Success Advice

5 Things Google, Uber, Nike & Amazon Did to Create Extraordinary Results

Published

6 years ago

Mar 11, 2018

Extraordinary businesses are much more about evolution than revolution. Small daily insignificant improvements lead to staggering results over time. Companies such as Google, Uber, Nike and Amazon have not made only one move to amplify their greatness but a series of steps over time. These companies have created un-parallel success due to their belief that success is an inevitable byproduct of doing the little things right. No huge action or silver bullets, instead focusing on achieving legendary business and being better human beings.

The same concept applies, whether it be to companies, or individual performance. Improvements are identified, specific changes are required for the transition and then deliberate immersion until they are automatized.

Important clues hide in the stories of world-renowned creators. Researchers use the term “The Mundanity of Excellence” to describe what makes the best isn’t natural talent or luck but character and the application of a series of simple, specific and learnable methods.

Successful growth companies don’t roll the dice once. When you improve a little each day, eventually big things happen. Invest your energy into seeking the small improvements, small wins, one day at a time and when it happens, it lasts.

Below are 5 principles that when acted upon consistently can lead you to create sustainable results in your business:

1. Played the long game

Media and many within our communities, sensationalize authority figures as overnight success. It rarely exists. Success is captured by thousands of nights in the making, practicing day in and day out and taking countless steps. Bezos attributes Amazon’s success to playing the long game.

When you accept that the journey is not a linear line and you need to work your way there, you take incremental steps to play the long game. Amazon’s first step towards creating the everything store was to focus on selling one thing and one thing only – books. They built one specific product and a strong e-commerce system around it before expanding and diversifying.

2. Thought big, started small

Great companies gather evidence about their capabilities by firing small bullets before they launch a missile. They invest in data to validate where they are heading. They don’t start firing and hope they hit or miss.

When you look back at Google, Larry Page introduced Google Books when he bought a scanner and hooked it up in his office. He began scanning pages, timed it, ran numbers and realized it would be possible to bring book’s online.

Most creators started small. Look at Richard Branson, he started the Virgin Brand with a student magazine. Other examples include Facebook which was started at Harvard and Google started at Stanford with the objective of helping people find information efficiently. Throughout the growth of Google, the company has added more services, yet they continue to focus on one thing only, finding information as quickly as possible.

Amazon dominates different lines of business having little to do with its original undertaking of selling books. Jeff Bezos insists that putting customers first, invent and be patient has been his motto since the beginning.

“Look at things as they can be, not as they are.” – David J. Schwartz

3. Accepted failure as feedback

Failure is inevitable. Humans and business are imperfect. Failure is feedback and opportunity. Fail, but fail early before you invest more than you must or before you compromise your brand. Bezos was interviewed by his brother at Los Angeles’ Summit 2017 where he stated that at the age of 30 he recognized failure was okay but trying was not.

His level of self-awareness allowed him to tap into his courage and take a risk to start an online store. He attributed his success in business due to developing self-reliance and resourcefulness growing up on a ranch. Failure was part of the process, so he mastered that.

4. Found a gap in the market

Uber disrupted the global taxi industry by finding a gap in the market and fulfilled a very real role. Uber removed all the problems associated with taxi services in one fell swoop. They tapped into putting people first by beginning the customer experience through connection of an app to create a personal experience.

They adopted technology at the core and initially focused on raising brand awareness through sponsorship of relevant major events. They harnessed the crowd in the early days with the recommend a friend tactic. They capitalized on social media to the point where the brand became instantly familiar in people’s minds. Step by step, they disrupted the global taxi industry.

“We’ve grown up with internet. We’re able to see things and gaps in markets that others may not be able to.” – Nick D’Aloisio

5. Left a lasting Imprint in people’s minds

“Just do it” is imprinted in the minds of many as is the swoosh logo. In the early days of Nike, putting customers first was paramount. The Nike Moon shoes were a classic example of not only building great products but also highlighting the health benefits of wearing the jogging shoe. The audience wasn’t looking for better running shoes but a better way to get in shape.

Like the other companies identified, Nike has taken small steps over time to significantly impact millions of people. Their brand stands alone, yet they have adapted through upgraded designs, embraced new technologies moving from print to social media platforms and adapted to the needs of their audience.

They continue to hold on to their customer-centric messaging by staying true to their sense of purpose, emphasizing benefits of their products and reinforcing the message that they help their clients be better at what they love to do.

None of these companies sold products, they spread ideas and delivered the benefits that came with it. Over time, they built trust with customers by adding immense value. A style that will never out date.

Which one of these companies is your favorite one and why? Let us know in the comments below!

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Angela Kambouris

Angela Kambouris used to work with high risk kids in the streets of Melbourne, now she has her own consultancy business and writes for large publications. As a leadership coach and business leader having spent over 20 years in the field of vulnerability and trauma, she has built a high-level career as an executive and transitioned into a business owner. She has spoken on stages and worked with thousands of people in self-development, leadership, mindset, human behavior and business. Love to travel, experience difference cultures and mastermind with leaders and expert authorities in personal development and business all over the world. Connect with her through her website http://angelakambouris.com/ or through her Facebook.

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Success Advice

Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker

With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

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3 days ago

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Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

4 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.