How to communicate in 2019 for superior success (Part one)

It behooves me to start by wishing millions of lovely and precious people who passionately read through my thought-provoking and life-changing articles on every blessed Monday a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year. Applying everything I have taught you this year to your life, leadership and business has unquestionably and conclusively caused you to soar high in 2018.

Last Monday, I started the series that I am rounding off today, but before doing that, I cannot thank you all enough for the beautiful feedback I got from all over the world. In the coming year, I can assure you that the “river” is going to get deeper and wisdom-filled words from here will definitely get heavier. Everything about you is going to change for the better, as you make up your mind to always apply to your life—everything I am going to be sharing with you in 2019.

Back to this Monday’s business, starting from where I stopped last week Monday, the purpose of Harley Davidson has value in people’s lives because, for those who believe in Harley’s reason and purpose, it helps them express the meaning of their own lives. Also, because of Harley’s clarity, discipline and consistency, most will know what that symbol means, even if they do not subscribe to it themselves. That’s the reason why when someone walks into a bar with a big Harley logo on his arm, you would take a step back and give him a wide berth. The symbol has become so meaningful, in fact, that 12 per cent of Harley Davidson revenues are strictly from merchandising. That’s remarkable!

It is not just logos, however, that can serve as symbols. Symbols are any tangible representation of a clear set of values and beliefs. An ink-stained finger for Iraqis was a symbol of a new beginning. A London double-decker bus or a cowboy hat both are symbols of national cultures. But national symbols are easy because most nations have a clear sense of culture that has been reinforced and repeated for generations. It is not a company or organization that decides what its symbol means; it is the group outside the megaphone, in the chaotic market-place, who decides. If, based on the things they see and hear, the outsiders can clearly and consistently report what an organization believes, then, and only then, can a symbol start to take on meaning. It is the truest test of how effective a megaphone has been produced—when clarity is able to filter all the way through the organization and come to life in everything that comes out of it.

Go back to Apple’s “1984” commercial, depicting an Orwellian scene of a totalitarian regime holding control over a population and promised that “1984 won’t be like 1984.” But this a was much more than just advertasing. It was not about the features and benefits of a new product. It was not about a “differentiating value proposition.” The commercial is one of the many things the company has done or said over the years to show or tell the outside world what they believe.

For those who have seen it, does it make you think about Apple and its products or do you simply like the sentiment? Or the line: “Think Differently,” does it speak to you? If you are a Mac customer, you probably loved this commercial; it may even give you goose bumps when you watch it—a surefire test that the purpose is connecting with you on a visceral or limbic level. In fact, this commercial, after you learned it was from Apple, may have reinforced your decision to buy a Mac, whether for the first time or the tenth time. This commercial, like all Apple’s advertising, is one of the things Apple has said or done that reinforce what they believe. It is every bit consistent with the clear belief we know they embody. And if the commercial speaks to you and you are not an Apple lover, odds are you still like the idea of thinking differently. The message of that ad is one of the things Apple does to tell their story. It is a symbol. It is for those reasons that we say of a piece of advertising, “it really speaks to me.” It is not really speaking to you; it is speaking to the millions of people who saw the ad. When we say that something like that “speaks to me,” what we are really saying is, through all this clutter and noise, I can hear that. I can hear it and I will listen. This is what it means for a message that comes out of the megaphone to resonate.

• Warped perception about leadership

Everything that comes out of the base of the megaphone serves as a way for an organization to articulate what it believes. What a company says and does are the means by which the company speaks. Too many companies put a disproportionate amount of weight on their products or services simply because those are the things that bring in the money. But there are many more things at the base of the megaphone that play an equal role in speaking to the outside world. Though product may drive sales, the truth is, product alone cannot create loyalty. In fact, a company can create loyalty amongst people who are not even customers. I spoke favorably of Apple long before I bought one. And I spoke disparagingly of a certain PC brand even though I’d been buying their products for years.

Apple’s clarity, discipline and consistency—their ability to build a megaphone, not a company, that is clear and loud—is what has given it the ability to command such loyalty. The company is accused of having a cult-like following. Those inside the company are often accused of following the “cult of Steve.” All of these compliments or insults are indications that others have taken on the cause and made it their own. The experts describe their products and marketing as a “lifestyle” reinforces that people who love Apple products are using what Apple does to demonstrate their own personal identity. We call it “lifestyle marketing” because people have integrated commercial products into the style of their lives. Apple, with great efficiency, built a perfectly clear megaphone, leveraged the Law of Diffusion and invited others to help spread the gospel. Not for the company, but for themselves.

Everything Apple does; everything it says and does, serves as tangible proof of its belief.  Most of us did not read books about them. We did not personally know Steve Jobs. We haven’t spent time roaming the halls of Apple’s headquarters to get to know their culture. The clarity we have for what Apple believes comes from one place and one place only; Apple.

In 2019 and beyond, you need to understand that people don’t buy what you do; they only buy the reason you do it, and Apple says and does only the things it believes. If what you do does not prove what you believe, then no one will know what your reason is and you will be forced to compete on price, service, quality, features and benefits; the stuff of commodities. Apple has a clear and loud megaphone and is exceptionally good at communicating its story.

See you where successful leaders are found.