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Transcript
This past week, I went to a conference and while there went to different restaurants around with different people. The first night I went to a restaurant with a friend who wanted to go somewhere because the event ended and he was hungry.
So we went to this restaurant, we sat down, looked at the menu and they had an interesting item on the menu. It was 50 slices of bacon and the beer. And that was one of their breakfast options. And I was like, that is so interesting. That is like, wow, that is crazy.
And the guy with me, he was so tempted to order it because mainly he just wanted to take a picture with it. But it was kind of a cool thing. And he didn’t because it was late and it would have taken a while. But that was just something that we thought was so cool.
So the next few days at the conference, when I was talking to people, I probably told four or five, maybe more people about that restaurant and that menu option just because it was so neat.
“Hey, we went to this restaurant and on the breakfast menu, they had one option that was 50 slices of bacon and a beer.” Crazy. And so it was a fun conversation.
Some people would be like, “Oh man, let’s go right now.” Other people were like, “Man, that’s a heart attack waiting to happen.” Whatever it is, it was just kind of a cool conversation thing. And I told again, probably five or six people about it just because of it.
Later in the week when a group of us that we’ve kind of connected while at the conference, we went to back to that restaurant and my friend ordered the 50 slices of bacon. And so here they come 50 slices of bacon on the plate sat right in front of us. We took pictures, but we ate a few pieces a piece.
And then my friend, walked around and just gave bacon away to everybody in the bar because there’s no way we’re 50 pieces of bacon. But it was a cool conversation story. It was a cool thing to see and take pictures of and something to remember.
The reason I tell you this story is I want you to think about what your 50 pieces of bacon is.
Just like any other Mexican restaurant…
I remember a few years ago, a new restaurant, a new Mexican restaurant opened up in the town I’m in and we went there with some friends, or the people I was working with then. And it was just like every single Mexican restaurant in the city. There’s already like a bunch of them.
And it was just another one with the same menu, the same options, everything. There was nothing really different about it. And the food wasn’t like exceptionally great or anything. It was just another restaurant.
And I was like, man, what could they do so… why don’t they do something different? I mean, even if they just, you know how, at least in the areas I’ve been, they usually have these giant menus with tons of options. Like even if they just said, okay, we’re going to have five options that are like our key things on these nights or whatever it may be, it would have made them stand out.
But instead they did the same thing as everybody else.
Be makes your business or organization different?
One of the things that you can do as a person leader, if you’re like looking for a position, if you’re a business owner is to have those 50 pieces of bacon. What makes you distinct different that people talk to you?
Now as a restaurant, it’s in a way you could say quote unquote easier because you just have some kind of special food item that people talk about.
If you know that… one had the 50 pieces of bacon, another one I heard about in Philadelphia, they had a hundred dollar Philly cheesesteak. And I think they put like lobster and shrimp, stuff like that inside of it to make it $100.
But because it was $100, people talked about it like I talked about the 50 pieces of bacon. And so people came to the restaurant just because of the $100 cheesesteak, even if they didn’t order it, it was just a really cool talking point. And it was cool to see when other people ordered it, like when we ordered that 50 pieces of bacon and we had it sitting on the table.
Even the waiters, when they walk by, they’re like, oh, that’s a lot of bacon. And people walking by, they’re like, oh, that’s a lot of bacon. It makes something cool.
So if you are a business owner or you’re in a leadership position in a company, what is your 50 pieces of bacon? What makes you stand out? What’s a talking point that makes you unique? What differentiates you?
50 slices as a person
As a leader… let’s say, I’ll just say you’re looking for a different leadership position in this situation. If you’re looking for a new leadership position, or you’re wanting a promotion, what about you makes you stand out among everybody else?
Does your leadership stand out? Does the way your team produce stand out? Does the culture that you’ve created on your team make you stand out?
Is it differentiate you that when people see you, they talk about you because of what you do with your team. If you are not a leader now by position, how do you stand out to move up?
Like, do you help other people win? When people see you and talk about you, they say, man, this person, just, they help everybody. They help everybody accomplish their goals. They help everybody win in what they’re doing. They support and help others, you know, when they’re having, they’re struggling in whatever time project, they’re the ones who come and help them get through it, whatever it may be.
Do you go above and beyond what you’re supposed to do? Do you not just meet expectations? Do you exceed expectations? Are you the person people know they can go to because you get things done?
Because if you’re that kind of person, then people will talk about you or people will notice. And when you’re trying to get a promotion or moving into a position of leadership, whatever it may be, those things will help you stand out.
Make your team stand out
Even if you aren’t trying to a different position and you’re in a leadership position, you still want to do the things that make you stand out. You still want to build that great culture. You still want to take that ownership and support people and help people learn to solve problems and grow a strong team, which makes them stand out and helps them grow in their careers and grow in their lives.
Be the bacon
I know this was a different type of podcast or episode because I didn’t talk about the leadership principle specifically in the sense that I normally do. But I thought this would be an interesting topic because of the principle behind the 50 pieces of bacon. If you want to stand out as a leader, if you want to, whether position or whatever it may be, then do the things that make you stand out.
Be the 50 slices. If you own the business or you’re in the leadership of a business and you want your business to prosper and people to stand out and people talk about you, do something or have something that’s like the 50 slices of bacon.
What is that? See if you can think of something and that can help you and your business grow.
Things to think about. I hope it helps somehow. See you next time.
