3 Steps To Being A Social Business Warrior

This past weekend I ran in the Warrior Dash. I have no grand illusions of truly being a warrior at this point, but I did train hard for it and used that training to motivate me to run the thing twice. All in all, it added up to an hour and twenty minutes work consisting of 6.4 miles and 22 physical obstacles thrown into the mix.

Also, at the end you get a free beer and can eat a turkey leg. I may not have been a true Viking in the literal sense of the word, but aside of raping and pillaging a town, I felt pretty damn close.

Again, I’m well aware that yesterdays endeavors do not make me a true “warrior,” but I did learn a few things along the way:

1. You have to train and work at something that is meaningful
2. Even with training, you will walk away from your efforts sore and bruised, but
3. You will walk away

As is my nature, I think I can relate this to our topic here. Won’t you join me?

1) Train, Conductor

A lot of people might gaffe at a simple 5K, even one with obstacles, but as I witnessed over the weekend, those same people that gaffe will underperform or even fail miserably if they haven’t prepared. Whether that failure means only being able to run a few feet and having to walk the entire race, skipping the obstacles, or if it means stopping midway through and having to be air-lifted to the nearest medical facility (that happened, BTW), failure is failure. Had I not trained, I would have found myself somewhere in that category.

Succeeding at Social Business involves a lot of training. That training includes doing your research, auditing your current practices, actually training your staff for the updates, and monitoring your daily activities.

You can skimp on your training, sure, a lot of people do, but those same people end up on the side of a mudpit with a paramedic holding their arms above their head because they can’t catch their breath.

Training not only teaches you which paths are the safest and which ones will lead you to your goals, but also how to pace yourself and which areas you’re strongest/weakest in and how to improve. It would be truly tragic to jump into a major overhaul to find out on game day that your company isn’t equipped due to scheduling for shift reassignments and you’re put weeks (or months) behind in production because you didn’t audit and train upfront.

2) Customers Dig Scars

My wife hurt her ankle while on the course and I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t still a little sore and carrying a few bruises. I’ve seen other people come off the course with cuts and some even with burns (there’s fire to leap on the path). The nice thing about soreness and cuts though is that they heal (unless it’s airlift-worthy, in which case that’s a training issue).

Through your growing process, you will sustain some soreness. You may have some employees just not ready for the change and leave. You may have to give up on some archaic practices you’ve grown safe and accustomed to, but all in all, you will heal. To truly be the Social Business Warrior you want to be you need to go in knowing and willing to deal with those pains. If you’re prepared yourself, your glorious victory will be made all the more sweet by your painful experiences. After all, bruises go away, cuts heal and customers dig scars. Scars tell your customers that you’ve grown and improved and that you truly understand their desire for a better connection.

3) Walk Tall

In this scenario, don’t get illusions of being The Rock or Joe Don Baker, that’s the not the kind of walking tall I’m talking about. In this case, you’ll be able to walk away with your head high, knowing that through all the pain, all the uncertainty and all the issues, you kept to your course and ended it all as a warrior.

If you’ve trained correctly and put up with the pain and the bruises, you’ll get to that finish line covered in mud, grass and earth and you’ll be able to hold your head high, throw back a beer and grab a turkey leg like a viking.

I want to see you at that finish line with your head held high, so if you need help along the way, contact us and we’ll be your support along the way.

Here’s a toast to all the warriors out there, those in training, those recovering from wounds and those ready to fight again tomorrow. Won’t you join us?

Thoughts?

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