Symbols & Rituals - Part II
Why did Jeff Bezos always have an empty chair at the Amazon boardroom table whenever high-level executives gathered for meetings? Did Jeff know something every leader should know about storytelling? Could there be a lot more to this craft than meets the eye?
Much more than how we communicate with the written word, digital text and share stories verbally, the discipline of storytelling pre-dates that magnificent day our species expanded its capacity for language.
Long before pen was put to parchment and tall tales shared around campfires, homo sapiens connected with each other through the magic of symbols and rituals.
From day one, Bezos used the symbol of the empty chair to remind executives that the company was on a mission to be customer-centric and that the customer always had a seat at the Amazon table. The imaginary customer needed to know their voice was heard. Is it possible that form of ritualized behaviour significantly impacted how Jeff's company can deliver next-day parcels to your front door? Might your organization also benefit considerably from a deeper understanding of the power of symbols and rituals?
From either side of the 49th Parallel, a couple of business leaders from Louisville, KY and Edmonton, AB can relate to what Jeff Bezos has done for decades. Pull up an empty chair and enjoy an unscripted, unfiltered conversation with David and Craig, two CEO's from different industries aiming to amplify their internal culture.
Get ready for a deeper dive with Part II on How Symbols & Rituals Align Your Team on Leaders & Legends.
"Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room." JEFF BEZOS p.s… Effective use of symbols and rituals helps leaders overcome Semantic Satiation a term coined by professor Leon Jakobovits. In his 1962 doctoral dissertation at McGill University, Jakobovits discovered that incessant repetition of a word leads to a loss of meaning for the listener. The language of management has several such words. Prime examples include "accountability", "synergy" and "paradigm shifts". While these terms are still cherished today by many leaders at many organizations, nod your head if you agree that these terms have lost a lot of their once-powerful meanings. To help defeat the sinister, insidious forces of Semantic Satiation, watch how the mascot "Slingy" daringly jumps through a real flaming hoop at the Slingshot offices in Louisville, KY.
Data and research repeatedly demonstrates "that employees with a strong sense of belonging are over 6X more likely to be engaged than those without." Symbols and rituals communicate with vivid shortcuts what logic and reason cannot.
Business leaders who are determined to bring a winning team to the market can learn a lot on this subject from the world of professional sports. European hockey coach Kevin Gaudet has a three-decade resume that includes eight first-place finishes, six league championships, and on four occasions, has been named as coach-of-the-year. As he looks forward to a new season with the Bad Tolz Lions located near Munich, Kevin is thinking about the symbols and rituals he will employ to guide his team through the ups and downs of the upcoming season. In his words, "It's all about winning championships. That's why I do it. I have learned that the power of the story is everything. It's crucial to use symbolic thought as a way to rally the players around a story that is bigger than them".
What can you do as a leader to help hold people accountable for ideals aligned with their sense of purpose? Over the years, Kevin Gaudet has employed many symbols ranging from the Navy Seals, Spartans, Gladiators, Samurai and more. The photos say it all.
"Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity" STEPHEN KING
20-MINUTE DISCOVERY SESSION.
Throughout the pandemic, we have made every effort to serve small to medium-size business owners with an open heart and no strings attached. That's why we allow a certain amount of time each month for readers like you to schedule a 20-Minute Discovery Session via ZOOM. If you face a business or branding challenge that you are not sure how to handle and need to bounce ideas and gain clarity, we're only a click away.
YOUR BRAND. ON TRACK. If now is the opportune time to differentiate, re-position and realign your organization, why not explore a metaphorical road trip called THE BRANDING HIGHWAY. Our in-person and virtual Executive Bootcamps serve as both journey and destination to help your brand emerge as an undeniable, undisputed "Category of One." Impossible to describe, this unpredictable journey is best understood when you take a quick peek at this Video Overview:
"The most important victory is the one which has to arrive" ENZO FERRARIPLANNING A SPEAKING EVENT? The wheels of business turn faster each quarter, and your company or industry association may be anxious to stay ahead of the lighting-fast relevance curve. In that respect, we are scheduling many in-person and virtual programs for 2021 with customized content designed to inspire conference attendees to acquire a "STADIUM-SIZED PERSPECTIVE".
For more information on scheduling an In-Person or Virtual Speaking Program, please send us a note here.
Every week someone asks a question about our videos and, more specifically, our media partner responsible for the storyboarding, production and editing. Headquartered in the shadows of the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Defiant Astronaut Media is uniquely positioned to help business leaders rethink what's possible with this art form and how it can help build your brand. If you are curious about what's involved in getting the proper gear to support your video publishing efforts, here are a few ideas to get started. Click here.