To be boring or to be entertaining?

Most conference exhibitors have a stand with panelling depicting the corporate logo, a few pretty pictures, TV screen and giveaways…pens, stress balls, playing cards etc… the problem is that all the corporate exhibitors do the same thing! Unless a customer knows what you do and who you are, all exhibitions tend to blend into the same ol same ol pot! Where is the innovation? Why spend thousands of pounds trying to connect with customers at a conference but then create no unique or memorable connection?

The task of getting greater connection has become even more difficult as Generation X and Millennials become decision makers for corporate companies…mainly because people from these generations demand an experience out of your marketing…they understand the rules of the game, they know you are selling to them, so if you are going to take up their time their attitiude is you had better entertain me!

I’m at the IFP conference today at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Wales where my colleague Graeme Codrington is presenting our Mind the Gap presentation on the different generations. Two companies stand out as exhibitors who are connecting with their customers. Investec Private Bank has a virtual golf simulator…clever because the Celtic Manor Hotel is the host of the 2010 Ryder Cup and because allowing conference delegates to come and swing a club enables them to make a lasting and memorable connection, the selling is left until later.

The Santander Group is leveraging off of their sponsorship of the McLaren F1 team. They have part of a life size F1 racing car replica which you get to sit in and race Lewis Hamilton…neat…staff crewing the stand are also dressing in F1 t-shirts creating a relaxed atmosphere.

No clues for which of the two stands out of about 50 or so at the IFP conference are getting the most interest and the most people connections!

The depressing reality about many people in leadership positions

Organisations are teeming with senior employees, managers and leaders.  Why are there so many books on how to be a good leader?  It is because truly inspiring, dynamic, visionary ones are difficult to find. 

• ‘My manager has no vision.’
• ‘Leadership at my company is shocking.’
• ‘I feel unappreciated.’
• ‘We have no strategic vision’
• ‘My boss never stands up for me.’
• ‘My boss always delegates and is lazy’

Many strategic business failures, people problems and other organizational issues stem from poor leadership.

The Peter Principle provides an explanation for why there are so many ineffective, uninspiring leaders in senior positions in organisations.

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Self-destruction and the economic downturn

Do you know how Eskimo hunters in the Arctic killed dangerous wolves? 

They didn’t.  The wolf self destructed and eventually killed itself. 

According to folklore, when they wanted to kill a wolf, the Eskimos took a knife with a very sharp blade and coated it with a seal’s blood.  They let the blood freeze and then coated it over and over until the blade was completely covered in frozen blood, like a big popsicle.  The Eskimos then left the coated knife upright in the snow and lay in wait. 

A wolf’s sharp sense of smell drew him towards the knife.  He would start licking the ‘popsicle’ in eager anticipation of some tender, juicy meat.  To the wolf, blood represented food.  He was seduced by the taste of the seal blood and wanted more and more.  Eventually, his craving became so overwhelming that he failed to notice the sting of the blade as it cut his own tongue.  He could not distinguish between his blood and the seal’s because his insatiable, carnivorous appetite sent him into a feverish cycle of licking and biting. The desire for meat fed the wolf’s excited frenzy.  He was unaware of his own pain and growing weak state until it was too late.

This story of self-destruction is a good illustration of the current economic crisis. 

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Leadership matters: Africa’s new leaders herald a new dawn

My friends at South Africa: The Good News are writing a new book. A more ambitious project it is “Africa: the Good News”. It will be out in November 2008, and you can order advanced copies at a discount by contacting Leanne Nimmo at leanne@sagoodnews.co.za.

Here is an extract from one of the chapters on leadership. It comes from their latest e-zine.

History has shown time and again that societies are made or broken by the few individuals who lead them.

It is difficult to imagine where the USA would be today without the efforts of one man, Martin Luther King, Jr., who brought about racial equality in that nation. It is also hard to imagine where India would be today without Mahatma Ghandi’s efforts to free his country from colonial rule, or where South Africa would be today without the collective efforts of three people: Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk & Desmond Tutu.

In the arena of science and technology, it is hard to imagine our world today without the efforts of exceptional individuals like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple, or Larry Page & Sergei Brin of Google. The same holds true in the fields of education, healthcare, music, drama, journalism and sport. A few individuals change the world. These individuals – the leaders of society – determine the path of history.

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Generations and Training

Generational theory is for all intents and purposes deceptively simple yet the effects of intergenerational differences on training within the workplace are anything but simple and increasingly are having a profound effect on the roll-out of training in organisations. This is prompting those responsible for the training portfolio to reassess how to train, how often and in what subject.

Gone are the days of pure technical training where the outcome is centered on learning a skill intended to directly improve performance on the job. The need for increased emotional intelligence in the workplace has brought about a far greater need for programmes that offer development in areas like assertiveness skills, negotiation and how to handle difficult conversations which are aimed at Engineers and Sales Consultants alike. So while course content needs to be relevant to the job at hand, it should also bear relevance to personal lives which are as, if not more, important.

Traditional classroom learning too is being tossed out of the proverbial window. The new buzz word is impact learning, which requires trainers and teachers to act as facilitators – knowledgeable experts who, while imparting course content, develop relationships with their delegates, entertain and are able to adapt their personal training style and techniques to the requirements at hand.

Within this context and conscious of the changing profile of those sitting in the training room, it is important to have an understanding of the different generational attitudes to training and development. Without this framework the ability to connect and appeal is defunct. … Continue Reading

The Battle for Innovation

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The Battle for Innovation

Nelson’s Column is a monument in the centre of London’s Trafalgar Square. A 5.5 metre statue of Lord Horatio Nelson stands on top of a 46 metre granite column. Thousands of business people walk past it every day on the way to and from work. Few of these people realize that, even though he died over 200 years ago, Lord Nelson could teach them some valuable techniques that could help them and their companies innovate in today’s business world.
Lord Horatio Nelson is regarded as the greatest officer in the history of the British Royal Navy. He is renowned for his innovative, confident and unorthodox battle techniques. He died in 1805 after he and the British fleet annihilated their Franco-Spanish enemies in the Battle of Trafalgar. This battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and it established Great Britain as the leading naval power. After this humiliating defeat, Napoleon Bonaparte of France abandoned plans to invade Great Britain.

Innovation will give 21st century organizations competitive advantage. But, as Nelson showed, innovative and cutting edge ideas are not random. They come from relentless, focused preparation. Wisdom, experience and preparation provide the confidence to follow through with seemingly risky, unconventional ideas. … Continue Reading

Leaderment or Manageship

Since I’ve been in any form of organization, no matter how big or small, there’s always been an attempt to make a distinction between managers and leaders. There are all kinds of definitions that attempt to make the distinction, like this one from Warren Bennis, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things.” And for the most part they’ve done a great job convincing us of the difference.

May I suggest that the distinction between the two is not helpful in today’s business environment!

The lines between manager and leader have become very blurred. In this highly pressurised environment there just isn’t time to make the distinction any more. We’re thin on the ground. We need managers to lead and leaders to manage. Perhaps it’s time to scrap both these terms and come up with a new one. Of course that’s not going to happen. There’s too much money to be made by keeping them separate. Step outside of academia for a while and ask those on the ground whether they’re managers or leaders? Their answer is almost always both. And this is not because they’re not smart enough to understand the difference, it’s because today’s business environment requires them to do both and to be both.

Today, almost all of our work functions are highly documented. Is there a business function left in the world that doesn’t have a manual attached to it, showing in accurate detail, how to go about what it is you do whenever you’re doing it? With that much detail why do we need managers? Just follow the manual. Managers in the context of these manuals have become the go-to reference people. You go to your manager when you’re not sure how to interpret the manual, not because you don’t know what to do. … Continue Reading

An interview with Sharon Kersten

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An interview with Sharon Kersten

Sharon is a skilled and experienced business professional having worked as MD at Old Mutual’s retail banking arm Nedbank. She is also a guest lecturer at INSEAD. We interviewed Sharon to ask her what she believes companies need to be doing as recession looms on the horizon … Continue Reading

Business coaching at the BBC – A good talent management technique

I was recently chatting to a lady who heads up the in-house business coaching practice at the BBC.  Coaching practice at the BBC?  The BBC has 80 in-house ‘executive’ coaches throughout the world, although most of them are based in the UK. 

Most of the BBC coaches have traditional day jobs at the company and then do internal business coaching on the side.  Senior staff are encouraged to qualify as leadership/business coaches in order to further their professional development, share their experiences with others and add a new dimension to their careers. 

All potential coaches must pass the BBC’s in-house coaching qualification that is certified by a recognised coaching body in the UK.

There is a huge demand for business coaching at the BBC.  These are the common problems coachees experience:

1. Many people quietly suffer with an ‘Imposter Complex’.  This means people don’t feel worthy in their current position.  They are concerned that others will eventually ‘catch them out’ and realize they don’t have the skills or ability to be in their current position.
    
2. People have good technical, functional abilities but, as they move higher up the hierarchy, they lack adequate people skills.  Many employees find it difficult to be a good leader.
    
3. People battle to balance creativity and administration.  They struggle to maintain an innovative mindset while doing the dull, repetitive administration work that is also required of them.

These issues are not specific to the BBC.  Yet, they have developed an innovative, strategic method of solving complex people issues.  People are their greatest asset and they try to put their money where their mouth is.  They invest in their staff so that their staff will invest in them.  They develop their staff so that others within the company can benefit too. 

While they do this, they keep all the knowledge in-house and avoid high external consulting/coaching fees.  The initial investment in training is high but they believe the benefits far outweigh the costs. They solve their internal people issues by using their own experienced staff, with personal knowledge of the pressures and industry, to support others.

This technique is called ‘Reciprocal Altruism’.  It means – scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

Let the crowd decide (if you have a bestselling book or not)

Founded by HarperCollins, Authonomy is a new community that invites unpublished and self-published authors to post at least 10,000 words of a fiction or non-fiction manuscript for visitors to read online.

Visitors can review and recommend books, and can showcase their five favourite submissions on a virtual bookshelf that’s viewable from their profile page. Authonomy keeps track of the number of recommendations a book receives and ranks writers accordingly. Readers are also ranked, based on how good they’ve been at spotting books that make it to the top of Authonomy’s charts. To help authors make it from computer screen to printed book, once a month the top five books are delivered to the desks of an editorial board made up of international HarperCollins commissioning editors.

The website is free to use both for readers and writers, and HarperCollins hopes the wisdom of the crowds will help them unsource potential hits that individual editors or agents might otherwise miss, or just don’t have the time to read. Needless to say, the site could also prove to be a good marketing tool once manuscripts are actually published, since authors won’t have to build a fan base from scratch.

Managing Temporary Companies

I was sent a text copy of an article entitled, “The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy: Are big companies becoming obsolete?“, written by Thomas W. Malone and Robert J. Laubacher. A quick online search shows that it was published in the Harvard Business Review in Sep-Oct 1998.

In the article, they talk about companies developing with temporary workers and flexible teams, becoming more networked than hierarchical. It’s a good read – made even more impressive when you realise it was written a full ten years ago, when not everyone had Internet access or would text everyone on anything.

Towards the end, they turn their attention to the implications for management. This is worth reading, even if out of context. See below…

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Networking through the corporate web

I wish I had taken networking seriously when my career first began.  Networking is not just for sales people and entrepreneurs.  It is a skill that is essential for everyone to master if you want to surge ahead in the new world of work. 

The corporate ladder is becoming the corporate web.  Today, talent is replacing capital as the world’s most important economic resource.  More economic power is moving from the organisation to the individual.  In the past, your career was usually like an algrebra problem – X leads to Y which leads to Z.   Not anymore.  Power and influence lies more and more in strategic horizontal relationships than in your place in the vertical hierarchy.   Connections with colleagues, ex-colleagues, friends, family, teams, clients and customers will make you an even more marketable asset.

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Help yourself…PruHealth connecting with customers

Earlier today I walked out of Piccadilly Circus tube station and was feeling a bit parched. Low and behold PruHealth were there to quench my thirst with a bottle of water and signs saying. “Help yourself” …clever, now this is a campaign that will connect with Generation X!
Here are some reasons why:
- Gen Xer’s want immediate gratification… the water gave me immediate gratification connecting me with the PruHealth brand and quenched my thirst.
- Gen X love stories or lines with multiple meanings. They have grown up in a complex rapidly evolving world and have learned to view things from different angles. The strap line “Help yourself” had several meanings.
- Help yourself to a bottle of water… no questions asked no reasons given …cool!
- On reading the marketing splurb on the bottle, “Help yourself” was also referring living a healthy lifestyle and benefiting from PruHealth’s lower premiums…
- They even have a fab interactive web based tool called a pruhealth-o-meter …cool name, it’s a bit quirky and fun, try it out! click here
- Pru also handed out a miniture Frisbee with the bottle of water… I’m not sure what that was all about as I don’t think that catching a Frisbee is a very active sport…but maybe my dog will like it ?
- One quick recommendation, don’t use the get a quote button until the customer has finished playing with the pruhealth-o-meter. Gen Xers like to be entertained but don’t hit them with the sales prompt too early. They get that you are selling to them but let them have their entertainment first.
- It’s also a pity that the pruhealth-o-meter doesn’t work on my iPhone… an alternative html version would get around this, not as flash but would give Gen X connectivity all the time.

Overall a really good campaign, it’s simple, engaging hits a number of Gen X driving values and leaves the choice up to the consumer to decide if they want to help themselves.

Nice one Pru!

How to ‘read’ a book in an hour

I can read an entire book in an hour.  Well, not really, but it feels like I can. 

Have you ever watched the hour-long clips called ‘Authors@Google’ on YouTube?

Google runs an in-house programme for their employees called ‘Authors@Google’.   They regularly invite authors of recently published books to give talks and lead informal discussions with employees.  The speakers are prominent economists, politicians, novelists, company executives, philosophers, business consultants and artists.

Google has recorded many of these hour-long talks and put them on YouTube for the public to access.  To find them, type ‘authors@google’ in the YouTube search bar.

The authors have included people like Richard Florida, Carly Fiorina, Jeffery Sachs, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maria Shriver, Steve Wozniak, Henry Kissinger, George Soros and Muhammad Yunnis.  Thomas Friedman’s new book is being published this month so he should be on ‘Authors@Google’ any day now.

All the authors have written widely-acclaimed, stimulating books that I do not always have time to read.  During their short Authors@Google talks, the authors discuss the main themes in their books.  I recommend you multitask and listen to these talks while you do other things.  I generally prop my laptop on the kitchen counter and listen to them while I make dinner.   I feel like I am absorbing the gist of an entire book and getting a new perspective on the economy, world, politics or business all in the short time in takes me to prepare a meal.

If this is the kind of investment Google makes in developing their employees, then it is no wonder it is considered one of the best places to work.  

Silver divorces – Boomers buck the trend

The Times and The Guardian reported on a very illuminating societal trend this weekend, they noted that divorce rates in England and Wales are now at their lowest level for 26 years. However, recently the number of divorces in the over 60’s category has been on the increase. This is a very interesting trend and in part explained by the fact that the oldest of the Baby Boomers or what we call “Cuspers” have been turning 60. Baby Boomers are defined as the generation born directly after WW2. They have a can do attitude, believe anything is possible and don’t settle for second best. As The Times puts it “they no longer think of it as the end of their lives but as a time of opportunity and reinvention. And in an age of psychotherapy, people get gripped by a desire to live as they really want to live rather than by someone else’s values.” Boomers led the charge to the divorce courts in the 80 & 90’s and became the most divorced generation ever. The latest trends suggest that as Baby Boomers enter retirement they are continuing to prefer to get divorced rather than head to the coast to slow down.

This has major implications for marketers especially those working for financial service companies. Whilst all other Generations show a reduction in divorce rates, Baby Boomers, because of their driving values and the windfalls they have made from the housing boom (watch this space…) feel wealthy enough to get divorced and start new lives. The products that are developed and marketing campaigns aimed at the over 50’s market need to take note of these changes in societal trends. The Baby Boomers are now making a very visible impact on over 50’s lifestages and we predict they will change retirement behaviour completely. Marketers that miss this change will quickly loose favour with Baby Boomers who move onto products and brands that continue to connect with them.

Click here to read

The Times post or here to read

The Guardian post