Seth Kahan on Leadership // Monday Morning Mojo
Creating Gravity to Draw the Right People to You

Who do you need to bring into your orbit? If you are runnng an association, perhaps you are looking to increase Hispanic participation, attract younger members, or engage movers and shakers in your industry.  If you are running a business, you want your ideal clients to come to you. If you are a non-profit, you may be hoping to attract high-dollar donors in your fundraising efforts. And if you are running a change program, you want the key influencers to seek you out to be part of your efforts.

Gravity is what it's all about, getting people to come after you instead of you going after them. This reversal in the relationship dynamic is very important. Here's why: When your key stakeholders seek you out, you are in a position to set the circumstances for success. When you are pursuing them, you never know what you might have to cope with, from unfavorable environmental factors to their cockamamey ideas of how best to work together. gravity and the earth

When I was a math major in college at Indiana University I took two electives, Astrophysics, and the History and Philosophy of Space and Time. Both of these classes used a particular visual image to portray gravity. It was a large rubber sheet of graph paper with the planets sitting on it. The more massive the planet, the deeper the well that forms around it.

When an object, like a comet, approached this planet, its path could be traced along this stretchy sheet. If it was going fast enough, it would dip in towards the planet and then shoot out the other side in a slightly different direction. But, if it was going slower, it would get caught in the planet's gravitational field. Then it would circle round and round without leaving.  This is the power of gravity. It pulls in people and attention causing them to orbit your world.

To truly lead in your market, whatever it may be, you must cultivate this gravity.

Let me give two short examples. First, the press. When the press comes looking for you through no action of yours, you do not know the context and have little influence over how they portray you. You are playing with fire. But, when you attract the press because of a press conference you convene, you control the circumstances of the interaction and are in a position to emphasize and convey what is most important. I am not advocating spin. I am simply saying that when you are in control you can guide the focus to what's important.

Another example is bringing in a group of your most important stakeholders. Let's say you are conducting outreach to raise public awareness of your brand and mission.  If you solicit them, through direct mail, telemarketing, ads, you never know how your message will be lumped together with other priorities (and most often drowned out in importance). But, if you hold an alluring event to address the issues your most prominent stakeholders are wrestling with, they automatically place you in an advantageous position as someone who understands their needs and is doing something about it.

What is the most effective way to create gravity? Highly customized events, where every aspect of the interaction has been purposefully designed to serve their needs. That's the ultimate use of face-to-face.  The more removed you are, the less your impact.

Most initiatives can derive greater impact from a small number of personalized events rather than a large number of generic events. It's an 80-20 situation. 20% of your stakeholders wield 80% of the impact. So, design events that bring them together in deeply satisfying ways and you will have your most valuable stakeholders seeking you out.

Seth's News Feed

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