A hero is often described as an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. However, if this is the case, it means you’d have to believe that you are ordinary.
“I don’t think there’s anybody walking this planet that was put here to be ordinary,” says Kevin Brown, author of The Hero Effect. “I don’t think there’s anybody that’s in your industry that was put there to make an ordinary contribution. With the Hero Effect, we believe that heroes are extraordinary people who choose not to be ordinary.”
With this mindset shift comes the questions of ‘Am I living up to my potential?’ and ‘Am I doing the work to get myself better?’
“Because we can’t give what we don’t have,” Brown says. “If we want our people to get better, we have to get better first.”
Brown will cover how leaders can be their best when it matters the most during the Opening Main Stage session on Monday, Nov. 3, at 8 a.m. at ELEVATE.
“People should not attend this session unless they want to make a difference in the world, become a better leader, become a better human and make a contribution that contributes to their legacy long term,” Brown says. “If they don’t want to build deeper relationships, if they don’t want to create a better experience for their people, if they don’t want to be accountable to their potential and their contribution, and if they don’t want to see the world through the lens of optimism, they should absolutely not attend.”
The Hero Effect Philosophy
Brown says that individuals have a natural aversion to being considered a hero and tend to shrink into the ordinary mindset.
“Being a hero is not necessarily about doing big, grand world-changing things, although it can be, but more often than not, it’s the everyday things that we do with great intention, with great focus, with great care,” Brown says. “Those are the things that really move the needle when it comes to building relationships.”
Brown says the Hero Effect principles come down to making life better, solving problems and removing stress. For instance, heroes help people with no strings attached.
“It’s that little bitty no strings attached part that is the extra mile in the first place,” Brown says. “It’s going above and beyond, doing that little something extra that surprises the people that we serve and people we serve with. Our first customers are the people we serve alongside. If we can’t serve each other, it’s very unlikely that we’re going to serve the client very well.”
The second thing heroes do is create an exceptional experience for the people they serve and serve with.
“Nothing is random,” Brown says. “Nothing is taken for chance. They take great care in their interactions, communications and connections that they have with the people around them. They create this experience that people can’t get anywhere else.”
Brown says that heroes take 100% responsibility for their lives and everything in them. They don’t make excuses or blame others.
“They raise their hand and say, ‘What can I do with what I have to create the best possible outcome?’” Brown says.
Lastly, heroes look through a lens of optimism. Brown says the skillset of optimism is different from positive thinking.
“It’s how we look at obstacles, challenges, roadblocks, and instead of being buried in the problem, we step back and see what’s possible,” Brown says. “We see a little bit further than everybody sees who’s down in the weeds. We can see a little bit farther and say, ‘Yeah, we have a problem. We have a challenge in front of us, but there’s a solution, and together, we’re going to find it.’”
Daily Habits of Heroes
Brown says his mentor taught him that before you can ever lead another person, you have to lead yourself first.
“Leader of one is about self-mastery,” Brown says. “It’s about self-growth. It’s about self-leadership and what am I doing to become better. Because the people around us, they may be listening to us, but more than listening to us, they’re watching us, and we give them permission to do what we do, not necessarily what we say.”
Brown says that if you aren’t constantly setting the standard of excellence and modeling for your team extraordinary thinking, you will start losing your competitive edge. He adds that you also need to understand what your people are there for.
“They’re not there to help you reach your goals,” Brown says. “They’re there to reach their goals. The minute you bridge the gap between personal goals and organizational objectives, you begin to separate yourself from everybody else. We live in this fantasy world sometimes, as leaders, that people are there to help us achieve our goals or the company’s goals, and that may be their responsibility, but that’s not their motivation.”
Brown recommends finding a formula that works for you. You don’t have to get up at 4 a.m. and work out for two hours every day, but you do need to have routines that feed your mind, body and spirit.
“Are we even setting an agenda for the day?” Brown says. “Because if you don’t set an agenda for the day, somebody else will set one for you.”
Brown recommends intentionally protecting your time and focusing on high-payoff activities instead of getting caught up in constant distractions.
Being Present
Brown says that living in a hyper-distracted world, one of the only things we have control over is being present in the moment.
“Are we truly present with the people that we’re with?” he says. “Are we really in the moment? Or are we just chasing the next time on our list or on our calendar, checking out boxes so that we can feel good about going to bed that night?”
Brown explains that living in the moment comes down to not living by a schedule, but by priorities.
“When we start living by priorities, then we start making people the first priority,” Brown says.
He says leaders cannot measure the impact of when they make their people feel seen, heard and valued.
“Almost every organization on the planet says people are our main priority, and then we ignore most of them, including the customer,” Brown says. “We show up and we put a sign in the yard that says we were there, and we don’t return calls. We don’t follow up.”
Brown adds that being present is critical because just one moment in time can change everything.
“One conversation, one connection, one minute with somebody can change everything, not only for you, but for the people that you’ve been with,” Brown says. “Apple pancakes changed my world, changed my family’s world, and it changed a mega organization in immeasurable ways. I’m going to tell them that story during the keynote.”
Ready to shift to an extraordinary mindset? Register for ELEVATE and we’ll see you in Phoenix, Arizona!
