If you’re going to win the holidays in our business – you must have a team full of difference makers. As we all know – December is our busiest month of the year, and this year is one of the shortest time frames (27 days) between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we’ve had since pre-COVID days.

My advice during this time of the year is simple with all the craziness and rush of the holidays. It’s also a very tough time for a lot of people that have had major family changes in the last year and it’s also a very lonely time of the year for many people. So, here’s the advice:

Just take care of each customer – one at a time!

And just the one that’s in front of you. You must blur out all the other noise that would keep you from just focusing on that ONE customer! I promise that every customer that you focus on just them – will really appreciate it and it will be a feather in your loyalty hat!!

A Difference Maker is someone who stands out and positively impacts the lives of others. I’ve always loved John Maxwell’s teaching on Difference Makers and here are some key qualities that he uses to define a Difference Maker:

1. Positive Attitude: A Difference Maker sees opportunities rather than obstacles and maintains a positive outlook, even in challenging situations.
2. Resilience: They bounce back from setbacks and failures, learning from each experience to grow stronger and wiser.
3. Empathy: They genuinely care about others and strive to understand their feelings and perspectives.
4. Integrity: Honesty and strong moral principles are at the core of their actions and decisions.
5. Commitment: They are dedicated to their goals and persist in the face of difficulties.
6. Vision: A Difference Maker has a clear sense of direction and purpose, inspiring others with their vision.
7. Influence: They have the ability to positively influence and inspire others through their actions and words.
8. Problem-solving Skills: They can think critically and creatively to find effective solutions to problems.
9. Collaboration: They work well with others, fostering teamwork and a sense of community.
10. Lifelong Learning: They are always seeking to grow and improve, staying open to new ideas and experiences.

In my book, The 5 Rules, I highlight my son, Jared Stephen Black’s qualities he has that makes him the quintessential difference maker! We’ve all heard about those people that light up a room when they come in, he lights up a city when he comes to town!!

Jared Stephen Black

Here are what I’ve called the 5 C’s of a Difference Maker and Jared’s qualities that make him a Difference Maker:

1. Charisma – I think of this as MOJO – it’s something about a personality that draws people to you like a magnet. Makes you want to listen to them, makes you feel connected to them, and makes you want to follow them. This is one of the qualities that I believe every member of management truly needs to have and at a high level. If you’re going to be responsible for leading people – they must WANT to follow you and without charisma and presence, (Presence defined as: The ability to be fully engaged and make others feel valued and important) it will be very difficult to do. I like to think of this quality as getting a good head start on leading people!
2. Curious – always asking questions. Learning is a lifetime quest, and you want to know all you can about as many things as you can for as long as you can. Jared is the person that my wife, Melanie and I always go to for the answers to any questions we have on just about anything – he’s most definitely our own family google! And we need people on our teams that always seem to have the answers. And that comes from a lifetime of learning and always wanting to learn more.
3. Caring – you deeply truly care about people. It’s the core of who you are. You are more interested in the person, than what the person can do for you. This quality is the one that connects hearts. When people KNOW you care about them and how they are doing, what they have going on in their lives and that you’ll do anything you can to help them, and they can trust you, they’ll follow you forever and into the hottest battles. And as all good qualities of leaders, when people don’t believe you care for them, they may continue to work for you, but it won’t last very long, and you’ll never have the culture you need to be successful long term.
4. Comedic – Jared has an amazing sense of humor. That trait alone can relax everyone in a room, feel part of the conversation and he makes you laugh. This is one of those qualities that in the business world seems to have disappeared due to all the pressures of running a business today and the continual challenges coming at everyone from all directions. That’s why this one is a game changer for sure. A good laugh can alleviate stress and anxiety, making the workplace more enjoyable and less tense. Light-hearted moments can increase employee satisfaction and morale, leading to a more motivated and productive team. Humor can break down barriers and make communication more effective, helping to convey messages in a relatable and memorable way. A humorous environment encourages creative thinking and problem-solving by promoting a relaxed and open-minded atmosphere.
5. (Of High) Character – it’s the part of your personality that defines you. It’s how you act when nobody is looking. It’s a high bar for yourself, regardless of those around you. If you’re truly going to make a difference – this is a core quality that will never make people question your judgement or advice. When they know you have integrity and character, they’ll never question your leadership, and they’ll want to mirror your behavior. And that’s what leading people is all about – leaders creating other leaders. When you have high character it’s also a sign of reliability. People will always follow a leader they can rely on.

Now – to tie it all together and keeping the holidays in perspective:

I think if you polled shoppers during this time of the year – they’d tell you that most retailers add to their stress because they don’t have what you need, they are shorthanded, the lines are long and they are in a giant hurry to complete their food needs during this time – and now because of this they normally must go to multiple places to get everything.

So, the way we win the holiday is that we’re ahead of knowing this is going to happen and we need to do everything we can to make sure we’re at the top of our game. Christmas has been happening now for over 2,000 years, so we can’t be surprised by all the elements around this holiday time. The retailers and leaders that know this – will always be the calm voice that this holiday needs – and as mentioned at the beginning of this column – we do that by taking care of the customer in front of us – they have our full attention, and we make sure their shopping experience subtracted from their stress instead of adding to their stress.

We spend literally millions of dollars a year in marketing, advertising and loyalty programs during the holidays and nothing will have a better ROI than our team that’s full of difference makers taking care of our customers and ultimately, changing the outcome of the game!!

I challenge everyone out on the sales floor over the coming days, to just walk around and remind the team – “ONE AT A TIME”, “ONE AT A TIME”, “ONE AT A TIME”.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!