Oct 28, 2011 | Communication, Leadership
The old axiom that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes, has been expanded by a third certainty: change.
Should this third certainty have an impact on the nature of leadership in the future?
My view, Absolutely!.
In uncertain environments, a core skill has to be the management of ambiguity, and so it is reasonable to expect leaders of the future to be good at receiving, processing and articulating inconclusive, ambiguous, and often contradictory information, in a way that offers a sense of certainty and security to those being led.
Oct 21, 2011 | Change, Communication, Leadership
Creating a sense of commitment to an outcome is the job of anyone who seeks to lead.
Perhaps the most powerful way of achieving this is to build an understanding in an audience of what the current looks like, and articulating the shape of the future.
This should be far more than a presenter just asking themselves rhetorical questions, done well it creates a rhythm to a presentation, that can be compelling.
Probably the most compelling example, certainly the best known is Dr Kings speech in 1963, most immediately recognise the power of that articulation, relating to the couple of minutes at the end where he articulated his dream, having spent the first 12 minutes or so of the 16 minute speech laying out the present. This speech was so compelling it assembled the momentum for enormous change in the social fabric of the western world, consider what could be done in youir organisation with the use of that simple technique.
Trick is to ensure you live the dream, or it is just words.
Oct 4, 2011 | Communication, Customers, Marketing, Sales
Dave Winer, one of the earliest bloggers, prolific web publisher, and a key developer of the RSS technology so many of us use daily, has made many pithy statements worth remembering, but I was reminded of one over the weekend as the silly GASP customer complaint “thingie” went viral.
Dave opined “if you don’t want me to slag off at your product, don’t have a shit product”. A retailer sells goods, but the service is a part of the offering to customers, so irrespective of weather or not a purchase is made, it is in the retailers interests to have them leave with a smile on their face.
The dresses at Gasp may be worn by so called stars, but the failure by the self proclaimed sales superstar to recognise that individuals can now extract a substantial revenge for poor service via social media should ensure his superstardom is exercised elsewhere, perhaps serving petrol at the local Woolies where he cannot do much damage to his employers brand.
Sep 23, 2011 | Communication, Customers, Innovation, Small business, Social Media
Ask a SME manager in packaged goods, “would you like a phone call from Woolworths ordering stock of your new product for every store in the country?” and you will most likely get a tear with the nodded head.
Enter the “Orabrush” story, they got the call from Walmart without any of the usual begging.
There are many hurdles for SME’s in the packaged goods industry to jump before distribution in the major retailers can be obtained, and then the problems really start, because SME’s lack the resources to move the product off shelf before the trial period runs out.
Social media has helped over the past couple of years, you now have the opportunity to reach highly targeted groups of consumers, and deliver them a message, but generally it has not helped much to get the product on shelf in the first place.
Orabrush really broke the mass market model with a product I still find odd, but great creativity and lateral thinking combined with social media has turned the product into a hit, and can now be found in Walmart stores around the world
Have a look at the Youtube ads in the link, gems.
Sep 21, 2011 | Communication, Management, Social Media
What a great term, coined by Euan Semple, to describe the phenomenon of older (largely) male senior executives pretending they have “got” social media.
Like many others, I spend a lot of time trying to persuade people of the value that can be generated by intelligent use of social media, most of those people run enterprises, and usually reluctantly can be persuaded to put a modest amount of resources into SM, often I think because their golf partner was telling them on the 19th last week that he has been able to cut the advertising budget by 50% by using SM.
Anyway, they become superficially engaged, in their hearts thinking this social media stuff is just their almost adult children behaving badly and then for some inexplicable reason, posting the footage on face book.
The term “Dad Dancing,” perfectly invokes a picture of the gyrations and uncoordinated usually frenetic and short term activity that emerges from such a conversion.
Sep 14, 2011 | Communication, Marketing, Social Media
About the most commonly asked question on the net is how to make money,” how do I monetarise this great idea”?.
To my mind, it is the wrong question. The right one is “How do I deepen the relationship of those who are attracted by the great idea”?. When you have made the relationship worth having for the other party, it will become evident how to make money from it.
It is analogous to asking “Have you “monetarised” your telephone”? Answer: Probably not, because at least on the surface, you do not make money from it, the phone is a tool to communicate, but remove the phone system in your business for an hour, and reconsider if it is monetarised or not.
Social media is no different, it simply a means of communication, so why the never-ending question about how to monetarise Social media? Answer: Because most have not thought about it as a communication tool, a means of connection, engagement, so they default to SM as a cash register.
