Westwood Hills, Kansas.
Population 359.
It’s a beautiful, quiet, tiny neighborhood city that dumps you right into Kansas City’s Plaza District.
And it’s also home to this tiny business.
This is a coffee shop called Hi-Hat.
Every Saturday for the first 4 months we lived here, we were pulled to this coffee shop.
2 customers can fit inside with 2 baristas behind the counter. There is no indoor seating but the warm welcome and conversation initiated by the staff could keep you inside all day. It isn’t a transaction of ordering coffee… It’s a genuine conversation with coffee at the end.
They’ll ask what you’re up to today and if you plan on checking out the local farmers market opening day…
It’s a little something different every time you’re in there.
And the pull it has on you keeps you coming back.
Gravity is Everywhere
The subtitle above isn’t breaking news. This isn’t a shocking revelation.
Gravity exists on planet earth. But it also exists in “great things.”
All great things have a gravitational pull, some stronger than others.
Great teams. Great people. And yes, great coffee shops.
All have a pull on objects. In this case, people.
I’ll give you an example:
If you’re 16 years old, American and you love hockey…
Where do you want to play?
What team comes to mind?
Don’t scroll any further until you guess.
I think there’s enough room where you can’t see the answer.
Got an answer?
It’s the US National Team Development Program. That team has a gravity that pulls every 16 year old in the country in.
If you have a great thing going you will pull people in. You can do this in a variety of different ways.
The Opsware Way: Be a “Great Place” to Work
When Ben Horowitz was the CEO of Opsware, he really only had 1 goal.
To be a great place to work.
Ben believed the same way as many great coaches…
If you take care of the people and the environment, “success” will be a byproduct.
If they created a “great place” to work, they would “make money” or “increase shareholder value” or whatever success meant to their business.
But Ben always cared about the user experience of his people. What did it look like, feel like and sound like to work at Opsware?
Were people happy to spend 8 hours a day here?
Or 12 hours a day when the company was struggling?
Creating a great place to work increases your ability to pull in more A-players to your company or team.
The Zappos Way: Get Them on a Visit and They Won’t Leave
This is one of the things that made Zappos great. They flew potential hires out, showed them the “progressive” work environment, and treated them like they already worked there.
At the end of the trip, the CEO, Tony, or another recruiting manager would ask, “so when are you moving to Vegas?” (where the company was headquartered)
This is a common idea behind college recruiting visits. Come see our campus and you won’t want to leave.
Junior hockey teams do this as well by bringing in younger affiliate players to play for the weekend.
The Online Real-Estate Agent
You can also do this by leaving “breadcrumbs” online. Disclose who you are and what you are after. Post these thoughts on a blog, a newsletter, or a website.
And over time, you will “find your people.”
Someone you know will share an article that will pull other like-minded people to you.
Over time you’ll meet plenty of new friends and colleagues this way. It’s only been a year and it’s happening to me.
Create pull, don’t push.
Related Reading: How to make luck find you
How Else Can We Improve Gravitational Pull?
Share some ideas I missed in the comments.
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