In my first post college “real job” as a management trainee / route driver, I began every day at 6:00AM with a printed stack of delivery tickets / invoices. These were used to keep track of what uniforms were being delivered to each person at each account and to verify that everything had been loaded on the truck. In an effort to motivate the service team to increase direct sales to clients in order to meet our company goals, one of my managers began writing a simple phrase on the first ticket of every member of his team – “Who’s Hungry?” He would write it on whiteboards in the route driver room. He would scream it at the top of his lungs as we headed out the door. In essence he was saying to us, being great at what you do is a choice. Do you want to do what it takes to win? Are you committed to doing it right now, all day, and everyday?
Hunger is an underrated factor in business. A marketing team can put together the most brilliant research, the most clever plan, the most insightful analysis of a situation and deliver a marketing strategy that lays out a clear path to success, but without hunger it is destined to fail. Hunger trumps all. If you want to win, you better wake up hungry every single day. If you’re not hungry, you are going to lose to someone who is.
The best marketing strategy you could adopt? “Get Hungry!” Hungry people don’t have time to screw around. They need to eat. Hungry people are ready to work. They don’t obsess with policies and procedures, roles and responsibilities, or the old way. They do what it takes to put food on the table. Hungry people are not afraid to try because they understand that failing to try means failing to eat, which means death.
Hungry people are focused on the goal of food, not easily distracted, not easily dissuaded, and 100% devoted to doing whatever it takes to survive.
Hunger hurts.
Hunger drives and motivates.
Hunger is a choice.
Hunger is the 20% that matters most.
Who’s Hungry?
