I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately – specifically, how to be better myself.

Here’s what I’ve learned: great leadership isn’t about being indispensable. It’s about building systems, people, and confidence so the organization runs smoothly without you. If everything falls apart when you step away, that’s not leadership – that’s dependency.

The older I get, the more I value leaders who know when to guide and when to step aside. This isn’t disengagement. It’s trust. It’s the quiet confidence of saying, “You’ve got this.”

Some of my most important lessons came from failure – because I was allowed to fail. I’m grateful to the mentors who understood that growth requires room to stumble. I’ve watched salespeople blow meetings, fighting every instinct not to step in. (These were calculated risks – not deals that would sink the company or damage its reputation.) Afterwards, we’d debrief: What went wrong? What would you do differently next time?

One moment shaped me more than most. After losing a significant sale, I told my VP of Sales I assumed I’d be fired, or at the very least I would get reamed. His reply? “Why would I fire you? I just spent $10,000 training you.”
What he was really saying was simple – and powerful: I believe in you. Learn from this. Grow.

And I did.

Spend enough time in media and communications and a few truths become impossible to ignore. Trends come and go. What’s “hot” today is forgotten tomorrow. Everyone has an opinion about what gets attention.
But after more than four decades in this business, one thing consistently separates success from noise – and it’s not your staff, your product selection, your parking, or even your price. It’s not whether you use radio, TV, social media, print, posters, or banners towed behind airplanes.

It’s your message.

Here’s the reality: all media works. Radio works. Social works. Newspapers work. TV works – when the message is right. The channel doesn’t fail the business; weak messaging does.

Yes, catchy jingles, clever copy, and great creative help. But strong results come from answering a few fundamental questions before you spend a dollar:
·       Is this about you or your audience?
·       What problem are you actually solving for them?
·       What can you do that others can’t – or won’t?
·       Does this speak to what truly matters to your target?
·       Are you using their language, not your own?

People don’t buy because you’re having a sale, opened a new location, or won an award. They buy because something matters to them. Winter tire customers aren’t buying rubber – they’re buying safety for their families. Luxury car buyers aren’t buying transportation – they’re buying identity and perception.

The most effective marketing doesn’t shout features. It solves problems, reflects real human motivations, and communicates with clarity and purpose.

Do that well – and then deliver on the promise – and the media choice becomes the easy part.

Have you ever noticed that just when you are about to click on what you really want to look at on many sites, the page shifts….just enough so you actually click on an ad?  Think this is a coincedence?  Go ahead, believe those metrics your on line agency feeds you.

I dare you!

True story.

About a year and a half ago, a spring broke on one of my garage doors.  The company that installed it originally (before I owned the home) put a bunch of company stickers on the doors.  Good move – I knew who to call.  So, I made the appointment for 7 days later because they were so backed up, and came home from work to meet them on the scheduled day and time.  I sat.  An hour went by.  I called. Yes they were sorry, but they got tied up, they will be there shortly.  Ok.  I sat.  Another hour went by.  No call from them, so I called.  The happy message on the phone informed me they were closed.  Sweet.

So, the next day I called a competitor and had it fixed within a day.

Fast forward 18 months.  One of the doors needed a section replaced because the shoddy concrete work by those who built the house left a low spot right under the door that caused it to sit in water and resulted in the bottom of the door rusting away.

Anyway, I wanted the same make of door so decided to call the original guys again and give them another shot.  After all, s**t happens and maybe they just slipped a little last time.  Lord knows I am not perfect.  So I called, made the appointment and came home from work to meet them on the scheduled day and time.  I sat.  An hour went by.  I called. Yes they were sorry, but they got tied up, they will be there shortly.  Ok.  I sat.  Another hour went by.  No call from them, so I called.  The happy message on the phone informed me they were closed.  Sweet.

Ok, I am not the smartest guy in the world, but even I am starting to see a pattern.  These guys clearly need to work on their customer service plan – or probably more accurately, build one.

When I owned a service business, customers had a two hour arrival window.  They were called 15-30 minutes prior to that window for an update on when we would arrive within that window so they would not waste any of their time waiting for us to arrive.  In case you are wondering, this is to respect the customers time.  They were then called again once we were on our way, or, if we did run into a snag that would delay us, we called them to inform them of that.  If we missed the two hour window altogether they were given an instant discount – they didn’t need to ask.  This also served to proactively diffuse a situation where a customer might be upset because were late.  By the way, we missed our window 4 times over the 5 years I ran that business.  We never had a customer complaint related to our scheduling or keeping appointments.  Not one.  Our overall customer satisfaction rating was 97 %.

Compare that to the garage door company.  At least with me, they are 0 for 2.

100% failure rate.

Accordingly, at their request, I am 100% gone as a customer.

For more, visit billthorn.com