The Empowerment Trilogy: Part Three
How to Empower Your Industry
What is your responsibility to your industry?
You may think that this is a silly question. After all, you are already responsible to your workers, your customers, perhaps your shareholders. Why should your industry be on this list at all?
I would argue that any business must see itself as part of a larger matrix. When you work for the good of your business, you should also be working for the good of your larger society. This is a big challenge, but a necessary one. You can start by working to better your industry.
One way I do this is by looking for ways to export my concepts of empowerment to others in my business circle.
How I empower my industry:
- I challenge the status quo. I am not one who follows rules blindly. When I see a rule, or a process that has long been followed, I often wonder if it is time to rewrite that rule and replace it with a process that is more effective. When I challenge the rules of my industry, I empower others to do the same. When I entered into my first e-commerce project, I challenged the conventional wisdom that said online merchants should not have the ability to communicate directly with customers. When I entered the e-reader industry last year, I challenged the notion that brick and mortar booksellers could not collaborate with an e-reading company. By challenging the rules, I empower others to shake up their own circumstance and consider whether it is time for a change.
- I share my thinking with my industry colleagues. When I am considering something new, it will often be in a public forum. I was once a member of a traditional Japanese business organization. When I wondered whether or not it was an organization moving the right direction, I considered leaving – on Twitter. By airing my musings in this public social media format, I opened a discussion. I empowered others in my industry to raise their questions as well about the efficacy of this and other traditional business groups.
- I am a voice for empowerment beyond my own walls. Whenever I am asked to speak at a conference, participate in an industry gathering or share my views on business, I look for ways to make empowerment part of that conversation. It is the theme that I hope will spill out of my own company and into the industry and global marketplace around me.
To empower is to drive change and enable success, for individuals, for a company, for an industry. It is the force behind so much of what I do on a daily basis. It is a tool that is available to all of us as we run meetings, deal with customers and work for the betterment of the world around us.
By : Hiroshi Mikitani – Linkedin Article
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