Mike Edmonds - Truth. Growth. Repeat.: A Business Manual for Generation Why

hello, im rachel I was standing in a long queue at a rental car booth late one night. You know the place. One of those little huts tucked away in an airport car park. A few flights had just arrived and there were six or seven of us waiting in a line that went out the door. Inside, there was only one customer-service agent. She wore an expression of blank despondency and a tag with the words, Hello, Im Rachel.

As I waited for Hello, Im Rachel to print out each persons contract on the 1980s dot matrix printer that rental car companies seem to be keen on preserving, I noticed a little laminated sign stuck on the wall next to me. It was titled Our Purpose and it stated: Dear Valued Customers. Our Purpose is to Drive the World ForwardTM.That means providing you with the latest models of todays popular autobrands and giving you the very best in customer service excellence. I looked at Hello, Im Rachel as she asked the next tired traveller for their licence and credit card without making eye contact. I looked at the water cooler with no cups. And the one chair. vi truth. growth. repeat. Only by anticipating your every need can we help you get to your importantbusiness meeting or family reunion faster and easier. Only by anticipating your every need can we help you get to your important business meeting or family reunion faster and easier.

Our Super-ServerTeamTM is ready to blah blah blah. I looked at the people around me swiping their smartphones or staring at the floor as poor Hello, Im Rachel recited the same insurance upsell monologue wed all overheard a number of times now. I sighed and thought what everybody else on the planet thinks when a company makes a promise these days. Yeah. Right. I bet that at some point in the previous 12 months Rachel had sat in an auditorium somewhere with a few hundred other employees as their new confidentncaptivating CEO delivered an important PowerPoint presentation. About her rental car companys amazing New Purpose.

Full of words like excellence and innovation and demographics . With a snazzy video of happy car rental customers edited to the tune of whatever song was currently number 3 on iTunes. And ending with the big reveal that were now the car rental company with Car-isma!TM And like the dedicated employee that she is, Rachel would have sat there trying to remember the new list of five corporate values and trying to set aside her cynicism at having heard all this before at their last big company rah-rah, when the last confidentncaptivating CEO revealed that they were now the Happy Car Rental CompanyTM . Rachel would collect her brown paper showbag with the Car-ismaTM sticker on it and the Car-ismaTM mug and mouse pad and the great little Car-ismaTM Spirit Book that looked so well designed and professionally printed. And she would go back to her little airport booth and give it a good shot. She would genuinely try to put her cynicism aside and understand hello, im rachel vii how Car-isma!TM might influence how she did her job. And she would contribute her ideas for better customer service on the Car-ismaTM intranet.

But when management refused to add another person to the roster so Rachel could spend more time with each customer and when they failed to renovate her tired little booth so that people might actually enjoy going in there, and when they didnt listen to her ideas about matching shifts with flight arrivals she would eventually realise that all this New Purpose stuff is just pretend. Its not real. So she wont be either. And she would gradually evolve into that blank, coldly efficient humanoid I saw at the airport that night. This book is dedicated to all the Rachels. First published in 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064 Office also in Melbourne Typeset in 10.5 pt/16 Utopia Std John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2018 The moral rights of the author have been asserted All rights reserved.

Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above. Cover and internal design by Meerkats Printed in Singapore by C.O.S. Printers Pte Ltd 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Disclaimer The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication. contentsIntroduction xiHow to use this bookxvPart One: The Circle of True Purpose 1 Truth is a system 2 True Purpose 3 Attraction 4 Innovation 5 Growth 6 Reward 7 The right way around The Circle 8 The wrong way around The Circle 9 When The Circle becomes a galaxy 10 When The Circle becomes a black hole Part Two: Finding your True Purpose 11 Picture this 12 Your first task: the Before Ad 13 Exercise A: Eulogy 14 Exercise B: Protest x truth. growth. repeat. 15 Exercise C: Headline 16 Exercise D: Why Words 17 Exercise E: Purpose on a Page 18 Your final task: the After Ad Part Three: Implementing your True Purpose 19 I get it, but what do I do with it? 20 Measuring your truth gap 21 You dont have to be perfect, you just have to want to be 22 Commercial viability 23 The Circle as a compass 24 The sliding doors effect 25 Ten tips for staying on-purpose A final word303Coaching and conversation305Recommended reading307That other name on the cover315About the author317Index 323introduction Do you believe that telling the truth and having respect for others is more important than manipulating people for financial gain? Good news. Your time has come.

The age-old tension that has existed for eons between the Seller and the Buyer is finally coming to a head. That fundamental distrust about what a Seller claims is their motive and what their subsequent behaviour reveals their motive actually is. From snake oil salesmen in the 1800s declaring their interest was entirely in the health and wellbeing of their customers, to modern-day banks promising that peoples happiness is their primary concern, the Sellers pitch to the Buyer has always been the same: we want what you want, we feel how you feel, we empathise with your needs. Generations of consumers soon learned that this was well bull manure. Because of what happened after the money was handed over. Gosh, darn it, that snake oil I purchased was worthless.

I believe thatsalesman knew precisely what to enquire of me in order that I should furnishhim with my money.xii truth. growth. repeat. Ergh, my bank charges me a higher monthly fee than they offer newcustomers and kept me on hold for 23 minutes when I called to ask about it.I think they just research what a working stiff like me wants from a bank andthen pretend thats who they are in their ads. Have you ever felt like that? Its like weve all been playing a giant board game called Caveat Emptor, an ancient Latin phrase meaning