or negative, I’d like to know whether or not the book helped you.
And just to make things fun, I’ve decided to host a giveaway here on the blog. This is for those of you who’ve read The 5 Levels and are willing to share your opinion online.
To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is post a review with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Books-a-Million (the review can be positive or negative), then leave a comment here to let me know. (Please be sure to enter a valid email address. It will not be displayed.)
If you want to post a review on more than one site, you can do so and enter more than once; just leave a separate comment here telling me about each review you’ve posted.
Then this Friday (10/28) at noon Eastern time, two (2) winners will be chosen randomly from those who posted reviews.
What will you win? Well, you probably already own the book, but maybe you’d like to share it with the people you influence? The winners of this giveaway will receive a CASE (10 books) of The 5 Levels of Leadership!
Perhaps you have employees or friends or family members who would benefit from the teaching. Maybe you want to slip a copy to your boss… Or you might want to start a study group using the book.
(This is a good time to announce that here on John Maxwell on Leadership in January of 2012, I’ll be hosting a “New Year, New You” group study of The 5 Levels.)
I truly hope The 5 Levels of Leadership has a positive impact on you, teaching you what leadership is and providing a roadmap for your growth as a leader.
UPDATED 10/28/11, 12:11 pm: Because of some confusion about where reviews should be posted, we’ve extended the deadline for this contest until 5pm EDT today. Please remember to say in your comment where you posted your review so we can verify. Thank you!
Let’s talk about HONOR
Posted by: | CommentsWhat do you think of when you hear the word, HONOR? Respect, recognition, reward, position? Or is it something else? Today’s post features a Minute with Maxwell on HONOR. See what I think of when I hear it:
If you’re having difficulty viewing the video, try clicking here or here.
The Minute with Maxwell is a free daily coaching video, delivered by email to you every morning. Subscribing is as easy as filling out the following form:
Also, any day this week, if you go to the direct link for a video and comment there, you’ll be entered for a free signed copy of The 5 Levels of Leadership! Sign up today to start receiving new videos in your inbox.
Some insights into the 5 Levels of Leadership
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The 5 Levels of Leadership will be available for purchase starting TOMORROW (October 4, 2011)!
I can’t wait! Why? Well, as I’ve told anyone who asks, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
People who have known me for awhile always smile when I say that. That’s because they know I believe it about everything I do. “This is the best lesson I’ve ever taught.” “This is the best book I’ve ever written.” “…Until the next one,” is what they add in their minds.
And they have a valid point, most of the time. I AM a pretty positive guy, and my favorite project is almost always the one I just worked on. But I might have to argue that The 5 Levels of Leadership truly could stand the test of time as the best book I’ve ever done. That’s because it’s the first book based solely on a concept I’ve been teaching for over 30 years, with great positive response. It’s clear, it’s proven, and it’s well-received.
Here’s one last excerpt before the book arrives on shelves. Just a few insights into The 5 Levels of Leadership:
1. You Can Move Up a Level But You Never Leave the Previous One Behind
Now that you’ve seen the levels and learned the basics about them, you may assume that a leader climbs them, leaving one to arrive at the next, similar to the way one moves up a staircase. But the truth is that you never leave a level behind after you’ve achieved it. Instead, you simply build upon it.
2. You Are Not on the Same Level with Every Person
Leadership is dynamic, and it changes from relationship to relationship. The same is true for the 5 Levels of Leadership. I may be on a different one of the 5 Levels with each of five different people at my job. Someone the first day on the job will acknowledge only my position, while someone in whom I’ve invested and whom I’ve raised up to lead will likely put me on Level 4.
3. The Higher You Go, The Easier It Is to Lead
Here’s some good news. As you work to climb up the levels of leadership, you’ll find that it gets easier to lead people. Each advance allows you to be more effective in leading others because your influence increases as you go to a higher level. As your influence increases, more people follow you more readily. Limited influence, limited leadership. Greater influence, greater effectiveness.
4. The Higher You Go, the More Time and Commitment Is Required to Win a Level
Which is harder? Being given a leadership position (Level 1) or getting people’s permission to lead them (Level 2)? That’s pretty obvious. It takes time, effort, and commitment to develop positive relationships with people. How about moving from Level 2 to Level 3? I believe it is harder to become consistently productive than it is to make friends. It’s even harder and requires much more time to go to Level 4, where you develop people to become good leaders. And it can take a lifetime to become a Level 5 leader who develops leaders who in turn develop other leaders.
There is no easy way to get to the top. And each time you go up, you pay.
5. Moving Up Levels Occurs Slowly, But Going Down Can Happen Quickly
I’ve had people ask me, “How long will it take me to become a Level 5 leader?”
“A lot longer than you think” is my answer. Building always takes a lot longer than destroying. A lot of things have to be right to climb to a higher level, but sometimes it takes only one thing going wrong to cause someone to fall. While it’s unsettling to think about how quickly one can fall from a level of leadership, I hope you can take solace in this: once you’ve climbed up to higher levels, the ones below you function as a safety net. So the more you’ve advanced up the levels, the more secure your leadership is.
***
By now you may be wondering, “What level of leadership have I reached with the different people that I lead?
Well, there’s an app for that!
My publisher has created a 5 Levels of Leadership iPhone app. In it you’ll find quotes, more insights, and best of all, an assessment. You can get an idea of where you stand on the levels with every person in your life, if you want. Just click the image below or search the iTunes store for “5 Levels of Leadership.”
It’s my sincere hope that this app and the book would add value to your life and help you grow as a leader!
