Today we have all heard a lot on what needs to happen and who can make it happen.

That was at least the substance of the talk. The point that we have been trying to
convey is that everybody has a role to play in the scheme of thing in order get us closer
to our higher objectives.

However, there is an important missing piece as far as success and accomplishment is

concerned – which we refer as a champion. None of us are new to the notion of a
champion or their great impact on teams. We have observed in many spheres of life
and we have our own internal references in terms of personalities we associate with
champion qualities in a symbolic manner.

The reason for highlighting the role and importance of a champion in a business context
is actually a simple one. we have a number of ideas and goals and initiatives that we
want to act upon and there is no shortage in terms of work or what we would like to see
happen.

But many times, an idea are put out and is discussed in meetings and even when it
seems like everybody has bought into it, but as time rolls on, it simply doesn’t seem to
take off from the ground. The idea seems to stay as an idea with little movement

We realized inherently what is needed to bring ideas to life, and our thought is that it
requires someone in every team and at every level who can champion it as a worthy
cause and relentlessly go about it with a lot of zeal

Without a champion, an idea will simple stay as an idea or troll along without bearing
fruit and it may even go to waste as we lose to both time and competition in the market
place.

“We will know when we see them”. With champions, It’s all in the results because when
they take over, the results improve so significantly, one has to be blind to not be able to
see.. They are identified by results and they are inseparable from the results that they
produce
Stagnant sales “suddenly go up 10 or 20 percent or Staff who were disenchanted and
quitting “suddenly seem engaged and into what they’re doing”. Service levels are better
and eventually the financial results are also better

These are people who can magically take things to the next level, in fact complete
things that seem to be dragging for ages or move a cause forward that previously
completely languishing and under-performing.

We have many opportunities for creating that champion in you and we want to
encourage you to seize the moment and realize your true potential through the work you
will do.

Those who are committed to make it happen and will always find a way. The opposite is
also true. Those who lack commitment will always find a series of excuses. Every day,
we get to choose what we focus on… reasons why we can or excuses why we can’t. It’s
up to us to choose wisely!

“Change starts with you but it doesn’t start until you do”

One of the best: “If there isn’t a champion, she wrote, “somebody who says, ‘this is my
thing, this is what drives me,’ then nothing happens.

15. Get Results

People who do the above are the ones that ultimately get the best results. That plays
out the same whether their work is in community service, a for-profit business, teaching
college or raising children. The glamour wears off quickly. The results separate an
effective champion from a well-intended, hard-working, but less-effective, peer. The
bottom line is that when successful champions take the lead, service gets better, staff
morale improves, financial results brighten, and everyone wins.
Effective champions:
1. Have a Vision
A vision, as we define it at Zingerman’s, is a positive picture of the future, pegged to a particular point
in time and holding enough measurable matter that you know whether it has been achieved. Another
name for visioning is “positive futuring or the phrase from Stephen Covey, author of the seminal The 7
Habits of Highly Effective People, “Beginning with the end in mind.

Effective visions are:

a) Inspiring, to the leader who introduces them, and to everyone involved.

b) Strategically sound. They have a viable shot at becoming a reality. The key is to find a balance
between what gets everyone pumped up and what can actually be achieved.

c) Documented. That means written down. There’s enormous power in putting the vision on paper (or
at least on the computer) where others can and will read it.

d) Communicated. This is paramount to be an effective champion.

Effective champions have a vision, causing others to be inspired to contribute at greater levels than
they would normally. To quote from the late writer, professor and managment consultant Peter
Drucker, “The effective manager raises the eyes of his/her people from preoccupation with problems
to a vision of opportunity, from concern with weakness to exploitation of strengths. Most people want
to be part of something greater than themselves. An effective vision shows them what that “something
is.

2. Are Passionate about the Cause

Clichéd as the term may sound, effective champions do have great passion for what they’re working
on. That passion isn’t always about grandiose, life-altering, fancy-sounding big-name projects like
opening a new business or world peace. A champion might be passionate about a new and more
effective system of packing products into boxes, a better way to order office supplies or any of the
million other little things, which, ultimately, contribute to the business.

3. Are Active Energizers

Energizing is the willingness to do what you need to do to take the passion that resides deep within you
and get it out to where others can see it and feel it—then draw from it and on it. A true champion,
consciously or not, exudes enthusiasm. They’re always excited to talk about their project. They’re on
the move, having fun and getting those around them pumped up. Realistically, the level of energy the
front-line staff has for a project will not exceed the level we put out as leaders and champions.

4. Hustle
I’ve become more conscious of the value of the intangible that the sports world has long recognized as
“hustle. Effective champions do it. They are moving, on the move, getting things done, not waiting
around. I’m not suggesting that they’re running recklessly, or with some manic sense of misplaced
urgency. This is more an approach of moving steadily and efficiently with a purpose. They don’t waste
huge amounts of energy.

5. Have Stamina and Tenacity

To take an idea from inception to effective implementation requires a lot more stamina than most
people might expect. As my partner Paul Saginaw has said for years, “Professionalism is the willingness
to stick with things long after the initial glamour has worn off. Generally, it wears off quickly. Effective
champions barely slow down at that point—they seem to take a deep mental breath, realize that the
real work is just beginning and get on with it. Soon, everyone around them is getting on with it too.
They push through the time when others would give up, the way that great athletes have that third,
fourth or fifth wind to call on when everyone else is dragging.

6. Talk About Their Cause; A LOT!

Effective champions talk positively and affirmatively about their work with amazing regularity.
Whether the project is a product or service they sell, a business they’re building or an internal process
being put in place, the champion’s active communication gets others excited and focused. Champions
mention what they’re working on at every appropriate opportunity. The mentions may be subtle but
they are constantly inviting others to come out and visit, to taste the new product, to send names of
friends for mailing lists, etc. They take advantage of every reason to get in front of the community by
speaking to non-profits, students and business groups, family, friends; basically, anyone who will
listen. Within the organization, they ask to get onto meeting agendas; they make announcements about
achievements related to their project and so on.

7. Use Resources

This is one of the areas in which I see the biggest gap between those who successfully champion a
project and those who do not. Successful champions consistently take constructive advantage of
resources that others—who often have far greater needs—seem to ignore, pooh-pooh, or put off using
until later. These resources could include customers who want to help; staff interested in getting
involved; or industry peers who could offer insight, experience and empathy. There are numerous
learning resources like websites, classes, books, seminars, etc. And, at least around here, “new
resources often include simply starting to follow systems, recipes and processes that we’d long ago
agreed to use but somehow hadn’t.

8. Stay Positive
Although everybody gets down and has bad days, champions seem to just stay upbeat. They notice
little things that contribute to the cause (and tell people that they’ve noticed); they appreciate the
contributions of those around them, and joke in the face of adversity. Their co-workers respond to that
positive energy.

9. Fight Through the “Nay Saying

Any meaningful project will have cynics and opponents. Effective champions do not let that stop them.
They may steamroll through it or simply keep going. Later, the successful champion will get credit for
her foresight. The champion does not give up as soon as someone says that their idea is stupid or will
never work or has been tried ten times before and failed.

10. Overcome Inertia

This is about continuing at full steam when the rest of the world seems apathetic and uninspired, when
it feels like the champion is the only one who cares about the project. While most people are usually
willing to stand pat with the status quo, effective champions keep things moving. Instead of laying
down with the masses, they use positive energy, high levels of enthusiasm, vision and good
communication to help bring the group up.

11. Take Responsibility for Results

Taking responsibility for results is a prerequisite to achieving them. Successful champions take it as a
given that they’re responsible for accomplishing what needs to be done. They do not do all the work
themselves but they start with the mindset that it’s up to them to move things forward. They don’t
say, “someone else was supposed to do it, that their boss “kept them from making progress, that their
peers “weren’t supporting them, or their staff “wouldn’t get on board. They never act like victims. At
the rare times when they do raise issues, it’s always in the context of asking for help to get past short-
term obstacles.

12. Get Organized

Without a plan and an effective way to get the mission accomplished, not much will happen. Effective
champions do not operate with the illusion that stuff is just going to happen. They either get the work
effectively organized themselves, or, alternatively, they surround themselves with organized people.

13. Pay Attention to Details

You can be the most visionary, charismatic and enthusiastic leader but it’s still critical to pay attention
to the little things. Effective champions totally, regularly, watch the details, which is very different
from micromanaging. They see when people get things right and appreciate those successes. They
notice the fine points of failure—spots on windows, less-than-enthusiastic phone service, spelling
mistakes. They do not have any illusion that the details just get done. Big successes start with great
visions, but they’re built on successful implementation of the little things.

In case you think this comes from some sort of military or sports mindset, remember this quote from
the Dalai Lama, “Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must
be doubly vigilant.

14. Let Others Know They Noticed

Effective champions almost routinely find ways to let others know that they’ve noticed assistance or
accomplishments, almost always in positive, “user-friendly ways that inspire those around them to be
ever more diligent to detail.