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Scoop.it!
If you are running a marathon and pass the person in second place, what position do you hold? The correct answer is second place. The race to second place is pervasive in the business community. Every company wants to be the leader but few are willing to take the risk to lead. Often the first question posed in response to a new initiative is — such as social media or content marketing — is who else is doing it?... 
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Scoop.it!
Many pointed to the fact that Yahoo!’s working mom CEO got flack when Best Buy’s working dad CEO didn’t as unfair for gender inequity reasons.... ...Yahoo! builds exactly the kind of products designed to help work-at-home employees. On its face, then, Yahoo!’s rejection of such practices for its own employees looks like a brand misalignment. I mentioned this in a previous article and it generated a Twitter conversation that I thought deserved more than 140 characters. Lest you think that I am supporting the shut-down of work-at-home policies, I’m not. I want to show you that the extent to which such policy changes are made intentionally, and communicated in ways that help reinforce the brand promise to employees and customers, even unpopular decisions can reinforce a brand’s market position. Best Buy will have an easier time of this than Yahoo! for reasons outlined below. Creating a brand that makes sense to the market – especially when a leaked employee memo can the internet ablaze as Yahoo!’s did – means you have to avoid the 2 biggest mistakes of internal branding....
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The entrepreneur’s challenge is to effectively communicate their value proposition, not only to customers, but also to vendors, partners, investors, and their own team.
Especially for technical founders, this is normally all about presenting impressive facts. But in reality facts only go so far. Stories often work better, because humans don’t always make rational decisions. Most people care the most about the things that touch, move, and inspire them. They make decisions based on emotion, and then look for the facts that support these decisions.
Thus, it behooves every entrepreneur to learn how to craft stories from their personal experience and the world at large that make an emotional connection, as well as tie in the facts....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
In my experience, the best leaders are usually the best communicators...
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The first question that you need to ask yourself is: “Is a thought leadership website any different than any other type of website?” Well, perhaps not, but we know that the site you create should be tailored to meet your specific objectives. If you’re building a site to sell online vs. a site to share your unique point of view and content, you are, in effect, creating two very different types of websites. To that end, we’ve reviewed a series of websites billed as ‘thought leadership’ sites and have pulled a few of the best elements from each that we feel really aid each firm in furthering their thought leadership via the website....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Useful snapshot and website tips.
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...I want to share some of their [Edelman Trust Barometer] findings here because understanding them will help everyone build and grow better companies. This isn’t just a PR topic. It affects everything: Brand management, communications, operations, retail, customer service… everything.
First, the checklist. Below is a graphic that shows 16-trust building attributes every organization needs to be aware of (and gauge). It looks like this year, Edelman added categories (what they call trust performance clusters): Engagement, Integrity, Products & Services, Purpose, and Operations. I can’t poke a hole into this. It’s solid....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
This post focuses on the trust gap between organizations and their leadership. CEOs have less than 50% approval rating but only 18% of people expect them to tell the truth and only 13% of political leaders to tell the truth. PR pros and reputation doctors will be busy for decades...
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Leaders have to be clear and consistent.
As a leader, what do you want to accomplish? Do your employees know what needs to be done to reach that objective? Do they know how you expect them to behave? And — once they know the "what" and "how" — do you provide them with enough autonomy to get the job done in an effective and timely way? These are pragmatic business issues that all leaders encounter. Here are a few thoughts on how you can more effectively address these issues and reach your goals in an authentic and enduring way. Collaboratively Develop The "What" And The "How" Before anything else, you engage stakeholders in a conversation about where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. By seeking and valuing their perceptions, you increase their commitment, confidence, and the likelihood of getting traction when it is time to execute. This collective perspective helps define what needs to be done (the what) and the behaviors needed to deliver (the how)....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Douglas Conant reminds leaders to communicate with employees...
Lsantiargarin's curator insight,
January 7, 2013 5:16 AM
A Must Reading Material for any Leader in Today's fast paced Business Environment !!
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Your (Facebook) friends may be stressing you out. And the more you have, the more stressed you may be.
Per a new report from the University of Edinburgh Business School, the more friends you have on Facebook -- or, perhaps more accurately, the more "friends" you have on Facebook -- the more stressed you're likely to be about actually having them. The finding, which is similar to one determined last year, is nice as a headline: It's both unexpected (friends! stressing you out! ha!) and ironic (the currency of the social web, taking value rather than adding it!). What's interesting, though, is the why of the matter: the idea that, the report theorizes, the wider your Facebook network, the more likely it is that something you say or do on the site will end up offending one of that network's members. The stress comes from a kind of preemptive, pervasive sense of propriety. Unsurprisingly, per the study's survey of more than 300 Facebook users, "adding employers or parents resulted in the greatest increase in anxiety."...
[This is the most thought-provoking read I've had in several months. Here are a few more pull quotes to whet your appetite:
"Facebook used to be like a great party for all your friends where you can dance, drink and flirt," said Ben Marder, an early career fellow at Edinburgh and the author of the report. "But now with your Mum, Dad and boss there the party becomes an anxious event full of potential social landmines."
"Which is another way of saying that Facebook is George Costanza's worst nightmare: It enforces, second by second, the collision of worlds."
"Facebook's power, and its curse, is this holistic treatment of personhood. "
"Suddenly, Work You is the same as Family You is the same as Friend You (is the same as Gym You is the same as Cooking Class You is the same as Trip to Thailand You is the same as Road Trip You is the same as Words With Friends You is the same as Happy Hour You)."
"The You itself -- which is to say, you yourself -- gets flattened, condensed, homogenized. Contextual personhood gives way to comprehensive personhood. You become, for better or for worse, universal."
~ Jeff]
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TweetWhen CEO’s make an ass ofthemselves and the company they represent, does that set the tone for a potential crisis? Denny’s, Wal-Mart and Papa Johns have expressed their displeasure...
with President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act. Some companies are threatening lay-offs, other’s are rattling the saber and reducing employee hours — all to avoid providing health insurance under the new act....
Here’s the problem. When CEO’s make stupid statement like this, it sets the stage for a massive crisis for the company. Imagine if, after workers discovered their CEO said such a thing, they organized and walked out. Imagine if long-time patrons of the carry-out pizza giant got pissy too? What if they organized to stage a nationwide boycott? What if these two events happened in conjunction? Could Schnatter’s business survive?
CEO’s are people, and they sometimes say dumb-ass shit. Schnatter did. How would you approach him to mitigate the fallout?
[Leadership or lost leaders? ~ Jeff]
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Colleague Andrew Nemiccolo has just published his new e-book on business storytelling and I really like it.
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Storytellers change their presentation style in different situations. What is suitable for an intimate venue, will not work as well in a large venue. What works for a circle of ten people, does not work in the same way for a circle of twenty-five. Even the hour of day, among many other things, might call for a different capacity or approach. Not everything is possible or fit for storytelling. Amplification might solve a volume issue but it doesn’t do much for intimacy. On the other hand there are situations where it does. The way to gain ‘elasticity’ that will enable a storyteller to adapt as needed, is by learning how to stretch and fold his own wings. It’s like learning how to diminish and increase sound in music. It’s not only changing the volume – the entire sound-production mechanism adapts.
[Image credit: brewbooks on Flickr]
Ahhh -- words of wisdom from one of my colleagues and favorite storytellers -- Llimor Shiponi. This post of hers is all about storytelling elasticity and the power of oral storytelling.
In this electronic age when digital storytelling is often viewed as THE SOLUTION -- this post is a reminder that oral storytelling is still the gold standard.
Want executive presence? Focus on building oral storytelling skills and sharing your stories in person as often as you can.
Want to increase business? Focus on building oral storytelling skills and sharing your stories in person as often as you can.
There's no substitute. Enjoy Limor's wise words of wisdom here!
And thank you Gregg Morris @greggvm for originally finding and sharing this article!
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ; [Finding your storytelling voice ~ Jeff]
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Harvard Business School Professor (and former IBM and Kodak executive) Willy Shih poses an intriguing question: "Let's say your goal is to average 60 miles per hour in a journey across a one-mile bridge," he said.
...It's a scary moment when a company realizes that the goals it has set for a quarter or a year are simply not attainable. And yet in today's continually choppy environment, leaders are encountering that moment with increased frequency. And it is at this moment that leaders truly earn their pay, because many short-term actions can have devastating long-term consequences, particularly when it comes to innovation.
If you discover that you're stuck on Willy's bridge, consider these three tips...
[Scott Anthony offers sage advice for leaders -- JD]
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“In her first couple months as chief executive of Time, Inc.,the country’s largest magazine publisher, Laura Lang took some time to hold town hall style meetings and field questions from many of the company’s 9,000 employees.”
...According to the Times, Lang “quietly devoted her first months on the job to talking to employees. She traveled to Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and London to meet with them. She convened senior executives in New York to review each magazine and assess what each one needs to thrive in a digital world. “
[Refreshing leadership and internal commun ications- JD]
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When someone has been at the coalface of thought leadership for 15 years, worked with two of the global thought leadership giants, PwC and E&Y and they say they no longer want to send their thought leadership out but rather get CFOs to download it, you sit up and take notice....
Among others she is on a drive to cut back dramatically on the amount of content they publish and they are personalising it as much as possible. She shared this and further insights with me...
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From
mashable
Businesses can no longer afford to have top leaders sit on the social media sidelines, a new study finds. More than three-quarters of executives worldwide believe it is a good idea for CEOs to participate in social media, the research from public relations firm Weber Shandwick and research partner KRC Research found.
The study identified a wide array of benefits that come with top executives who are socially active online. More than 70% of those surveyed said CEO sociability increases information-sharing throughout the business, improves company reputation, demonstrates innovation, humanizes the company and improves business results....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Social CEOs can have a communications domino effect on and within their organizations.
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Andrew Mason’s resignation letter last week reflected the best of storytelling in business communications.
With this in mind, I tried to track down Mr. Mason to take us behind the curtain in how the letter came about.
Unfortunately, he proved elusive.
If Mason had agreed to an interview, I suspect the exchange would have gone something like this:...
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Lou Hoffman shares a very creative "what if" interview and story.
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Thought leadership is content on steroids. It stands out from the crowd because it is different; it offers something new and the good campaigns deliver information or insights that address a client’s challenges or issues. In some cases really brilliant thought leadership shifts paradigms of an entire industry.
Thought leadership is no ordinary content but rather content that sets one brand apart from the competition and, in the process, leverages a phenomenal platform for trust and engagement. Good thought leadership content is sophisticated and intelligent and should be packaging and delivered appropriately to a defined audience. And herein lies the key....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
This is a very "thoughtful" look at thought leadership.
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...In a business climate obsessed with PowerPoint presentations, complex graphs and charts, and lengthy reports, storytelling may seem to some like a soft way of getting hard stuff done. It’s anything but that. Steve’s experience with storytelling is, in fact, supported by the data. Research shows that when leaders want to communicate standards, stories are a much more effective means of communication than are corporate policy statements, data about performance, and even a story plus the data. Information is more quickly and accurately remembered when it is first presented in the form of an example or story....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Another Jim Kouzes quote: "Stories are a powerful tool for teaching people about what’s important and what’s not, what works and what doesn’t, what is and what could be. Through stories, leaders pass on lessons about shared values and get others to work together."
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The idea of storytelling for leadership and business is generating a lot of interest these days, as it well should. Stories are one of the most powerful ways to communicate. Stories can be memorable and meaningful. They’re immensely useful – whether you want to lead people, market your business, or just get some laughs. The best writers read a lot, and the best storytellers pay close attention and listen to the stories around them. But what exactly is a story, and what do you listen for?...
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Shawn Callahan's four story essentials are worth noting: time, place, dialogue, the unexpected
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A dialogue on the subject of organizational storytelling; narrative as a leadership capability. Author and story consultant David Hutchens of www.DavidHutche...
[Interview with storytelling author Paul Smith. I just finished Smith's book "Lead with a Story" and it's a must-read ~ Jeff]
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Infographic: Crummy bosses aren't just a pain; they're bad for business. But how bad? We've found the stats--and it's not pretty.
[Powerful reasons bad bosses are bad for business ~ Jeff]
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Feeling connected emotionally is intrinsically rewarding to the brain.
Have you noticed that in dangerous jobs, good bosses tend to have deep bonds with their workers? Whether it's a captain and crew on a crab fishing boat in the Bering Sea, a platoon commander and his troops in Afghanistan, or a tree-cutting foreman and his team in the forest — people in dangerous working conditions sense they need to trust each other and their boss to survive.
As a manager, you may not be working on a fishing boat or in armed combat. But you need to motivate your people to get things done. Do you have that kind of bond? Or have you been taught to manage by objectives and metrics to monitor performance, and that bonding with your team members will be seen as a distraction at best or weakness at worst? Many have. Perhaps that's why a recent survey found that more workers would trust a total stranger more than their own boss.
At the Neuroleadership Summit in New York City this October we jointly presented research and findings explaining why leaders should develop the capacity to build secure attachments and personal relationships. The productive manager in a complex, global workplace should be less like a football coach with a whistle around his neck and more like a belayer helping climbers reach the next goal. While it is true that companies with abundant resources can afford to use fear as a motivator and absorb the cost of more frequent hirings and firings, this approach frequently ends up being memorialized in case studies of failed leaders and shuttered businesses....
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"Psychologists and psychotherapists have long relied on the power of narrative storytelling to help their patients make sense of their world. In fact, it's been said that we are our narratives. For evidence that this may be true, pay attention to how people shape their stories about themselves. As it turns out, there is a big difference between the way we narrate events that have really happened to us and those we've invented."
Image by prosotphoto (Shutterstock)
Love this article! We now have a storytelling lie detector kit. As storytelling rises in popularity in a whole host of business applications, keeping our antenna sharp for fabrications is going to be important.
Remember these 'tells' and let's keep on focusing on authenticity.
Thanks Gregg Morris @greggvm for finding and sharing this article!
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ; [A storytelling BD detector? Awesome ;-) ~ Jeff]
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StoryLab is a new hub for innovation with a big aim: to radically improve public conversation in the U.S. and around the world. Everybody talks about it, but CDS actually knows how to do it. To change the world, you first have to change the story.
Here is an organization I think everyone should know about -- the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS). They have been, and continue to provide world-class training in digital storytelling grounded in the power of a story dynamics to make a difference.
They are launching a new project -- StoryLab -- which aims to engage people in changing stories that keep us stuck, limited -- like our political discourse, violence, aids, etc. -- and expressing those stories that eliven and enoble us. Truly great work.
So why am I curating this and what has it got to do with business? Well -- imagine applying these same principles and ideas to the stories you share about your business, engaging your organization in this kind of deep story sharing that changes the world, and engaging with customers to create profound partnerships that make a difference.
Hmmmm -- I think there are lots of opportunities here and StoryLab is showing us the way.
The video on the StoryLab page also mentions supporting the project through donations. That is up to you. I have no affiliation with the Center other than our mutual love of story and its transformative power, and an amazing conversation I had a few years ago with founder Joe Lambert.
IMHO, thank heavens they are doing this project. There are so many others in the field of story that also work with story for transformative change. Let's keep hooking up. It is in this spirit that I bring you StoryLab.
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;
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Everybody multitasks, but what most people don’t realize is that, in fact, multitasking doesn’t work. Studies show that only about 2% of people are capable of effectively multitasking, but that doesn’t stop the remaining 98% of people from trying. And with today’s technology, everyone multitasks more than ever—from using smartphones in class to tablets while watching television, there are always multiple things to be doing at one time.
While multitasking may make you feel like you’re accomplishing more things in less time, in actuality trying to multitask does more harm than good: It reduces productivity, and even lowers your IQ. Things like texting while studying or watching TV while working on a paper can have a huge effect on your academic success, so next time you’re tempted to multitask while doing schoolwork, remember that if you really want to get something done right, multitasking is probably not your best route....
[Geez, I guess Mom was right. Pay attention! - JD]
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We're confronted with a myriad choices in business and in life. There is much discussion around making smart moves, picking one thing over another, optimizing the effective use of attention, time, and resources.
Challenging the mental models that drive those selections is considered too nuanced -- and just plain hard.
Yet, it is when we challenge the reality we have constructed around the recurring situations in our lives that we have breakthroughs.
Doing something hard, making hard choices...
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Frank Strong looks at real marketing leadership.