Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig joined us Friday morning for this month’s Leaders Connect Breakfast series. He has a new book coming out soon and shared some inspiring concepts to help us be mindful of sabotaging behavior that we have the power to change. If you’d like to send Ari your email address he will let you know when the book is available for purchase. ari@zingermans.com
Link to video https://youtu.be/WNMdkl9SefQ
Here are a few key points from Ari’s talk:
•When hope is low, nothing good happens.
•Actively build beliefs, hope & generosity.
•Beliefs are strong held virtues or cultural beliefs which are sometimes misconceptions.
•Belief Action Cycle is a self-fulfilling cycle of beliefs in which we unconsciously behave or treat others in way that will support/encourage our beliefs. We need to tap into our beliefs to know what they are in order to be mindful of our beliefs and work to change those beliefs we wish to change.
•Beliefs can be changed. We can reverse negative cycles. 20% is their behavior and 80% is our belief. Be mindful of negativity and work to change what you see.
•Beliefs can be negative, positive and neutral. Negative beliefs lead to negative outcomes. Positive beliefs lead to positive outcomes.
•Creativity is simply connecting things that were not previously connected.
•Those that continually support each other are the fittest rather than the Darwin survival belief of the fittest which pits us against each other. Those that are the most generous and most collaborative are going to do the best. We need to build a culture in which generosity is a strong belief.
•We need to balance generosity with others & ourselves to avoid burnout. We need to respect our most important wants and save time for those, so that we have energy to be generous with others.
•Be generous with our time, as there is always time to help others.
•If we wait to define it, we never teach it. Go ahead and start teaching a concept as you’ll figure it out in the process.
•Honor all people as human beings. We’re all equal and deserve mutual respect. Treat everyone like they matter. Honor each other with dignity and respect.
•When it’s really busy is when the challenges/ideas come, so we need to be open to receive or do.
•The Ecosystem that we create or live in affects all. If we help everyone we all get ahead. Energy gets shared as we need to live in harmony with nature. Get yourself in a healthy ecosystem/place.
•If I don’t also invest in myself, the other stuff won’t be sustainable.
Ari also shared 22 tips for building a culture of generosity and expanded on a few chosen ones.
1.Begin with an abundance mentality. There is enough for everyone. Working progressively and creatively we all can do well. Help each other. People are all well being.
2.When in doubt, give it out. Think it and just do it. Your intuition is right, don’t let your mind (social logic) override.
3.Understand how hoarding hurts everyone. With the worldly isms (race, sex, gender, etc.) and take, take, take mentality we hurt ourselves more than others because we shut ourselves off from new ideas that come from collaboration.
4.Give great service and live the spirit.
5.Lead with generosity.
6.Act in Kindness.
7.Have empathy and compassion.
8.Be generous with your time.
9.Be an active listener.
10.Share the positive energy.
11.Lavishly share information. Share information to help/collaborate for creative answers. Create multiple connections across the organization. Being vulnerable and asking for help creates creative idea flow.
12.Share social capital. Use our connections to help others with referrals or introductions.
13.Compound connections with generosity. Beliefs are the root system, generosity is the water.
14.Create ever more opportunity.
15.Give the benefit of the doubt.
16.Give people a chance.
17.Make a point of taking and giving second shots.
18.Share the credit.
19.Go for greatness, not victory.
20.Design a programmatic approach to community giving.
21.Give back to the business, too.
22.Be generous of spirit to yourself. Plan your day and protect your self time. Do things for yourself. Balance taking care of yourself and others.
Bonus tip: When in doubt, give High-5’s indiscriminately.
New Secret Pamphlet from from the next book, Part 4: The Power of Beliefs in Business
Secret #40 The Power of Beliefs in Business; How What We Believe Alters What Happens at Work Every Day
at zingtrain.com, zingerman’s coffee company, zingerman’s roadhouse and zingermanspress.com
Books mentioned:
•Adam Grant “Give & Take” http://www.adamgrant.net/
•Peter Kropotkin “Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution” http://libcom.org/library/mutual-aid-peter-kropotkin
•Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom “The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations” http://www.starfishandspider.com/
Audience members shared ideas on how they express generosity:
•Well Day Coupon = Free day off for staff to use just cause the weather is gorgeous.
•Close early for the day just cause
•Thank you celebrations
•Support people to just run with an idea. Share ideas with staff to see what develops and give ownership.
•Jan Davies of Davies House B&B and Extended Stay Inn shows generosity by making opportunity available to young people with aspirations of owning their own businesses by hiring a summer employee through the Washtenaw County Workforce Development’s Youth Intern Empowerment Program. Young people commit to 20 hrs/wk; get paid $9/hr and are matched to your job description. Contact: Shamar Herron from Washtenaw Workforce Development 734 369 1707 or herrons@ewashtenaw.org.
