“If we want a better world, we have to be better than the world.”
This quote popped up in A Tale of Magic, a book I was reading to my children. One of a series (of 9 connected books) by the author Chris Colfer (whom you may know as Kurt from the television show Glee).
It was so good I had to interrupt the pre-bedtime reading session while I took a picture of the page.
It’s a great way of saying “lead by example.”
Or, “be the change you want to see.”
But I feel like it is a bit more nuanced. I take it to mean that if you’re currently at C, and you want the mass of people to move to B, you need to be at A, encouraging them along.
You need to prove that better is possible.
Which strikes me as a very marketing-y thing to consider.
If you want people to put their trust in your offering, you need to be not just a step ahead of where they are but a step ahead of where you want them to go.
I’ll never be as smooth and polished and perfect in my execution as Apple, but if I get a MacBook, maybe I can get closer.
I’ll never be as fluent in Japanese as my teacher, but if I pay attention during our lessons and mimic the way she talks, maybe I can sound more natural.
We don’t lead by example; we lead by being exemplary.
It’s magic,
James
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