‘Red Shoes Living’ Helps Everyone Step Up Their Game

You might want to buy a pair of red shoes after listening to keynote speaker Lonnie Mayne.

Mayne discussed the power of “Red Shoes Living” at the XChange 2019 conference in Denver, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company. It’s a business strategy that helps companies compete in an era when employees often want more than a paycheck.

“It’s all about standing out for the positive in the work that you do and the way that you live your life,” said Mayne.

The concept reminds people of five things: to be aware, to be grateful, that everyone has a story, to be respectful and kind, and to put yourself out there.

“What does awareness mean to you? If you and I are having a meeting and we’re sitting at lunch and my phone is on the table and I keep looking at my phone, that’s not awareness of you as a human being. So it’s little steps of putting the phone down. It’s looking you in the eye,” said Mayne.

Mayne says it’s leading to visible results: Companies have reduced employee turnover and training costs, while also creating more meaningful customer experiences. But why red shoes?

“The story behind it is this: One day I wore a pair of red Vans tennis shoes into the office. We were a smaller tech company at the time. I was talking to our marketing team about the need to stand out in everything we do. As I was describing how I wanted to stand out for our employees and customers, the marketing lead at the time said, ‘You mean you want to stand out like those red shoes?’ I said, ‘That’s right.’ And it stuck.”

Mayne now spends his time traveling the country to spread the word, and it’s taking off: Mayne often gets pictures of employees with the hashtag #redshoesliving.

For more coverage, watch CRN’s video included in this article.