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Business

Love Your Critics

February 11, 2014 —

Love Your Critics

Nobody likes being criticized. This is one of the least productive of human traits, because few things are more effective than good criticism when it comes to changing our results or our ways. If you went to schools that gave out report cards, you’ll remember how few critical words it took from a teacher to alarm your parents. “Not focused in class” or “Tends to talk out of turn” were enough to get mom and dad engaged in a hurry. As adults, most of us get criticism from only a small handful of people: family, bosses, and spouses. Friends could be a great source of criticism, but the implicit...
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Social Business Driven by Meaning

November 6, 2013 —

Social Business Driven by Meaning

Stowe Boyd is a researcher, speaker and writer working principally on social tools and their impact on media, business and society. Back in 2012 he told delegates at the Meaning 2012 Conference in the UK that we are entering the age of “Post-normal Business”. For Boyd, “Postnormal Business” results from a series of fundamental shifts for business: “’Leadership’ has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a government. ‘The Value Chain’ has changed when the customer is no longer just the ‘buyer’ but also a...
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Why Isn’t Your Business Doing “Betterness”?

June 30, 2013 —

Why Isn’t Your Business Doing “Betterness”?

“Betterness”, Umair Haque’s take on 21st Century business, is a thought-provoking and inspirational book that challenges conventional businesses (and their leaders) to seek a higher purpose in what they do, and how they do it. Here’s Umair setting up the assault: Ask yourself… Why, despite billions spent on “change,” “transformation,” “training,” and “engagement,” does the work most organizations offer most people seem so unfulfilling? Why is it that the unhappiest part of the day has been found to be … the daily commute to work, closely followed by being at work when so much of our short...
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Is Your Mindful Leadership Instinct Unnaturally Suppressed?

June 24, 2013 —

Is Your Mindful Leadership Instinct Unnaturally Suppressed?

Some thoughts on mindful leadership from Emotional Business by Ravi Rao: “Individual leaders also face a false dichotomy to forge their identity as a rigorous, results-oriented tyrant or be a nurturing, naive softy who doesn’t meet targets. In some settings, an individual leader is perceived as powerful and effectual only if she is unemotional.” “Contrary to the expectation that leaders can emulate machines, positions of power are actually centers of intense emotional experience; responsibility, loyalty, and trust are profound concerns in the mind of a leader. Nonetheless, the business...
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Moving From Business-centric Outputs to People-focused Outcomes

May 27, 2013 —

Moving From Business-centric Outputs to People-focused Outcomes

Outcomes are the benefit your customers receive from your stuff. This starts with truly understanding your customers’ needs—their challenges, issues, constraints, priorities—by walking in their shoes and in their neighborhoods, businesses, and cultures. See what’s inconvenient, taking a lot of time, money, and/or effort. Your customers are too busy to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. What if you made a healthy, reasonably priced, fast-cooking meal so a family could eat better? Create a solution that your customers can sustain, and you enable life-changing outcomes, big and...
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When People See Their “Best Selves” Reflected in Your Business

February 10, 2013 —

When People See Their “Best Selves” Reflected in Your Business

I recently had the opportunity to interview Gianpiero Petriglieri, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, Europe’s top business school. Following our fruitful talk, I reflected on a thought from our interview. We were talking about how people identify with leaders, when Professor Petriglieri said: “Leadership happens when you attract others through your thinking, your beliefs, and your behavior. Or more precisely, when others come to see their best self reflected in your thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” I related Gianpiero’s observation to the...
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Good Leadership Character Leads to Good Brand Character

June 12, 2017 —

Good Leadership Character Leads to Good Brand Character

Tough time call for strong leaders As recognition sets in that the COVID-19 crisis will not be short-lived, companies must respond appropriately by communicating in ways that are empathetic and relevant, contextually aware, human and sensitive. Leaders, brand stewards, and their teams must be extremely focused, keep up with the new normal of uncertainty, and have the ability to rapidly re-evaluate what their company stands for, how it communicates, and why this matters now more than ever. Leadership Character An excellent post at IMD.org speaks to two attributes that the writers, Professors...
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TOMS Shoes: When Being Meaningful Becomes the Business You Are In

June 6, 2011 —

TOMS Shoes: When Being Meaningful Becomes the Business You Are In

TOMS Shoes has built a strong business and huge following based on its altruistic approach to selling shoes: buy a pair from TOMS and TOMS gives a second pair to someone who really needs them. Now they’re taking this “one-for-one” philosophy used to build the image of the company and turning it into their business model. To us, this is far more than a “rebranding” exercise, it’s the transformation of TOMS into a business inspired by a noble ambition. It is emblematic of the next generation of business in which enterprises take on broad social...
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