An original post by Mitch Joel

What moves people to take action?

I was watching America’s Got Talent last night. They are in the preliminary/audition rounds where the show travels to cities across America to source who will make it to the big stage in Las Vegas. Beyond the hackneyed TV production (the drama between the judges, the voice-over talent pushing us to think about which American city has the most talent and the terrible acts that make it on to TV for the sheer entertainment people get out of watching other people implode in public), there is one interesting aspect of the show that also represents your biggest opportunity to truly make an impact.

Make ‘em smile.

There was a dance troupe auditioning. They were young, energetic and having a blast. They were smiling. They were doing something fun. The audience was smiling. They kept the energy high. The judges were smiling. It was fun to watch. I was smiling. It turns out that smiling is not only addictive but it is universal. I’s amazing, isn’t it. Regardless of culture, geography or where we sit on the socio-economic scale, when something is good, it makes us smile. We tend to over think Marketing in many instances. We dive into research and analytics as we explore specific niche audiences to reach and get all serious about not only how the message is perceived by the audience but how it will impact sales. There’s no denying that we need to do a lot of this, but it shouldn’t be done at the detriment of making your audience smile.

A smile doesn’t have to be about making them laugh. A smile can be serious.

If you have something serious that you’re promoting or a product or service that is highly regulated, you can still make ‘em smile. A smile in the mind is often more powerful than one on the lips. It’s an emotional feeling. It’s a feeling that connects a consumer to your brand because it said something to them that was a reflection of who they are. It can be smart, emotional and yes, even funny too. Those feelings make people warm. Making people feel warm is very important.

If you’re not making them feel something, you’re not giving it your all.

Marketing can often be too clever for its own good. Watching America’s Got Talent last night reminded me of this. The idea is not to play towards the lowest common denominator (which I think the show does). The real idea is to watch what happens when someone on the stage truly connects with the audience. Those are the moments that we – as Marketers – need to strive for… each and every day.

Remember: you can’t fake a smile. Either it’s authentic or it’s not. How often does your marketing really make ‘em smile?

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Leaders need to smile as well. Undertake an Organization Optimizer and create a positive organization culture to get everyone smiling.

Well over 6 million people have viewed this VIDEO, so if you haven’t – enjoy and if you have – it’s a great reminder.

Suggested by Gary MacDonald’s* friend Julio Garreaud*.  They use this video when discussing team building and also customer service.

I think that it applies to all leaders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

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Culture and organization leadership are directly linked. Check your organizations culture with the Organization Optimizer.

*Gary Mac Donald: gary@macdonald-assoc.com

*Julio Garreaud: coach@human-architecture.com

A must see VIDEO for leaders to think about for themselves and their organizations.

Thanks to Julio Garreaud and Gary MacDonald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M

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Organizations often don’t recognize the value of their strengths in gaining competitive advantage. Let the Organization Optimizer identify them for you.

An original post from Alan Webber

I’m not a big fan of war.

But I’m a huge fan of the lessons in leadership that they teach at our military academies. Over the last few years I’ve had the benefit of getting to know Tom Kolditz from West Point, and to hear Tom give a number of very powerful talks about the fundamental practice of leadership and strategy that West Point imbues in its cadets.

Last year I got to listen to a talk that Tom gave to the board of AARP and just last week, as I was continuing to clean out my desk, I found the 3×5 card on which I had written some notes from Tom’s talk.

Here’s what it says, in its entirety. Few words, lots of power.

Minimum Plan Requirements
The idea is, before you take action, go into an engagement, begin an assignment, what are the absolute minimum requirements you must meet? and by extension, if you can’t meet them, don’t start!

Intent
That’s the top line: What is your strategic intent?

Purpose

What is your purpose in taking this action?

Method
How do you propose to go about doing it?

End state
What is the end state you aim to achieve?

Risk
Identify the risk factors in taking this action.

Simple. Direct. Plain English. Straight forward.

I think this stuff is so simple, so common sense-based, it’s just plain brilliant!
The kind of honest questioning that goes on a 3×5 card–and if used diligently, not only leads to better results, but also avoids horrible mistakes.

The kind of thing that all organizations need in developing better leaders at all levels.

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As with the above fundamentals, the Organization Optimizer is both fundamental and simple. It is a very affordable, objective and easy to use and understand comprehensive diagnostic tool designed to help increase the profitability and sustainability of any operating business.

An original post from Chris Brogan

Giving up is easy. Anyone can do that. People do it all the time. I do it. All of us do. We surrender. We throw out the next possible opportunity sometimes, simply because we fell down in some way or another, or because someone else finally wore us down with their repeated message that we couldn’t succeed. Surrender is practically a national sport, it seems.

Persistence, however, is a trick worth nurturing. If you can keep at something, if you can find and rekindle that little spark of faith that you’ll figure it out, then you can rebuild again and again. Persistence is the act of building continuity. It’s the deliberate action of doing something, doing it again, doing it again, until you get it right, and maybe doing it over and over after that, too.

At the Grammys, there was a medley of performances from Rihanna, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Skylar Grey. Three of the four (sorry, I don’t know anything about Skylar) had something in their stories about persistence. Rihanna kept her career going, after having to deal with an abusive boyfriend. Eminem came back from a serious drug habit. Dre had to battle his own inner demons after having spent 10 years away from recording studio albums. In each case, they persisted, even though things went wrong, and even when life didn’t throw a perfect hand.

Persistence is a powerful state to consider.

If you can find the discipline to persist, then you’ve got a power that many seem unable to master.

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The Organization Optimizer is the first methodology that measures any size and type of organization – quickly, objectively, and very cost effectively. Do you know how your organization measures up?

An original VIDEO post by Gregg Thompson

How do you connect as a leader?

Gregg reveals how great leaders distinguish themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7d66opwT8&lr=1

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Great leaders understand the value of measuring their organization, not only to monitor change but as a way to challenge their organization to keep ‘raising the bar’, to stay ahead of the competition,  to be prepared for the unexpected and to create a culture of continuous improvement. They utilize the innovative Organization Optimizer to do so.

An original post by Seth Godin

In 1993, I saw the web coming. I was hired to write the cover story for a now defunct computer magazine about the internet, and dismissed the new Mosaic browser in a single paragraph.

I figured the web was just like Prodigy, but slower, harder to use and without a business model.

About as expensive a wrong analysis as a single entrepreneur with an email company could make in 1993.

The reason it was an insanely valuable lesson: I got better at announcing that I was wrong, learning from it and doing the next thing.

Politicians, of course, are terrible at this. They are never wrong, apparently, and when they are, spin instead of admitting it. Which not only hurts their trustworthiness, it prevents them from learning anything.

Two elements of successful leadership: a willingness to be wrong and an eagerness to admit it.

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The ORGANIZATION OPTIMIZER is the right choice to measure organizations and drive their success.

A very well done ‘Just Thinking’ post from John Caswell

Ah, sorry to bother you Mr. CEO, Sir…

Excuse me Mr. CEO, Sir? Um . . I know you’re busy, and important and stuff. I mean, running the business is very important and - ah – I hate to bother you, Sir. I will only take a minute. Ok, Sir? See, I have these missing pieces that are holding me up, and I was wondering, Sir, if you could take time out of your busy schedule and help me out.

You know, no big deal, just some loose ends and things. Hey, you have a nice place here! The wife sees houses like this on TV all the time and says, boy, she wishes she had digs like this, you know? Is that painting real? Really? Wow! I saw something like that in a museum once.

Oh, sorry Sir. I didn’t mean to get off the track. So if you could just help me out a minute and give me some details, I will get right out of your way. I want to close this case and maybe take the wife Coney Island or something. Ever been to Coney Island Sir? No? I didn’t think so…

Well, listen, anyway, I can’t seem to get some information I need to wrap this up. These things seem to either be “Not known”, “Not clear” or “Not understood”  I’m sure it’s just an oversight or glitch or something, so if you could you tell me where these things are I have them written down here somewhere – oh wait. I’ll just read it to you.

Could you please help me find these things, Sir?

• What are you are aiming to achieve? The outcome of it all? This business of yours? Sir…?
• The measures that might tell you that you are getting there? Where are they?
• And Sir? – what’s the actual need you are trying to fulfill?
• What is your vision exactly?
• Does the world actually need what you are aiming to do?
• The story. What’s the story really Sir?
• And your strategy? No-one seems to know what that is.
• The people in the business don’t seem to care Sir? Why should they?
• The road map you say you have? Where is that?
• The alignment. Where is that Sir?
• And the things that differentiate the business from all the others? Can you tell me that Sir?

Oh and one more thing Mr. CEO Sir, I can’t seem to find the criteria you used for any of this. Can you explain that to me, Sir? but hey – listen! I know you’re busy! If this is too much for you right now – I mean – tell you what. I’ll come back tomorrow. Give you some time to get these things together, you know? I mean, I know you’re busy. I’ll just let myself out. I’ll be back tomorrow. And the day after.

What’s that Sir?

Who wants to know these things? Well the people in your business, the customers and partners who rely on you Sir.

You know the ones that keep you alive?

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The ORGANIZATION OPTIMIZER would certainly have helped this CEO deal with and answer many of Detective Colombo’s questions.

An original post by Jim Clemmer

A long time reader, P.K. Seshadri, sent this “quip to enjoy and use in your future posts:

An amateur photographer was invited to dinner with friends and took along a few pictures to show the hostess. She looked at the photos and commented ‘These are very good! You must have a good camera.’ He didn’t make any comment, but, as he was leaving to go home, he said, ‘That was a really delicious meal! You must have some very good pots’.”

This anecdote succinctly reminds us that it’s the skilled use of the tools that makes the difference. The point made here is pretty obvious. But after decades of working with hundreds of management teams and thousands of strong, aspiring, and wallowing leaders, when it comes to leadership development, obviously the obvious isn’t so obvious! Despite the reams of ongoing research, many people still believe that leaders are born, not made.

It’s a dangerous excuse to believe that leaders are born not made. It takes you off the hook and gives you too easy an out from the difficult work of reframing your outlook and building your leadership skills.

If we are not working hard to continually improve our leadership skills because we weren’t “born with natural talent,” then we are copping out, misinformed, or both.

Thanks for the reminder in your pithy story, P.K. You must have a very good computer!

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The Organization Optimizer is an invaluable leadership resource providing an efficient and effective way to monitor organization change.

An original post from Alan Webber

It’s getting close to the end of the year.
A good time to clean out old drawers filled with even older files.
Here’s one I just found: Lessons From Fast Company. It was a speech I gave in Brazil at a program organized by the remarkable Oscar Motomura not long after Bill Taylor and I exited the magazine that we had jointly created.
Here’s what my speech notes say:
1. You have to believe in your own idea. I genuinely believed that Fast Company was ‘destined’ to happen–even though it took more than 3 years to go from business plan to launch.
2. You have to be open to others’ input on your idea. Just because it is your idea and it is ‘destined’ to happen doesn’t make it perfect from the inception. Write it down. Show it to others. They will see it differently. They will have good suggestions. They will have bad suggestions. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. That’s part of the process!
3. The world does not need your idea. It’s important to remember that–people are getting along just fine without your idea. So learn to see the world through their eyes–explain how your idea solves their problem!
4. Who you are and what you’ve done are often the best arguments for your idea. Your track record counts as much as the merits of your idea.
5. Do you have skin in the game? If you really believe in your own idea, how do you show your commitment? If you want others to commit, you’ve got to make your own commitment clear and visible.
6. What’s your motivation? Love is more powerful than money. If you’re just doing it for the money, the day will come when you look at how little progress you’ve made on your idea and say, ‘There must be easier ways to get rich.’ If you’re doing it for the love of the idea, that day will never come.
7. It’s all an iterative process of learning and doing. Ted Levitt used to say, ‘Make a little, try a little, sell a little.’ The idea is to keep your own thinking moving forward by coming up with an idea, testing it, getting feedback, refining it. Lather, rinse, repeat.
8. If you plan some things you can leave other things looser. Leave everything loose and it’s harder to innovate–constraints act as boundaries within which innovation can take place.
9. Your idea is only as good as the people you attract to work on it with you. It’s all about the talent on your team, the allies you develop, the supporters you woo and win.
10. Remember Gandhi: The means are the ends in the making. Be the project you want it to be. Whether the project succeeds or fails in the long run may be less important than how you’ve conducted yourself in the pursuit of the project.

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Always know where you are and track your movement. Use the Organization Optimizer to create a baseline and monitor change.