I spoke at a conference this past week, and a very common question was asked from the audience.  “Once I post something on my blog or on Twitter, can I remove it.”  The obvious answer is “yes”.  You absolutely can delete it from your blog and/or from your blog page.  However, the more important answer is “no”.  There is no way to remove it from the Internet itself.  Once you post something on the Internet, it is most likely replicated many times – either manually or automatically.  Tweets are re-tweeted by others.  Blogs are copied and duplicated.  Search engines archive content.  Aggregators automatically duplicate content.  The list goes on and on.

The problem is that once you publish an item (e.g., a blog on a political view, a compromising photo from your trip to Las Vegas or Cabo, a negative product review, or a simple Tweet), it is impossible to retract.  In fact, your efforts to retract the content will typically backfire and make the problem worse.

Image of Streisand's house that was the subject of a $50M lawsuit

There is a term in the social media world called “the Streisand Effect” that illustrates this phenomenon.  It is well documented in the book “Groundswell” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.  Mike Masnick, a blogger for Techdirt is credited with coining the term, “the Streisand Effect”, to describe a phenomenon where an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information from the internet backfires, causing the information to be more widely publicized than it would have if no censorship had been attempted.  In 2003, Pilot Gabrielle Adelman and photographer Kenneth Adelman took on the project of photographing the entire California coastline.  They built an extensive library of over 12,000 photographs representing the entire California coast and made them available at www.californiacoastline.org.  Singer Barbara Streisand requested they remove the photo of her home from the web.  When they refused, she unsuccessfully sued them for $50M citing privacy concerns.  The publicity had the opposite effect and caused people to duplicate the photo all over the Internet.   The following month, more than 420,000 people visited the site.

We all have to remember that the Internet is a living and breathing entity.  Social media is just that – social.  It is a collection of people with common interests carrying on conversations.  There are few boundaries, and that is what makes it compelling and powerful.  It is the essence of free speech.  As with any freedom, there comes responsibility.  The Internet is also uniquely self-managed.  Those who abuse it are typically spotlighted and disciplined by the community.  One recent example was a furniture retailer in the UK who tried to promote their weekly sales on Twitter with unrelated top hashtags (search terms).  The blatant self-promotion under the search terms relating to world crisis and sensitive news items tarnished the company’s brand considerably.

The Internet, like life, has few boundaries.   The potential is enormous.  However, as with life, there are consequences for each action.  Some are positive and some are negative.  Before you embark on your company branding, personal branding or simply your first Tweet or blog posting, consider your actions carefully.

“What happens on the Internet, stays on the internet”

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It was a morning rush hour just like any other in the Washington DC subway station.  Commuters rushed through the tunnel with their Starbucks coffee in one hand and their newspaper under their other arm.  A man sat on a chair with a violin and played to the crowd, hoping they would stop for a few minutes and possibly throw some change into his cardboard box.  During his 45-minute session, he played six different Bach compositions and approximately 1,100 people passed him by.

In the first three minutes, a middle-aged man slowed for a moment and then hurried by.  A few minutes later, the violinist received his first tip – a woman threw a dollar in the box without slowing or even looking directly at him.  Several minutes later, a man stopped, leaned against the wall to listen and then looked at his watch and moved on.  The spectator who gave the violinist the most attention, was a 3-year old boy.  His mother, clearly annoyed, tugged the child along.

The 1,097 people who passed through the L’Enfant Plaza Station on January 12, 2007 had no idea that they were being treated to a free concert by the world-renowned violin virtuoso Joshua Bell.  He performed six classical pieces on his handcrafted 1713 Stradivarius violin (for which he paid $3.5 million).  During his 45-minute mini-concert, he collected a total of $32.17.  Three days earlier, he played to a full house at Boston’s Symphony Hall, where seats sold for $100.

What can we conclude from this experiment?  Can we conclude that people were too busy to stop and enjoy the beauty right in front of them?  Can we conclude that people chose to ignore the performance because this was simply a “subway performer”, and therefore, not an artist of any significant talent?  Can we conclude that the “herd mentality” kept people from stepping out of line to stop and listen?

How can this lesson be applied to business cultures?  In each company, there are preconceived notions that certain people have more value than others.  Executives will dominate meetings.  Middle management will be ignored.  Low-level employees may not even be invited to the conversation.  Over time, the senior executives and dominant personalities stifle the others in the company.  Many employees eventually give up offering suggestions and simply keep their mouths shut.

It goes without saying, but some of the greatest suggestions come from the mid-level and entry-level employees because they live-and-breathe the day-to-day operations of the company.  They know the challenges and have thought through the solutions.  We have all been in meetings where the C-level executive goes on, and on, about some meaningless issue and simply reinforces that he is a “stuffed-suit”.

We need to challenge ourselves to not be blinded by title, personality, or role within a company.  Don’t always assume that your senior executives have the best ideas.  For that matter, don’t always assume that your largest customers have the best suggestions.  The beauty of social media is that it is blind.  Whether you are communicating with your employees, investors, partners or customers, each group and each participant has an equal voice.  As an example, anyone – from any company, any position or any country – can participate in this blog on a level field.  Everyone has an equal voice and an equal opportunity to participate and learn from each other.  Social media knows no caste system.  There are many examples of companies who have used internal and external online communities to create environments of productivity and innovation that would never have occurred in traditional business cultures.

Action Item: Create social media environments where you can listen carefully and identify the “violin virtuosos” that are currently being ignored within your company and/or within your customer base.

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Solvang Century 2006

Once a year, I train for a 100-mile bicycle “century” ride.  It is held in Solvang, California.  It is a great way for me to stay in shape, burn off stress and remind myself that great things can be accomplished with preparation, dedication and an unrelenting desire to succeed.  I apologize in advance for the departure from my normal content, but I ran into this recap from the 2006 ride, and thought that it may be worth posting.

“There is only one way to fail, and that is to quit” – Brian Hays

Solvang 2006

March 5, 2006 – I have two words to describe the 2006 Solvang Century – “I survived”.  I had hopes of setting my best personal time this year, but the weather didn’t cooperate.

When we arrived Friday night, it was raining and then it began to hail.  All of the riders were positive, but there was a significant drop-off in traffic.  For the first time in the six years that I have participated, there were actually “vacancy” signs in some of the hotels.  Normally, all of the hotels within 50 miles are booked six months in advance.  All of the local hotels are booked about a year in advance.  The word among the riders was that the casual riders had dropped out.  We went to Tower Pizza and joined other riders to have pasta and tell stories.  Three guys from Orange County were sitting near us.  They were drinking beer and arguing whether they should ride the next day.  One was convinced they should.  The other two argued against it.  I tried to support the positive guy.  I had just bought some rain gear when I checked-in and got my rider’s packet and they asked me where I got it.

Most of the riders were excited and cautiously optimistic about the weather (even though all weather reports showed 80-90% chance of storms and the temperatures were around freezing).

Saturday morning I got started about 7:45am.  I had bought extra rain gear and felt very prepared.  I had shoe covers, leg warmers, arm warmers, skull cap, headband and a rain coat.  My family cheered as I left the starting line with about 30 other riders.  A normal year would have well over 5000 riders.  This year, I imagine there were only about 3000 riders.  I was amazed that within the first 10 miles, I saw at least 20 flat tires (it is really hard to see glass in the road when it is raining).  I was just glad to get out of town safely.  There was a steady rain and the roads were very slick.  As we rode into the wine country, I looked back toward Solvang and the sky was dark, but not too bad.  As I looked in the direction we were riding, it was black.  The thunder and lighting lit up the sky and the 25 or so riders around me all yelled “Bring it on!”  We were clearly blinded by our own adrenaline.

Ten minutes later, the “light” rain turned into heavy rain and we were all asking each other, “Are we having fun yet”?  I could literally feel my body temperature dropping as I was slowly getting drenched.  I suddenly realized that I didn’t have enough layers under my raincoat.  At about the 20 mile mark the hail started up again.  I felt my bike losing control and noticed that I had a flat.  I said to myself, “you have to be kidding me.  Is this how it is going to go?”  As I was slowing, the hail kicked into high gear.  I pulled off the side of the road and began to change my tire.  In the back of my head, I heard my wife Ellen saying, “you should bring two tubes”.  Obviously, I only brought one.  With all the weight from the extra clothes, I figured I would save some weight by bringing one tube.  In five years, I had only had two flats.  Why would I need more than one tube?  Good thinking, huh?  Another rider who was getting ready to dropout of the ride pulled off and offered to help.  I changed the tire quickly, but my hands were frozen and I couldn’t feel the inside of the tire for glass.  I also had the problem that it was hailing so hard that the tire was filling up with hail quicker that I could get the tube in.  I kept shaking out the hail, but it would fill back up.  I had no idea what impact ice would have between a tube and a tire as I filled it up with air.  I did my best, and got ready to re-enter the ride.  As I was getting ready to get back on the bike, I looked at the road and it was solid white.  The hail had covered the entire road.  While I was waiting for an opening between riders, I saw a rider hit a patch of what was now snow on the road, and crash into the field.  This was becoming a whole different ball game.

About 30 minutes later, I realized that I had been riding in one position too long and went to change my hands on the handlebars and noticed my gloves were frozen to the handlebars.  As I pulled them off the bars, I saw ice prints where my gloves had been.  I pulled into the first rest stop and saw they had started a bonfire and a crowd was standing around it as they got onto the dreaded rental trucks to be taken back to the starting line.  These were the brave ones who were quitting and going back to face family and friends.  I couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t quit this early.  I was shaking uncontrollably and realized I didn’t have nearly enough clothes on.  I gathered myself and got back on the bike.  About 3 blocks down the road was a split in the route.  To the left was the direction for the 50-mile ride and to the right was the direction for the 100-mile ride.  A large group of riders stopped to discuss the options.  I looked to the right and saw one rider taking off.  About 20 riders turned left.  I looked at the guy next to me and said, “lets go”.  We both smiled and took off.  We turned to the right.  He hesitated for a moment and then turned left.  I heard him yell, “sorry” as he headed back toward the 50-mile route.  I caught up with three other guys and we rode on.

It continued to rain steadily for the next hour.  I had convinced myself that I had to deal with the rain all day long, when I felt a sickening feeling.  I looked down and realized that I had another flat.  That’s it.  I’m done.  The day was over.  I didn’t have another tube or CO2 cartridge.  I stood in the rain watching the other riders go by and couldn’t believe how stupid I was for not bringing extra tubes.  In the rain, you can’t see the glass on the road.  Normally, you swerve around glass all day because you can see it.  In the rain, you ride right through it.  After about 10 minutes a rider yelled, “Do you need help?”  I asked if he had a spare tube and he said, “yes”.  Nice!  I am back in the game.  I got the tube in and then stood there again, wondering, “Who is going to give me a spare CO2 cartridge?”  This is like asking a starving guy for his last meal.  Sure enough, someone stopped and gave me one.  O.k., the biking gods are on my side.  I got back on the bike and continued. As I rode on, I was still amazed that there were patches of hail/snow on the side of the road and every once in a while I had to slow to ride through a patch.

At about the 60 mile mark, I heard someone yell, “hey, pizza guy!”  I turned around and it was the guy from Tower Pizza from the night before.  He said he dropped his other friends, but they were still riding.  We rode together for about 10 minutes before I dropped him.  I was feeling good.  No record times, but I felt strong and the rain had slowed.  I was passing lots of people and felt like I could have had a really good ride under normal circumstances.  The 9 months of training were now paying off – even if I wasn’t going to set a record time.

At the end of Solvang, there are a few huge hills.  The steepest is called “the wall”.  As I approached the wall, I was completely focused on finishing.  I thought about crossing the finish line and seeing my family.  Pizza guy and I were riding together at this point and we pounded up the hill.  We were pushing each other trying to increase the pace.  We were in about the same shape, so we were doing a good job pacing each other.  It is such a great feeling to climb a hill with someone and push each other as hard as you can.  About a quarter of the way up the hill the hail started again.  He looked over and said, “You have to be kidding me!”  We both started laughing and pushed on.  We had to dodge the riders that had started walking up the hill and were challenged to find a clear path.  As we approached the summit, there was a family parked on the side of the road.  Their car doors were open and they were blaring music trying to motivate the riders to reach the top of “the wall”.  The hail was going into their car, but they didn’t care.  They were cheering us on and yelling for us to make it to the top.  I yelled back at them, “Thanks!”  Pizza guy yelled, “You rock!”

We started the decent on the other side, and I realized that this was the first year that I hated the down hills.  They were too dangerous.  I enjoyed the climbs more than the down hills.  There is about 10 miles of relatively flat terrain at the end of the ride.  Normally, this is a great, very fast ride into town and to the finish line.  The winds had been bad all day, but this final stage was terrible.  I was in my second to lowest gear and was struggling into a headwind.  Why should I expect anything different?  I continued to ride with the pizza guy trying to draft off of each other.  At one point we picked up a lot of speed and hit some mud and both almost slid off the road.  This was at 96 miles.  We both looked at each other and said, “let’s just finish this thing”.

As I crossed the finish line, I knew my time was terrible, but I was just glad to have it behind me.  The stats were: 102.1 miles, 5:56 of riding time, 17.1 MPH average speed, 37.7 MPH maximum speed and 2 flats.

All I can say is that it is really nice to have this one behind me.  Giving up was never an option.  I would have carried my bike across the finish line, if I had too.  Having completed this ride taught me that I could accomplish things I never realized were within my grasp.  Every century ride from now on can only be easier.

Solvang Century 2006

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Joe Liebl

For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I write about my Grandpa Joe from time to time.  What stands out about Grandpa Joe is that he was one of the happiest people I have ever met.  He had a phenomenal sense of humor and could work a room of adults and/or children equally well.  One of the reasons he was happy is that he had a great passion – fishing.  He lived in Minnesota (known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes”) and his world revolved around fishing.  As a young lad, I learned that everything you need to know about the world, you could learn from fishing.

One of the lessons he taught me was “timing”.  Fishing is all about timing.  You need to be at the lake, river or stream when the fish are hungry.  This is a lesson that most of us forget in business.  We launch products or introduce marketing campaigns and spend little, or no time strategizing whether the “fish are hungry”.  Never underestimate your target audience.

I, like most young boys, didn’t understand patience until I spent time with my grandfather.  Fishing is all about patience.  You can sit for hours without a nibble.  However, you are learning the whole time.  You learn from your mistakes.  You try different spots.  You try different bait.  You try different tackle.  In the end, you may hit big or you may walk away.  Yet, throughout the day, you learned a tremendous amount.  Don’t waste your efforts.  Learn something from every endeavor.

On the other hand, you also need to know when to walk away.  Only a fool will continue to fish in a spot that has no fish.  My grandpa, being an accomplished practical joker, would send people to fish a pond that had no fish in it.  They would come back complaining that they didn’t get a single bite.  The next day Joe would come home with a string of fish and claim he caught them from that pond, and his buddy would be back the following day – wasting his time again.  All the while, Grandpa Joe knew that the pond was empty.  He loved having a “victim” to play a joke on.

We all need to know when to walk away from a deal.  Customers, venture capitalists, vendors, partners and even employees will do the same thing.  They can string you on and become a resource drain.  You never hear “no”.  You simply get a stall-tactic, such as a request for more information.  I don’t believe they are as malicious as my grandfather.  However, I think of him often in these situations and realize that he was right.  You need to know when to walk away.

Finally, you need to realize that the “fish are biting right now” – as you read this.  I would always ask my grandfather, “when is the best time to fish”, expecting him to give me a sophisticated and complicated answer.  He would always say, “right now!”  There is never a better time to get started than right now.  Opportunities surround us, yet we become experts at finding reasons not to proceed.  Your customers have needs and are talking to your competitors right now.  The fish are biting.  Others are catching the fish.  Shouldn’t you grab your pole and get your fair share?

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Shawn of the Dead

In the spirit of Halloween, I watched the zombie parody “Shawn of the Dead” this weekend.  I’ve never seen it before and it is one of those cult movies that were on my bucket list (i.e., I need to watch it before I “kick the bucket”).  I have to admit that I really enjoyed it.   It is a tongue-in-cheek comedy based on the horror movie “Dawn of the Dead”.

At the beginning of the movie, the main character – Shawn – doesn’t immediately realize that zombies surround him because all of the people in his life generally act like zombies.  His friends move through life without any real emotion as they sit in traffic, play video games and drink at the local pub.  His colleagues at work essentially check in, move through their day, and then checkout.

As I watched the movie, I realized that like most comedies, what made it funny is how true it really is.  We move through our days doing the same things we always do, without any real strategy or plan.  We tend to develop patterns of behavior based on comfort-zones.  How many of us get to work and immediately dive into email without prioritizing our day?  Halfway through the day, we realize that all we have done is email.  How many of us intend to set quarterly and annual goals, but then forget to create them?  How many of us know that we are using antiquated processes and/or technologies, but avoid adopting the more efficient options because we are adverse to change?  We have become corporate zombies, moving through our day without creative thinking.

I recently attended a large industry conference where the keynote speaker was a very well known, leading-edge marketing expert.  I was excited to attend because I am a fan, and his topic “How to use Twitter in Business” was something that I am always interested in learning more about.  Ten minutes into the presentation, I realized that he was losing the audience.  Twenty minutes into the session, I realized that he had lost the room completely.  There were probably only 25 people in a room of 500 that were still paying attention.  During the networking break, everyone was commenting on what a waste of time Twitter was and how they had blown a great conference by inviting this “so-called expert” to present on the topic.

What went wrong?  Simple – the topic didn’t align with the audience.  The average age of the audience was 50 years old.  The room was filled with CEOs, CFOs, COOs, investors, board members and retired executives.  The presenter was setup to fail.  This group was set in their ways and was not willing to open their minds to social media.  Their pre-conceived notion that Twitter and social media were a waste of time was simply reinforced by this presentation.  The group of 25 or so marketing people who had already adopted social media were the only ones who appreciated the content of the presentation.  The room was dominated with corporate zombies who were not open to new ideas.  Don’t get me wrong.  I know a great many of the attendees personally and have tremendous respect for their accomplishments.  My point is that they are losing touch with the market direction and the latest business tools.  This is a predictable cycle that continues to repeat itself.

There is a very real generation gap between the group of people who understand social media and those that don’t.  I remember when desktop computers made their way into the offices.  The older executives argued that they were a waste of time.  The younger executives argued that they wouldn’t accept a position with the company unless they were given a PC.  I remember when companies were having discussions about whether they needed websites.  The older executives argued it was a waste of time.  The younger executives argued the company would be out of business in a few years without one.  I see parallels today with social media.  Older executives can’t understand why a company would need a blog or have a Twitter presence.  The younger executives argue that every company will have one in a few years.

Comfort zones are just that – comfortable.  However, they keep you from staying competitive.  They turn you into a corporate zombie.  As the newsman said in “Shawn of the Dead”, the only way to kill a zombie is to remove its head.  This is true of corporate zombies as well.  Companies kill corporate zombies by replacing them with “non-zombie” executives who are creative and understand newer processes and technologies.

Have a great Halloween, but don’t go as a corporate zombie, it could be detrimental to your career…

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Here's Johnny!

I was talking to my kids this weekend about Halloween costumes, and they asked me what scared me the most.  I paused for a second, and then realized that my answers were not what they were looking for.  They were business-related and had nothing to do with the boogey-man.  What was my scariest moment?  It could have been my first presentation to Wall Street financial analysts.  It could have been presenting at a conference to 1000 people.  It could have been my first day as CEO or the day I realized we were running out of cash.  It might have been realizing that I was out of work and that I didn’t have income to provide for my family.

Each of these episodes could have been paralyzing and caused me to fail.  However, the fear associated with each episode is what caused me to succeed.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have experienced paralyzing fear many times.  There was the time that I pulled an all-nighter to prepare for an economics presentation in graduate school.  My presentation was flawless and had outstanding facts and logic.  However, what I failed to do, was prepare my dialog.  I stood in front of my peers and put up slide after slide of facts and had absolutely nothing to say about them other than to read the text.  It was the most painful 30-minute presentation of my life.  Unfortunately, my classmates were more uncomfortable than me, because it was a tremendously boring presentation.  Lesson: Always, always, always prepare your speakers notes.

The point is that you can’t let your fear control the moment.  You need to harness the fear and channel it into positive energy.  People have told me that I am a reasonably good presenter.  I often hear, “how are you so comfortable presenting in front of an audience?”  The truth is that I feel like I am going to throw-up every time I take the stage.  Show me a speaker who isn’t scared, and I will show you a boring presenter.  The fear and adrenaline rush of the moment is what makes the presentation real and interesting.  I’ve read interviews of both Bob Hope and Johnny Carson and both of them commented that they were physically ill before every show and every performance.

It is human nature to be afraid.  Everyone is afraid from time to time.  Fear is what drives us to create stronger companies, become more efficient employees, faster athletes, and better students.  Andy Grove of Intel built a business with the mantra, “Only the Paranoid Survive!”  Fear is one of the emotions that make us human.  Don’t fight it.  Embrace it.  Use it to become a better manager and set a higher bar for your employees.  Use it to drive your company to create a stronger value-proposition and more daunting competitive advantages.  Never, ever, relax and get complacent.  Leave that for your competitors…

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The dictionary defines success as, “suc•cess (noun), the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”.  Buried a little deeper in the definition, is the reference to, “a person who attains profit or prosperity”.  At what point, did the definition of “success” become so aligned with net worth?  I remember a line in a movie when I was very young where an overly aggressive executive made the comment that “net worth was a way of keeping score”.  I can’t recall the movie, but it created a lot of debate, because at the time, it was inappropriate to discuss your net worth, salary or success in business.  Much later, in the 1987 movie “Wall Street”, the character Gordon Gekko created the infamous line, “Greed is Good!”  Throughout the 80s and 90s it felt like society embraced Gordon Gekko’s philosophy, and materialism reset the definition of success.  We have reached a point where if someone comments that an individual is “very successful”; we assume it means they are very wealthy.  We never ask what they are successful at, because we assume the reference is to wealth.  The only question is, “how did they make their fortune?”

It was not always this way.  There was a time when you could be a successful artist, athlete, mentor, volunteer, parent, teacher and yes, businessman.  I have recently posted a number of articles discussing the changing corporate world and after a great deal of discussion, I believe one of the key factors driving this change is our new definition of success.  When the singular focus of our careers is to attain prosperity, everything else becomes a distraction.  Activities that don’t add to our net worth are considered a waste of time, and the “ends justify the means” seems to be a daily rationalization.

Many people will argue that this is not a recent phenomenon and that business has always been a cutthroat environment.  This may be true, however today it seems to permeate the entire family.  It feels to me that our advertising and marketing efforts have unfortunately succeeded, and we are all more materialistic and consumer focused than a generation or two ago.

Regardless of whether this is a new phenomenon, I am interested in how our definition of success has affected our corporate cultures.  When I look back on the companies I have worked for and think about the cultures, I see dramatic differences.  I worked for a company early in my career where the company was truly a family.  I loved the people I worked with and appreciated the bonds, the mentorship and executive leadership.  The company peaked and essentially fell off the radar over 20 years ago.  However, employees still meet every Friday the 13^th at a specified location for reunions.  Most people look back on that experience as one of the best in their career.  On the other hand, when I think about the company where I made the most money in my career, the culture was terrible.  The only reason any of us stayed was that we were paid exceptionally well.  There was no moral compass within the organization and the stress levels were incredibly high.  There are no reunions and no one would attend if they were organized.

There was a time when success meant more than the bottom line.  It meant building teams of highly motivated people.  Individuals were proud to work for the company because it was an energizing environment.  The board of directors, the executive leadership team, middle management and every employee in the company understood that we were part of a family, and that the people were the most important asset.  This was not a slogan, but a true belief.  Companies focused on training their employees and nurturing skill sets.  Organizations offered back to the community, not as a public relations ploy, but because they knew it was the right thing to do.  Companies did everything they could do to avoid layoffs, rather than using it as a tool to increase profits.

Do we really have the right definition of “success”, or is there a definition that is more accurate – and in the long run, will be more effective at driving world-class companies?  Can profitability be a byproduct of companies being “successful” at creating a positive culture of growth, support, integrity and respect?

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Given the current job market, I have been thinking lately about how limited the classic resume is in terms of communicating personal characteristics such as integrity, respect and passion.  It is unfortunate that the first review of candidates is based entirely on a piece of paper that is one-dimensional.  This reinforces the argument that we all need to build a strong network so that we have internal sponsors who can verbally communicate some of our personal values.

On a recent blog post, I received a comment that offered an outstanding quote on Integrity.  It was a quote from 1998, by a Captain Conway, a platoon commander at the USMC’s Officer Candidate School.  He said, “Integrity is like virginity.  Once you lose it, you can never get it back.”  In my opinion, this is very accurate.  I see too many people in business, that are willing to compromise their integrity and business ethics – “just this one time”.  It is as if it is a white lie and the ends-justify-the-means.  The problem with this approach is that it is a very slippery slope.  You do it once and the next time is much easier.  We read every day about the executive who siphoned hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars out of the company.  It seems each time, they started with a forged business dinner and that turned into a forged business trip and the rest is history.

The other issue is that your reputation cannot be repaired.  We have all worked with, and known people in business who have demonstrated that they will cut corners and walk over people – as needed.  This may have been effective for them in the short term, but it clearly tarnished their reputation in most people’s eyes.  This is extremely difficult to repair.

Respect is another critical business element.  There are plenty of examples of great political, military and business leaders who ruled with a draconian fist and were extremely effective.  However, I can point to twice as many business leaders who built an environment of trust and respect that were just as effective.  Leading soldiers into battle and leading employees in business are two different activities.  Employees can quit and get a different job or worse yet, they can ignore or undermine you.  I recognize that every leader has a different style.  However, research has shown, leaders do not need to be feared to be effective.  Treating a team with respect and building a positive culture will produce greater value in the long run.  Employees who have gained the respect of their manager, feel good about their contribution and are able to go home to their families with their heads held high are far more effective than employees who are yelled at and talked down to.  No project or job is more important than an individual’s self-esteem.

There was a time when employees stayed with companies for 20 years and felt they needed to put up with the difficult boss.  Today, they have options and have no problem leaving.  Building a positive culture of integrity and respect are critical to motivating and retaining talent.  Your thoughts?

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Kobe Bryant Gathering a Rebound

My two sons (5^th and 6^th grade) love to play basketball.  Recently, we got into a discussion about rebounding.  Why are some NBA players so good at rebounding, when others seem to always be in the wrong place?  I reminded them of Wayne Gretzky’s quote on why he is such a good hockey player – “A good hockey player plays where the puck is.  A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”  Great NBA rebounders play the same way.  They have an uncanny way of knowing where the ball will rebound.  Human nature is to run to the hoop, but if you watch Kobe Bryant, he often stands outside the crowd and somehow knows the ball will rebound directly to him.

Business leadership is the same way.  It is easy to follow the herd and emulate the competition.  Most companies spend a lot of time on competitive analysis to anticipate and often copy their competitor’s products.  We create websites that match our favorite competitor.  We copy their campaigns and trade show booth designs.  We build products that are very similar to theirs.  This type of “herd mentality” creates excellent second-place players.  However, none of us want to be in second place.

What is difficult is to stand alone on the court with conviction that the ball will come to us.  Identifying where the ball will go – or in this case where the market will go takes vision, but positioning your company in that direction when everyone else is moving in the other direction is counter-intuitive.  It is difficult to build a product that is unique and unexpected by the market.  It is difficult to create a website that stands out from the others.  It is difficult to create a new and untried channel of distribution or sales promotion.  However, this is how first place players are created.  To be fair, the “first to market” often fails and the “second to market” often learns from the failures of the first, to create a cheaper, better, faster version that ultimately becomes successful.  However, the 20 or so other players who stayed in the safe mature market simply emulating the leader, or making small incremental improvements over the prior version, rarely become cover page successes.

The bottom line is that it takes conviction, passion, nerve and just a little bit of insanity to step outside our comfort zones to take the risk.  However, once in a while, it is well worth it.  The following video is a humorous look at a real world example of leadership.  One person steps out from the crowd and makes a fool of himself.  After a while a few others decide to join him.  Finally, there is a tipping point where everyone wants to be a part of the action.  This is how most leaders start out.  Take a chance.  Think differently.  It may pay off!

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

—  Theodore Roosevelt

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The past couple of weeks I have written about how corporate roles have changed and how we all must prepare ourselves for this new corporate world. Today, I want to discuss the topic of personal branding. With respect to the job market and your career, personal branding is a means of defining and promoting your skills, strengths and interests in an effort to raise yourself above the white noise.

Define your Objective – Before you do anything, sit down and determine what you are trying to accomplish. People create a personal brand for many reasons, but in this case, let’s assume you are trying to create a professional brand that will establish you as a leader in your chosen field. This seems simple, but remember that people are successful if they have both the ability and the passion to succeed. Make sure that the brand you want to promote is both of these. Be as specific as possible (e.g., public relations manager for small to medium sized technology firms). Think about what defines you and separates you from the pack. How do you want people to see you?

Discover your Current Brand – Next you need to understand what brand you have today. Remember that everyone has a brand. If you ask your colleagues to describe you, what would they say? I firmly believe that none of us “own” our own brand. The market owns the brand. The market determines what our brand is. I can say that my brand is that of a “Business Management, Marketing, Leadership and Social Media Expert”. The truth is that you, the reader of this blog will decide what my brand is after you read this (and hopefully other ) articles. All I can do is promote, and hopefully influence, your perception of my brand.

Define your Messaging – Once you know what your current brand is (e.g., mid-level marketing manager) and what you want it to be (e.g., social media expert), then you can begin to define your messaging. What will you do to change the market perception of you from your “current” to your “target” brand? What will you communicate to the marketplace to define your brand? Will you promote your skills in a specific area? Will you give examples of your knowledge? Will you position yourself as a resource to others?

Choose your Tools – There are an overwhelming number of tools at your disposal to begin to brand yourself. My advice is to choose carefully because each tool has a unique value. Talk to others who have used them and determine what value they provide and how much effort is necessary. Remember that some of them can be a huge resource drain. In my opinion, some of the best tools for building a personal business brand are as follows:

Social Media

• LinkedIn – This is the single best tool at your disposal to define your business brand. Fully build your profile and keep it current.
• Facebook – Determine quickly if you are going to separate your business brand from your personal brand. If you don’t want business associates seeing your college photos in Mexico, then secure your Facebook page or keep it professional.
• Twitter – The power of Twitter is only beginning to be defined. Create a Twitter feed and use it to define your brand and cross-link back to your other online sites.
• Blog – Your blog becomes your online profile. Make sure you cross-link between your blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other online sites.
• VisualCV – This is a powerful tool to create an online resume, separate from your LinkedIn profile.
• Email Signature – This is often overlooked. Create an email signature with hyperlinks to your LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, VisualCV, and blog.

Physical

• Resume, Biography, Transition document – These are all useful documents for different audiences. The transition document should be a single page targeted at people you will network with who may be able to help your career.
• Business Cards – Create a separate business card from your full-time job that defines your brand. Include all your social media contacts (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog, etc.)

Face-To-Face

• Never forget the importance of face-to-face communications. We sell ourselves best in person, not online or on the phone. Make sure that you attend networking events, find opportunities to speak on panels, and simply meet with colleagues 1-on-1 from time to time.

Implement your Plan – Now that you have defined your objective, messaging and tools, it is time to implement. My advice is to set realistic goals for yourself. It is easy to get overwhelmed. Start simple and build from there. Once you begin, listen to the feedback. Is your LinkedIn profile getting traffic? Are your blog postings resonating and getting comments? Learn from the feedback – both positive and negative. Create a two-way dialog with your target audience. Make sure you respond to people who take the time to comment on your blog. Always be sincere and helpful. You will make mistakes, but if you are sincere and helpful to your network, you should be fine. Finally, be consistent. The effort you put into building a brand will fade quickly if you do not continue the effort. By setting realistic goals, you should be able to continue your branding effort regardless of your workload. It simply becomes a part of your normal career.

Remember, your network and your personal brand are the two things you carry with you from job to job. With a little planning and effort, they will pay huge dividends. Good luck, and let me know how I can help…

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