It s a shame I've been sitting on this book for about two years now. A friend of mine gave me Never Eat Alone , by Keith Ferrazzi a couple years ago (thanks Rey), and it s been on my bookcase ever since. It was resting there not because I didn't want to read it, but because I already had so many others in the pipeline. I finally got around to reading it last month and I definitely recommend it. In very simple terms, Ferrazzi explains why networking is important and how to do it. From how to make call lists to planning dinners to personal branding to goal setting, it s all here. He also maintains a valuable blog .
Inevitably there will be times when you have setbacks or things don t go your way. Maybe you didn't get a job you thought you were sure to get. Maybe you lost a job unexpectedly, didn't win a contract, or lost a major client. Your car always seems to break down right after you've had some other unexpected expense. These kinds of situations immediately place us in crisis. They don t feel good, but sometimes they re what we need in order to grow. The beautiful thing about crises is that they force us to take a step back and reevaluate what s going on in our lives and rediscover what we truly want and need. When we get over that initial shock and feeling of disappointment, we might realize that maybe that job wasn't really the best for us anyway. Maybe, just maybe, that wasn't what you really wanted to spend your life doing. Maybe that friend was holding you back instead of pushing you forward. The way I deal with crises of these sorts is simple: If something doesn't go my way professionally, I try to create a situation that would be more rewarding than the situation originally planned. A while ago, I was offered a job that looked very promising. After I accepted the offer, they pushed the start date back three times, later informing me (via e-mail) that they wanted to bring me on in the near future but I should feel free to explore other options. I was extremely disappointed. I felt disrespected and angry, but decided to make the best of the situation and follow my dream of working internationally. I then flew to Santiago, Chile and had great professional and personal experiences I wouldn't have had otherwise. Later, reflecting back on the original opportunity, I realized that working for a company that avoids a start date three times and then can t pick up the phone to explain the situation is probably not where I need to spend my time. Use setbacks as an opportunity to put your goals in order and act on them. In the moment, it s difficult to look at a setback as temporary, but they are. They happen to everybody. It s how you respond to them that will determine how they affect you.
This post is not about whether or not I prefer the briefly used new Gap logo (which I don’t). This post is to express that this kind of thing should never happen. In case you’re not aware, Gap tried to change the logo from the Gap-in-box to the sans-serif Gap. I don’t know whether the higher ups got tired, or if their design firm wanted a reason to bring in more revenue, or what else might have caused the idea that the logo should change, but this never should have happened.
With today’s discourse and literature on and practice of customer-centric business, customer relationship marketing, flattening of pyramids, social media, and empowerment of people, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of debacle to happen at the corporate level. I’m going to keep this post brief (if you’d like to hear more of my opinion on this, just let me know), but if you are in a position to make business decisions (which you should, because everyone should be included in the process), before you make those decisions, ask those whom it will affect how it will affect them.
With tools like the telephone, Twitter, e-mail, Facebook, ethnography, etc., it would have been extremely simple for Gap to ask those who care how they react to the current logo, what comes to mind when people think of their brand, and if it was time to refresh. This complete breakdown in communication shows un incomprehensible lack of understanding of the market and customer engagement. Gap has obviously been out of touch with their consumers (and thus likely their employees).
Be a member of the people you serve. Every decision you make ultimately affects them, so it only makes sense to include their input.