Hi there,
This note is coming to you a bit later today on Friday.
I wanted to wait for my ‘Speech Week’ to wrap up, so I could share some insights with you across three different cities, industries (mining; environmental services, waste management, and recycling industry; and healthcare), and topics that I covered this week.
TUESDAY + WEDNESDAY
PERTH: 2-DAY GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PLANNING WORKSHOP
I started the week flying to Perth to work, to faciliate a 2-day planning meeting for a global leadership team I started working with in May.
In May, the team were newly reformed and a lot of the work was at a strategic level and developing their team priorities; cadence; drumbeat; questioning current approaches and more. This time, 90 days later, it was all about the execution - what’s working well? What needs to improve? Imagine an executive leader walked in the room right now, if we had to share with them the top handful of priorities between now and the end of the year, what would they be?
It’s so good to see the leadership investment in bringing teams together form around the world to just nut things out. I designed an agenda which really prioritised conversations you could not have on Teams.
One line I loved was when we were talking about how to influence across a complex business:
Kathy is amazing,” one leader shared. “I’m like a parasite and she’s the host. The second you infect her by sharing our value, she just spreads it to everyone.” (Side note: Kathy isn’t on their team).
I loved this metaphor. It made me laugh, but it also lands a great point - you don’t need to do all the heavy lifting yourself.
Find the host, share the value, and let them evangelise on your behalf.
THURSDAY
BRISBANE: 90-MIN WORK FAME WORKSHOP
I left Perth 6pm Weds night; flew back to Brisbane and arrived home at 1am.
I was up around 6am (body clock) and back at it (please don’t follow my advice for work/life balance), this time hosting a ‘It’s time to claim your Work Fame’ session for the Communications and Stakeholders function… a team that drives all the marketing and comms initiatives; and they also advise their business.
I shared this concept of an EHAO role.
EHAO stands for ‘Everyone Has An Opinion’ role.
For example, in a previous life I was a marketing manager; and you soon realise that everyone else you work with also happen to be marketing experts, too.
When we launched our new website, so many colleagues would give me their advice and criticisms, “Leanne, this should have been on the front page”, or “The colour button should be this Pantone” - it’s part of life.
It’s an EHAO role. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just something you need to accept that comes part of the territory when you work in something like markeing.
And btw, no shade on these people…I appreciated the dialogue - at least they were engaged with what we were doing!
Another concept I shared was an advice continuum I created.
On one end is “I’ll take your advice as a suggestion”, on the other end it was “I’ll take your advice as legislation”, and asked them to map where they felt they were on that continuum with a key stakeholder, and where they wanted to be; and what they could do to potentially bridge that gap.
When you become work famous, you find it easier to influence others around you.
We covered another key concept I write about in Work Fame such as hosting a listening tour; and Results v Task language. It’s actually too much fun sharing book concepts with groups rn, loving it!
FRIDAY (TODAY)
KINGSCLIFF (Northern NSW): KEYNOTE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN PODIATRY ASSOCIATION
I’m writing this 30mins after wrapping up my opening keynote for the Australian Podiatry Association business conference. My topic was ‘More Than Foot Traffic: How to make podiatry (and your clinic) famous.
Given I was working with podiatrists, I asked them right at the start to stand up; and share their best marketing tactic that attracts the right clients. I just love the opportunity (especially early) to get some friendtoring happening - and what better place to ideate/share than with other practice owners?
I believe that you actually don’t need to spend a dollar on marketing; if you can create a brand/reputation where people come to you. Personally; I’ve never spent a dollar on advertising my business (the only ad spend in my 7 years of biz has been about $500 on Amazon ads to drive awareness of my first book, The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint).
Treat the human (not the foot)
My interactive keynote was built around the back of that Jeff Bezos quote I shared in a previous article - you can form a business strategy (and a marketing plan) around the things in life that are 100% certain.
For podiatrists? That 100% is that they will always be treating a human.
So, let’s break down - what makes human’s want to engage with you? What makes them feel threatened? And use some of David Rock’s SCARF (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness) framework to think about how to bring this into practice.
At a super high level, we focused on these key questions around SCAR:
Think about your practice through the eyes of a patient (or, an employee)
Where could you create more…
Status: Make clients (or employees) feel valued?
Certainty: Help clients (or employees) know what to expect?
Autonomy: Give clients (or employees) more choice or control?
Relatedness: Build stronger connection and trust?
Here are some pre-baked ideas I went in with; and they generated so many more awesome ones - just sharing a few ideas (too many here to list them all), for example:
STATUS
I shared that I wanted MORE than an appointment when I was working with my Achilles. I wanted support in between appointment, where I could voice note/text my practitioner and ask what to do if things like my Achilles flared up between sessions. Rather than just having standard care; could you offer premium care package with in-between appt support?
Key question:
“What could you offer patients between appointments that makes them feel more supported (without creating another appointment?)
Also, I’m heading to Osaka next month for work and checking out things to do. Apparently you can get some type of samurai massage at a temple, and as part of the package they take footage (photos and video) of the experience. Honestly, I’m so weird, but I’d actually love if they filmed me doing the exercises during the appointment, or getting shockwave to share on the socials (yes, I’m weird). But why not let your patients evangelise the experience on your behalf?)
CERTAINTY
We like to predict what’s going to happen. We get anxious when we don’t know. How are you reducing that anxiety for your prospects?
Example: Clinic Walkthrough
Film a walk-through video of your clinic, showing them where to park and where to go. Here’s an example of one I did for the Michael Bungay Stanier x Leanne Hughes Rooftop event a couple years ago.
Example: Offer Prepaid clinical pckages
Takes the strain out of knowing how much you’re going to pay.
Return-to-running program $x
Includes assessment + biomechanical analysis + treatment plan + two reviews + running progression
Ingrown toenail care package: $X
Assessment + procedure + dressings + defined follow-up care
Diabetic foot protection program: $X
Comprehensive assessment + risk stratification + education + clinically indicated follow-up
AUTONOMY
Give clients a choice on who you see and help direct that choice by creating a short quiz to your practice website/socials.
Prospect answers 3 simple questions about what they need help with
Use their responses to direct them to the right podiatrist (makes booking easier by removing the “Who do I book with?” decision - and attracts the right patient to the right podiatrist)
Use it as both a patient experience and marketing initiative (as you can track responses); include a clear disclaimer that it guides the patient to the right starting point (rather than providing a diagnosis).
We also explored how to make podiatry as in industry famous.
Okay, phew, what a week!
I better get back on the road.
Comment below if you have any questions, I love hearing from you!
Or hit the heart if you found something helpful in here.
See you next Friday,
Leanne “Hope the traffic is okay on the drive home” Hughes