We hope you've been enjoying your Monday Morning Motivator. If you've received this issue for the first time - welcome aboard! It only takes a couple of minutes to start your week off right with the MMM! Be encouraged by the success or great ideas of others in your business community.

The Marks Of Distinction

This week's message from Mark Sanborn is a helpful reminder that the pursuit of excellence may not be enough to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

How do you grow your business?

There are only two ways. In my work with over 1500 clients spread over nearly 20 years, the only two ways I’ve ever seen used to grow any business in any industry are:

Grow yourself and grow your people.

All increases in productivity, innovation, profitability, strategic direction, superior service and operational excellence flow from the ability of leaders and their teammates.

The big question then becomes: towards what end are you growing yourself, your people and, ultimately, your business? A common response from many managers is usually something about “being excellent” or “pursuing excellence.” In these competitive times, is that an effective strategy?

No. Excellence isn’t enough.

To prosper in business today you’ve got to go beyond the pursuit of excellence. Excellence in business is a good thing, but it isn’t the best thing. Here’s why:

Excellence is relatively easy to accomplish. A good copycat watches what the industry leader is doing and then does the same things. If you’re only excellent, you’re vulnerable.

Excellence is a moving target. Today’s “excellent” can be next month’s “mediocre.” In a competitive market, the trend is always towards better, so excellence can never be something you attain with finality.

The more excellent you become, the more demanding your customers become. A customer’s expectations increase over time based on previous experience. Getting better drives customer expectations up.

The biggest problem with excellence: it isn’t distinctive. The killer marketplace strategy is to be distinctive: to go beyond excellent to offer something distinct and unique to your company. That way if customers ever go someplace different, they’ll miss the distinction you represent and return.

So what are the marks of distinction?

There are three marks common to all companies who achieve distinction. They are: Engaged People, Perpetual Innovation and Strategic Execution.

Engaged People

It isn’t enough to be passionate. Passion without appropriate focus is fanaticism. Engaged people are involved with their work and compelled to do what they do with panache. The challenge is to get people as engaged about their work as they are about their outside interests and hobbies. Engaged people work smarter, serve better and come up with new ideas.

Perpetual Innovation

This includes both incremental and revolutionary improvements. The status quo is a myth. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. I first head Woody Hayes, late coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes say those words over 20 years ago and they are as truer today than ever. Innovation must be applied to everything: operations, products and even how we think and lead.

Strategic Execution

You can write a million lines of computer code, but until you add the four characters “.exe”, the code is worthless. Business dominance isn’t about how much you know, but how well you apply and execute what you know. It’s a matter of IQ. That doesn’t stand for “intelligence quotient” but rather implementation quotient, and that is the difference between common knowledge and consistent application.

If you want to discover your "Distinctive Market Strategy" give us a call. We're here to help.

Have a great week unless you choose otherwise.

Drago

PS - We have created a series of new ads for one of the largest Dodge dealerships in Canada, Sherwood Park Dodge. The ads were done in a manner to reflect the dealerships simple approach of doing business. You can view them at AdamAdGroup.com our favorite is the Ad Guru spot, go figure.

PPS - When the developers of Auguston, a unique residential building project in the Sumas Mountains approached us, they were clear that while they wanted the "features" of the project to be presented, they did not want the same old pretty picture type advertising that is common in the industry. Understanding that consumers need to find a way to place themselves in the environment, we proposed a blend of the traditional style of brochure type video, with POV, or point of view cinematography.

Auguston was filmed with RedCam, the best "cost effective" Ultra High Definition technology currently available today. Click here and enjoy !

PPPS - Do you want to take your performance and business to a new level? Attend our complimentary The Star Within Workshop on Jan 28th, see below for details.

We also wanted to say Thank You for allowing us to meet with you every Monday Morning. The MMM has experienced incredible growth with a subscriber base of 16, 349 people. We are truly grateful and humbled by the positive comments we receive weekly. If you enjoy the MMM please pass it along and let others know about it. To see our newsletter archives Click Here.

Success Profile

This week's success profile is Kevin MacDonald and Shelley MacDougall from The Extraordinary Leader.

The Extraordinary Leader is an innovative leadership program and community dedicated to building leaders at all levels.

Kevin MacDonald is a coach and former club manager. He started his coaching practice in 2000 and in 2003 became the Coach for The Club Managers Association of America. Since taking on the role as architect and leader of the association’s coaching program he has been asked to work with people in all areas of the club business. He has contributed articles to five different industry publications and does so regularly. Kevin speaks from the heart with warmth and humour. He is a polished story teller who is dedicated to ensuring that an audience doesn’t just leave with some new ideas, but is inspired to take action that will make a lasting difference.

Shelley MacDougall is dedicated to creating leaders in life. Whether she is coaching one on one, facilitating learning for groups, or delivering keynote presentations, Shelley’s dynamic style and compassion for people are undeniable. After obtaining her business degree at Ohio State University, Shelley has invested the past 19 years in training and leading others. At the age of 23, she began her training career as an instructor with the Dale Carnegie™ organization. She furthered her experience in Human Resources and in senior leadership positions in the hospitality industry – including Marriott International, and The Glencoe Club (Calgary, Alberta), one of North America's leading private sports and social clubs.

The Adam Advertising Group is a big believer in The Extraordinary Leader Program and the difference it can make in peoples lives both personally and corporately. Kevin and Shelley have graciously offered to put on a special program for all our MMM subscribers and clients called The Star Within on Jan 28th at Mayfair Lakes Golf and County Club in Richmond, BC from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

The Star Within You!

A star…you know that twinkling thing that we admire from afar. In human terms we see stars as those who shine brilliantly in their field of endeavour. They are people who perform a skill or exhibit a characteristic that we can look at, appreciate, and admire. Becoming a star and seeing the star qualities in your people, is the first step in preparing to be an “Employer of Choice” that attracts and retains the best.

In this workshop we examine the elements of being a star:

S - See what is needed
T - Tenacious with standards
A - Accountable for their attitude
R - Relentless about reaching results

Participants will engage in an interactive session designed to increase personal awareness, create individual action steps, and enhance accountability. Through real-life examples, small group exercises, and personal reflection, those who attend will leave inspired with the tools to reflect on who they are, where they are going, and how better to lead others. A comprehensive “star” workbook accompanies participants as they transfer their workshop experience to their own reality.

This program is usually offered at $99 a person, but Kevin, Shelley and The Adam Advertising Group want to make sure that 2009 is a great year for you, so the program is being offered Free Of Charge. There is no catch, this is our way of helping spur the economy! Feel free to invite friends, family and co-workers.

To register for the event email Laura Morrison at claritysuccess@shaw.ca with the names of the people who will be attending and what time session you would like to attend.

The Adam Advertising Group is proud to play a small role in the on-going success of many of the companies featured in the MMM.

Can The Adam Advertising Group help your business, or do you have a success story we should hear about? Contact Drago Adam at drago@AdamAdGroup.com
or call 604 937 -8886 or 1 866 923 - 6477

PS : We wanted to say Thank You for sharing your Monday Mornings with us. The MMM started three years ago with 35 subscribers, today's issue is going out to over
16,349 Weekly Subscribers.

Click Here for our newsletter archive

Quote Of The Week

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do.

(Dale Carnegie)

Word Of The Week

Puissant (pwiss-unt) : of great force or vigor : strong, powerful.

eg : Laurie was aware of the restaurant critic’s puissant influence in the industry, so she became quite nervous when she spotted him sitting at a table in her cafe.