Episode 982: The Radical Promise

Synopsis

Credibility is a key element of BNI’s VCP (Visibility, Credibility, Profitability) process. If you have no credibility, people will not work with with you, refer you, or follow your lead. The key to credibility is behavior. It’s doing what you say you will.

According to special guest Steve Farber, that means much more than following through on your commitments. Everything you say about what you stand for and what your values are is also a commitment. If you want to be a credible leader, you need to be a living, breathing, walking example of your values.

Links

• Listen to Episode 635: Love Is Good Business.
• Visit Steve’s Extreme Leadership website.
• Get your copy of The Radical Promise: Mastering the Art of Doing What You Say You Will Do.

The Official BNI Podcast is sponsored by Misner Audio Programs. Complete Transcript of Episode 982

Priscilla:
Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast. I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California, and I’m joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I am home in Austin, Texas, this week, preparing for the [BNI] Global Convention, and I’ve got two really good friends who are coming to visit us. Dawn Lyons and Mike Macedonio are coming this week, so I’m looking forward to seeing them. Of course, you know Dawn and Mike.

Priscilla:
I know them well.

Ivan:
So they’re hanging out at my house later this week.

Priscilla:
Oh, they must be loving that.

Ivan:
Yeah, we have a good time together. So I’ve got a guest today. He has been on my podcast before, episode number 635, “Love is Good Business,” which is based on his previous book. Which, by the way, I loved that book, and I kind of argued with him at first that “Come on, you know, business and love. Seriously, Steve?” And he was like, “Yeah.” And then when he explained, I’m like, “Wow, yeah, love is damn good business.”

So Steve is a best-selling author. He’s a sought-after keynote speaker. He has spoken at a BNI Convention. I would argue probably one of the top two or three speakers I’ve ever had at a Convention in the 30-plus years that I’ve been doing Conventions. He’s a seasoned leadership coach consultant. He’s worked with a lot of public and private organizations, including BNI. He’s an author of six acclaimed books on leadership, including The Radical Leap which earned Fast Company’s Readers’ Choice Award and was named one of the 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Wow!

And his newest book, The Radical Promise: Mastering the Art of Doing What You Say You Will Do, which I think is really, really important, it was co-written with two of his good friends, Jim Kouzes, I think I’m pronouncing that right, and Barry Posner. Steve, welcome to the BNI Podcast.

Steve:
Thank you, Ivan. Great to be back with you, and thank you. Such high praise from you. I appreciate that.

Ivan:
Well, I mean it too. That’s the really nice part. Hey, so credibility is behavior, you suggest in the book. Talk about that a little bit.

Steve:
Yeah. So my co-authors in the book, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, have been conducting research on leadership for 50 years now. Jim is my most significant mentor, so it was really cool, full circle thing writing a book with him, but their research started with a very simple question, which is: What do you look for and admire in a leader? Someone whose direction you would willingly follow.             

The key word there is willingly, not because you have to, but because you want to. And they asked that question all around the world, across industries, across cultures, and the simple answer that came up again and again, back then and still to this day, is credibility. If this leader is not credible, I’ll follow because I have to – if they’re signing my paycheck, for example.

Ivan:
Mm hmm.

Steve:
But in order to engender commitment, I have to see this person as credible. And what then does credibility look like behaviorally? Simply put, a credible person is somebody who does what they say they’re going to do. So this idea of doing what you say you will do is, on the surface, such a simple thing that seems painfully obvious, but there’s a lot of nuance to it, and there’s a lot of challenge to it, and the stakes are very, very high. Because if we’re not seen as a person whose actions are congruent with their words, the whole foundation for leadership just crumbles.

Ivan:
Yeah, you know, the older I get, the less I believe in words, and the more I believe in behaviors. And now, words are powerful, don’t get me wrong, but behaviors are even more powerful. And credibility is part of the key fundamentals of what we teach with Visibility, Credibility, and then Profitability in terms of generating referrals. So, this fits really well with what we teach in BNI.

Steve:
Yeah, yeah. The words are really easy to use without any intention of following through, right? Yeah, you know flap our gums relentlessly and say things that we don’t really mean, or say things because they sound convenient in the moment. But words are important. I mean, we do want our leaders to say, for example, what commitments they’re going to make.

Ivan:
Yeah.

Steve:
We want them to say what values are important, you know. So with BNI, with your prevailing ethos of Givers Gain®, that’s not something you just hope people will experience. You say it. And once you say it, you’re putting a stake in the ground that says now measure us against this, and that’s what every leader should be doing. We need to say, “Here’s what I stand for. Here’s what’s important around here. These are the values that we should be adhering to. These are the standards that we set. These are the objectives that we have.” I say it, but then, of course, I need to be the walking, talking, living, breathing example of those words that come out of my mouth.

Ivan: Yeah, I mean, doing what you say is simple, but it’s not easy because following those words is the tough part.

Steve:
Yes, and it happens on a number of different levels. So you know, on the surface… and this is something that we really, I think we really do a good job of teasing out the nuances in this in the book because you know it’s written as a story, it’s written as a novel, so you get a chance to really experience what it’s like to stray from that, as the characters do in the book. It’s easy to lose sight of all of this, but the nuances are: on the surface, it sounds really simple. Doing what you say you will do is following through on promises and commitments. Okay, I tell you I’m going to call you tomorrow at 10 o’clock, I call you tomorrow at 10 o’clock. But on a deeper level, it’s what we were just talking about a couple minutes ago. Am I doing the values that I say are important? Am I modeling and leading by example through the things that are important to all of us on a values level? And when you look at the consequences, the advantages of being a congruent leader like that, and you look at the consequences of not doing that, what happens to the culture? What happens to the to the productivity and everything else? That’s where it really becomes very personal very quickly.

Ivan:
Yeah, you use an example of “Hey, I’ll call you tomorrow at 10 o’clock.” I would say you really want to under-promise and over-deliver. So I would often say, “I’ll get back to you before the end of the day tomorrow,” and then I would call them at 10 o’clock.

Steve:
Right.

Ivan:
So it’s like, “Oh wow, you got back [to me] early.”

Steve:
Yeah.

Ivan:
So you kind of over-deliver if possible, and to me that really shows a level of credibility when you show up even stronger than what you promised.

Steve:
Right, I agree. And there’s a challenge here most people aren’t even really aware of in my experience, and that is – oftentimes I make promises that I don’t even know I made. So, for example, if I say, “Hey, Ivan, I’m going to be in Austin next week. We should have lunch,” and maybe I’m thinking “or not.”

Ivan: (chuckling)

Steve:
You know, if it’s convenient, if it works out. But what are you likely to hear? Farber is going to be in town next week, and we’re going to have lunch. So next week comes and goes. We don’t have lunch. I didn’t follow through on that commitment because I didn’t even realize that I made it.

Ivan:
Yeah.

Steve:
And what happens? My credibility is still damaged in your eyes.

Ivan:
Yeah. All right. So you also talk about love and credibility being inseparable, and of course, episode number 635 was about your book Love Is Your Damn Good Business, which I really enjoyed. Talk about love and credibility being inseparable.

Steve:
Yeah, so love without credibility is just sentiment, right? It’s a greeting card basically.

Ivan:
Yes.

Steve:
So the idea of love in business, you know, we want our clients to love doing business with us. That’s where our advantage comes from. In order to make that happen in a sustainable way over time, we have to create an environment or a culture, a dynamic that people love working in. And I can’t do that as a leader unless I’ve got it myself first. It’s got to be authentic. I need to love this business, the people I’m working with, people I’m working for – otherwise, known as my customers.

So all that stuff again, it’s easy to say. You can print the banners and the buttons and you know bumper stickers about how much we love our customers, but the credibility comes from acting in a way that demonstrates that. So, what should love look like in the way that we do business is the question, and then how well and how consistently do we do that? So, credibility without love, it’s still a good thing, right?

Ivan:
Yeah.

Steve:
But love without credibility is just like I said, it’s an empty sentiment, and it’s more likely to create cynicism than it is to create any kind of advantage.

Ivan:
Yeah. What other message do you have from the book that you think my BNI members would have value from?

Steve:

Yeah. I think it’s really about when you look at… let’s talk about BNI members in particular. And again, I come back to Givers Gain® because to me, and I actually wrote about you guys in Love is Just Damn Good Business, and I used that example. So for a member, the question is: Am I — me personally, am I the walking, talking, living, breathing example of Givers Gain? Am I demonstrating what it’s like to give first and to be concerned with that, and to look at the value that I’m bringing to my fellow members and the people around me? For every value that we profess, to turn it back around and insert that first-person singular pronoun “I” — Am I doing this? And once I have the credibility, then I can demand it of others as well.

Ivan:
Yeah. It’s easy to say somebody else doesn’t practice Givers Gain®, but you got to start with yourself. Are you practicing it before you can point at other people? It’s that famous old saying that when I point at you, I’ve got three fingers pointing back to me.

Steve:
Right. Yes.

Ivan:
Yeah. All right. So your website is www.theradicalpromise.com. theradicalpromise.com. Any last thought before we wrap?

Steve:
Yeah. Just thank you for having me on the podcast again, Ivan. And I hope people will take that book to heart. You’ll enjoy the story, and then it ends with a very significant application section. So you’ll have the experience, and then you’ll know exactly what roadmap to follow to master the art of doing what you say you will do.

Ivan:
Well, Steve, thank you very much. I consider you a friend. You’re a participant in the Transformational Leadership Council with me, so I see you at least once or twice a year, and look forward to seeing you again. Thanks for being on BNI Podcast.

Steve:
Thank you.

Ivan:
Over to you, Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, that was wonderful. I really look forward to looking at your book and reading it.

Ivan:
There’ll be a test next week, Priscilla.

Priscilla: (chuckling)
Okay, I’m ready for it. I think that’s it for this week.

This podcast is sponsored by www.misneraudioprograms.com. These audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience. So check out the great material available to you at www.misneraudioprograms.com and then use the promo code IVAN50 for 50% off of everything [this code is good for a limited time]. All of the proceeds go to the BNI Foundation.

Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.