"Unity is Our Strength" - GameChanger Lily Mei (Mayor of Fremont)
Today, I was very fortunate (thanks KK at Fremont Chamber of Commerce!!) to have attended the State of the City Address for my hometown Fremont, CA. Mayor Lily Mei (elected in 2016) spoke about all the awesome things happening in Fremont: A 62% reduction in property crimes since 2011, the emerging biotech firms and code academies moving to the city, the 600 new affordable housing units being built this year, the startup incubators helping out innovative small businesses, and even Facebook and Tesla leasing even more space in the North side of Fremont (#EagleNation).
Mayor Lily Mei of Fremont (right) and Robby Gill (left)
The most intriguing and insightful part of the speech was one of Mayor Mei's closing statements: "Unity is Our Strength." I paused for a second thinking about this. As a GameChanger or more importantly a leader, unity is overstated time and time again because it has a positive connotation and what other kind of organization would you want? An un-united organization? You got to have unity.
But if we think about this for just a second more, what does unity mean that is so powerful for a leader - more importantly a GameChanger? At GameChangers, we're all about helping small groups, organizations, businesses, and schools create positive culture change. We want to help reduce cyber-bullying by including all the students, we want to replace the management of the 90s with the leadership and influence of 2018 and on. Unity - is the 2nd stage of the GameChanger GamePlan. When you have a school, business, or any organization where the team and the people aren't as productive or aren't motivated to do well, you need a GamePlan to change things for the better.
We start with Pride, because pride in an organization leads to a unifying bond between the group. (more on this later). Through pride and similar tools, Unity is created. And unity is what drives change. If you can create unity, you can bring the whole squad, the whole team, the whole group together onto the same page.
At the end of the day, a leader is nothing without his/her team. Whatever you can do to get your team together, united on a common goal and mission, will help you achieve your goals as a GameChanger.
Thank you Mayor Mei for the inspiration - GameChangers supports your Mayorship and good luck with taking Fremont to the next level utilizing our unity as strength.
#MaverickMonday - Jeff Bezos, CEO
MAVERICK: Someone who bucks the current trend to stand up for a greater belief or cause. They are our living, breathing GameChangers
Jeff Bezos defines the 2016 business-minded #GameChanger. After founding Amazon.com in 1994, his relentless work ethic and incomparable courage has grown Amazon into a $107 BILLION business!
Bezos does not hold back in his quest to grow his business and brand. That relentless attitude is a huge factor in being a #GameChanger. Why? Because to make that step into being a leader, you need to have courage. That courage gives you the strength to know that while you're being different from the pack, you're out there PURSUING YOUR DREAMS.
You might've heard about SpaceX with Elon Musk, trying to get people to Mars, or Virgin Galactic with Richard Branson, trying to drive space tourism. Both of those were founded in 2002 and 2002, respectively, while Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos' brainchild) had been working on their own secret space mission SINCE 2000! 2 years may not seem like a long time, but when you're planning on building billion-dollar equipment to pursue an industry that is not being pursued by anyone except the richest government in the world, you've got to have some audacity. For being the first player in the game, that takes some serious guts! (Side note: Most of Blue Origin's plans are being kept classified, but I wouldn't be surprised if reports came out in the next couple of years of Bezos' progress surpassing Musk's and Branson's.)
Have you ever bought anything off Amazon.com? Or better yet, have you ever been to any website containing 'amazon' in the URL? Bezos has grown his massively successful e-commerce business from general retail to: AMAZON FRESH (people can get vegetables, fruits, and common pantry items mailed to them), E-BOOKS aka KINDLE (save those 15 pounds of books you're carrying around), AMAZON VIDEO (move over Netflix/Hulu/HBO, Bezos can take you on too), AMAZON PRIME (no one ever heard of reliable, free, 2-day shipping before Amazon), or AMAZON DASH & AMAZON ECHO (look those up yourself if you're really interested).
Think about how many times we've stopped pursuing our goals midway because we were afraid of the outcome. We can learn from Jeff Bezos in this regard. Not only has he seen his projects through until the end, but he has inspired over 230,000 employees to see through his vision too... And let's be honest, there is always push back. You'll never be able to convince everyone of your vision on the first go around. But it takes some passion, resiliency, and courage. To be honest, I thought sending fruit and veggies through home delivery would be weird, but I was surprised to know my boss in fact uses that service. Had Jeff Bezos and Amazon been too nervous and not courageous enough to see that goal through, they would have never found people who need that service (like my boss)! The possibility is there, everyone! Just find that courage - believe hard enough.
As we talk about in our #GameChanger seminar, Transitioning from Follower to Leader, Jeff Bezos has exemplified the necessary leadership ideal of courage, by being relentless in the pursuit of his goals and not worrying about what the status quo had to say. In any part of his career he did not let up moving into a different industry or market. He's changed the status quo and he's changed the game. Rightfully so, he is today's #MaverickMonday and he is a #GameChanger.
#MaverickMonday - Coach Jim Harbaugh
MAVERICK: Someone who bucks the current trend to stand up for a greater belief or cause. They are our living, breathing GameChangers
No other professional sports coach exemplifies being a GameChanger like Jim Harbaugh. Just look at track record of success.
Stanford University: Before 1-11, After 4-8
San Francisco 49ers: Before 6-10, After 13-3
University of Michigan: Before 5-7, After 10-3
How can we learn from him? His most famous quote: "ATTACK THIS DAY WITH AN ENTHUSIASM UNKNOWN TO MANKIND!"