Prepping my newsletter for tomorrow (sign…

Prepping my newsletter for tomorrow (sign up here http://howitactuallyworks.com ) and am re-listening to this interview with Ron Johnson (done by @abexlumberg) https://overcast.fm/+OxAz5ezFk/0:47 .

It's incredible on multiple levels

Ron is always on script. Any interview w/ him it's obvious he's working for his narrative.

But somehow Alex gets him to open up about his JC Penney failure so much that Ron literally says he's talked more about it than anywhere else and he wants to move on

Next, Ron uses the narrative of "a culture of kindness" to pitch his new company.

Alex asks "Why build a company on kindness?"

Imagine how youd answer that question. "Our customers would like it" or "Because I want to like the people I work with"

You'd be thinking too small

The new company is Enjoy. They help people setup new tech purchases (e.g. Sonos) in their homes.

Boring, home IT support.

Remember that

Ron answers

"Because I think [kindness] is why we're here on the planet, right? We're here to make life better, not for ourselves, but for our neighbors. The people we come across.

He just took an IT support company and elevated its mission to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: "Do to others what you would have them do to you".

The literal Golden Rule.

Narrative is how you get a team to push the boulder up the mountain. The best leaders always use stories to progress their movement.

Most people don't want to work for an IT support company.

But a lot of people will get excited to work for a company built on kindness

Next, talking about his career: "I realize that in my career out of 38 years I probably had 8 great years. But that’s what you work for."

Ron was @ Target at the height of its popularity. And he worked w/ Steve Jobs on what became the retail phenomenon that is Apple's stores

And yet he only "had 8 great years". WTF?

The point is that the journey is everything.

The joy comes from planting, not harvesting.

Relationships grow from building together, not consuming.

Everything meaningful in life comes from working towards something

Find something you can build towards. Even if you fail like Ron did @ JC Penney, it'll feel so much more worthwhile than sitting back watching other people create the world

PS this is a good example of what you'll get in my newsletter, sign up here http://howitactuallyworks.com fin