But the Other Guys Have It!

Remember your Mom's response to that justification? If your folks were like mine, it probably went something along the lines of "So does that mean you'd jump off a cliff just because the other guy did?"

Business is no different - or at least it shouldn't be.

Market leadership is not about being just like everyone else. Leadership is about defining (or clarifying) who and what our companies are, what value we bring and why that matters. It's about doing things that are special for our customers. Market leadership is about being unique.

We've all read book after book about the ingredients of leadership, listened to the consultants tell us how to be leader, even claimed to find our leadership path. Yet how many of us are conscious leaders, rather than subconscious followers?

Take our obsession with the competition. We point toward a competitive loss and proclaim that some brand new competitive whatchamafloppy is what we have to have to win.

Right. Just like I needed that new really cool pink wig for my barbie doll, like the one my friend got for her birthday. The one I NEVER put on Barbie's head again after I whined and wheedled until some grandparent bought it for me.

Wanna bet how many customers feel the same way about that cool technical whatchamafloppy? How many could care less? Probably a lot of them.

Sure, there are great technology advances that are absolutely essential to your fundamental business. And you should find the most effective way to incorporate them into your solutions. But competitive me-too's are NOT what differentiate you. They surely don't make you a leader. Not when someone else already has them.

If you need to follow someone when defining your future, your distinction - focus on your customers. Follow the right ones and you'll succeed every time.

As for your competitors, they belong in your rearview mirror.