Category: Leadership
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Why People Love Brands
The foundation of every #Brand is psychological safety. People want to feel #heard.We want to feel #connected with others.We want to be part of a shared #future #Communicating that brand is done through #BelongingCues – subtle and authentic behaviors repeated over time that create conditions for collaboration, shared problem-solving, listening, and learning. People show love and support where they feel it reciprocated. Are you […]
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Where Your Brand Lives
Your #brand is the reputation that lives in the minds of people. They might be internal, externally connected, or totally disconnected. Over-simplifying, I put 60% emphasis on external but connected people. they might include:– #Vendors– Former employees– Distribution partners– #Customers (current and past)– #Prospects– Ideal #audiences, etc. The remaining 40% on internal people.– #Employees– #Investors Synergies and momentum build when there is overlap and […]
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Importance of Innovation
#Innovation is the ONLY way to change your current situation, direction or hope to get new results. It can seem scary when you don’t have ample resources of time, money, friends, or whatever. It might not “work”. Meaning it might not bring the results you intend. But trying something new will always bring new results and #feedback. […]
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Marketing and Sales Relationship
I like to describe the relationship between #sales and #marketing to be that of heads and tails of a coin (or front/back of a dollar bill). In many situations, #CEOs seem to have systems and structures in place to measure sales. Marketing can and should be designed to compliment and enhance their sales processes. Places where they feel a lag, struggle, […]
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Who do you serve?
#Business exists to serve people. And to the extent people are served, business grows. Get to know your people – as individuals.People often fall into categories of shareholders, owners, employees, vendors, buyers, users, subscribers, followers, and friends – each with different needs. None of them is more important than any other. Find ways to help them […]
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Measuring Ideas
Some people talk about ideas in terms of being big or small. The idea itself is not measurable beyond a couple firings of neurons somewhere in our brain. What IS measurable is the impact of the idea – the number of people involved in it, the amount of #change it brings, the #value it creates, […]
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Creativity is capital
Each of us has unlimited capacity to increase our value. Each of us has unlimited capacity to create! Our #imagination, interpretations, and #insights grow more and more keen with every experience. They represent our largest, and mostly untapped, opportunity to contribute to the world. #Creativity is a natural state of #humanity, making it infinitely #abundant. […]
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Better Questions
Great #interviewers and #entrepreneurs are often known for asking #powerful, simple, concise, #cutting, and BIG questions. While they do make their share of #assumptions from time to time, they are followed with more #questions. Better questions aren’t just about getting better #answers. They prime our #curiosity and #imagination, open our minds to #solutions, help us […]
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Movement follows value
There are many conversations growing today around ways #leadership, #management, #marketing, and #sales are changing as #technology and #information become ever-more present in our lives. In many ways, these aspects of business have changed dramatically in the past two decades. But as the headline suggests, not much has truly changed! #Humans are social creatures. We […]
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Leading with HEART
#Sales and #leadership are practically synonymous. Both are about moving people and aligning beliefs. Leading people starts with #passion. Doing something that lights you up from the inside builds more #authenticity and #trust with people. It naturally connects you with others who are like-minded and like-hearted. Now that you have the #connection, #intention, and #direction; […]
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Connect more than conquer
We use numerous references to war, battle, and conquering when discussing #business – #sales in particular. These suggest that business is about gaining advantages over customers and buyers that only benefit us. That sure doesn’t sound like the best type of relationship we can create! #21stCentury business and sales models are about building beneficial connections […]
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Inspiring Fixers
We can fix it – the #environment, the #economy, the #government, society… anything really. #Creative ideas flow through us constantly as a way of telling us we are alive and to prime our #passions for action. The Internet gives us resources like #Google, #Siri, #Alexa, #Watson, and tons of upcoming new #ArtificialIntelligence systems to streamline […]
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Serve Others First
I first heard the concept of #ServantLeadership about 25 years ago (though it dates back over 40 years) and was hooked! The idea is that those in positions of #power and authority put the needs of others first and help them develop in ways to perform their best. In committing to this, they selflessly build […]
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Creativity
#Creativity is the process of making something out of nothing. It requires a tremendous amount of skill, patience, experimentation, and a variety of tools. It is unpredictable at its best, and inconsistent at its worst. From a certain perspective, it is highly inefficient and unproductive. Perhaps that is why it is hardly embraced by the […]
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Dream with others
12 April 2018 One of the most powerful ways to appreciate another person is to #dream with them. This encompasses deep #listening, honoring their delicate #creativity, acknowledging their #skills as well as challenges, respecting their premature ideas, and #encouraging them to be themselves. Most of us don’t get that often enough and keep our #genius […]
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Purpose Propels
5 April 2018 Purpose is a simplistic explanation of why a particular thing, action, or business exists or is used. #Corporations have a fiduciary duty to act in good faith, use their best judgement, and promote the best interests of the entity. The #capitalistic purpose over the last couple hundred years was to simply make […]
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Leaders Move
30 March 2018 #Leadership is movement… towards a known goal/objective or away from an undesirable status quo. It takes #vision, confidence, and competence to recognize it is possible for ‘something better’ even though there is zero evidence of its existence. #Movement starts with #communication. Sharing ideas #connects people and allows them to discover ways their […]
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Keep giving
26 March 2018: The next time someone asks about your job, tell them you are responsible for managing and growing gift-allocations of precious resources. This IS your job – regardless of your title, position, or age. YOU decide how much, when, where, and for how long you will invest your #time, #effort, #talent, and #attention. […]
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Transparency
13 March 2018 #Focus is about having a single-minded approach towards a known and supported objective. This allows #teams and individuals to act as independently or collectively as they see fit. It is as much about what we are NOT going to do (distraction of energies) as it is about what we ARE going […]
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Love Like The Sun
5 March 2018 One of my favorite poems, Hafiz writes; “Even after all this time, the sun never says to Earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens. With love like that, it lights the whole sky.” #Share your gifts with others. It is how they grow. It is how you #grow. This is your platform […]
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The Power Of Connectivity
It’s one thing to be connected to the Internet. This connection enriches our experiences working, playing, shopping, sharing, and communicating. It’s another thing to be connected to another human being. This connection enriches our entire lives and brings an entirely new meaning to the concept of sharing. Both of these connections are pretty insignificant when […]
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Blazing New Trails
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” People are the key to a 21st Century business. They are not a mere resource that needs to be managed. They are the most valuable asset to an organization and the driving force behind growing businesses. The job of […]
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A Foundation for 21st Century Business
Whether we are ready to admit it or not; the way we do business today is different than it was 10, 5, even just 3 years ago. Buyers either seem to care about different things or care about things in a different degree. There are more competitors offering highly similar products and services. Consumers have […]
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How to Achieve 2x, 5x, 10x Growth
Everyone in business wants to grow! Some might see 20% or 30% as effective growth. Others might set their sights on 50% or over 75% growth. But from the viewpoint of earning a return on your investment (time, money, energy, talent, or any other resource), these are pretty paltry. Most businesses need to double their […]
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The Power Of Systems In Marketing
Contrary to beliefs throughout the industrial age; marketing and sales are not interchangeable words. Independently, they seem to be infinitely complex and divergent, but when blended together properly they blend create powerful synergies. Described separately and in overly-simplified terms; ‘Sales’ is about creating and maintaining a relationship that results in a transaction. ‘Marketing’ is about […]
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Leadership in the 21st Century
The summer I turned 13; I attended my first formal leadership training workshop. I was hooked! I have served hundreds of leadership positions in the 25 years since that weekend – formal, informal, elected, appointed, volunteered, etc. Some were for pay while others were just necessary. Some were as brief as 10 minutes; while others […]
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Profit is not an indication of Growth
Profits are great! And quite easy to figure out. They are simply the monetary surplus left to a producer after deducting all expenses (wages, materials, rent, etc.) from the total income or revenues. This can be calculated per transaction about as easy as it can be for a given time frame (month, quarter, year). While […]
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6 Benefits of Transparency
Transparency, authenticity, integrity and the like are not just overly-idealistic buzzwords for today’s business world; they provide long-lasting AND immediate benefits to those who invest time and energy to make it a prominent aspect of their business operations. Consider the image above: Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, CT. Construction was completed in 1949 […]
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What Every Entrepreneur Needs To Hear
NO ONE CARES! No one cares about your newest technology; your office décor, open floor plan, pet policy, or employee perks. No one cares about how much funding you have received, CEO salary, business valuations, or analyst predictions. No one cares about your warranty, customer service rating, latest promotion, or even sales price. We don’t […]
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Re-Defining MISTAKES
MISTAKE: A moment of great learning, discovery, or insight; often described as powerful, emotional, and/or life changing. Synonyms: error, mishap, failure. We celebrate our educational achievements with all the pomp and circumstance of graduation. From university down to pre-school, educational programs seem more significant when they come along with some form or certificate of completion. […]
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Design-Build Your Reputation
Though the fundamentals of building a reputation – personal or business – hasn’t changed much in the last couple thousand years; we are in a time of rapid technological change that is impacting many of the specific details of how our reputations are both built and experienced. Thank you to reader August Lizarraga Jr. for […]
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Building Your Business Reputation
Ask anyone with a good reputation how they got it and you’ll likely get an answer similar to; “Doing the right thing. Even when nobody is looking, when it is not fun, or when it is difficult.” It is no surprise really, the extraordinary actors, musicians, athletes, and business professionals talk openly about how much […]
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How Do You Accept Ideas?
Raw ideas have little value unto themselves. They need to be expanded, tweaked, massaged, and refined. Painters and sculptors often display a collection or series of pieces that are variations of a single theme or idea. Over a period of time, their art evolves and we can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Authors and […]
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Personal Connections
Building valuable connections is not a complex process. All you really need to do is take the time to show that you sincerely care about building them. These connections are the result of investing and sharing something personal – regardless of the format. It starts with a smile, genuine compliment, pat on the back, eye contact […]
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Fairy Tales, Architecture, and Business
We share fairy tales with children as a method of imparting sound advice in a way they can easily remember. It seems that the one about Three Little Pigs building houses is particularly well-suited for business. In case you forgot: One pig builds out of straw, another out of wood. These two enjoy the benefits […]
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Where Leadership Begins
Leadership begins with, “I have an idea…” There is no definitive ending point, because the end is not the point of leadership. The point is to incorporate the resources to bring an idea to life and nurture it through maturity. Crucially, the idea never belongs to a single person. Rather, it belongs to the entire […]
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Embracing Non-Sense
Businesses are too dependent on our 5 physical senses (which are inherently flawed). To grow and succeed; businesses need to build a culture that embraces nonsense! What do I mean by our senses being inherently flawed? Our senses of taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound are all constantly ‘on’ – sensing things and relaying that […]
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Powerful Communications: Grammar & Timing
Last week we discussed the power individual words have on your communications and how a simple exercise can help focus your communications. But great communication is not only a matter of what words you say; it is impacted by the manner in which the words are composed, as well as the how they are delivered. In this […]
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Words Have Power
The purpose of communication is to help someone else to understand something in your mind. At the beginning of 2013, I started the foundation for my own communication strategies when I published Law Of Communication. I suppose this time of year is ideal for me to think about communications. While few other animals have sophisticated […]
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Purpose Simplifies Critical Decisions
Decisions are powerful tools of transformation. Before a decision is made; everything is possible, yet nothing is done – a blank canvas that overwhelms and terrifies many people. The moment a decision is made ideas begin to take both shape and form (even if only to apply, or not-to apply gesso). Though they might seem […]
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Policy Schmolicy
I just read a report from US Travel Assoc. claiming that the reason travelers skipped out on 38Million trips in 2013 (resulting in a negative economic impact of $35BILLION – $9.5Bilion specifically to airline) was the hassles associated with flying. Some of the listed hassles include baggage fees, flight cancellation/delays; and security lines; and they […]
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The Art of Business
Art changes the world as much as it changes the artist. It goes beyond the painting, sculpture, or poetry that are produced and connects us to our emotions. Then it brings us to a resonant frequency. The work we do every day is no different. The products we make, reports we file, and meetings we […]
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Motivation vs Inspiration
As both words indicate a cause for action; they are often used interchangeably. May this be a simple guide that helps you choose between them. Motivation is an external influence – typically from a person with authority or power. In marketing; we often use tactics like discounts, sales, gift-with-purchase, and loyalty programs to motivate customers […]
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Marketing In The Wild
Looking at animals’ physical characteristics; it is often easy to see how they evolved to thrive in different environments among fierce competition. A cheetah; with its long, flexible spine, narrow (yet deep) chest, and a slender head indicates it is built for speed and attacking nimble prey. While lions; with significantly more muscle mass, broader […]
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Satisfaction vs Loyalty
At one time; satisfied customers must have been a meaningful statistic. Why else would we make such a big deal about such surveys? Today however, a satisfaction is more synonymous with a lack of disappointment. There is a big difference between not disappointing and actually satisfying – an even bigger difference stepping up to building […]
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Theory of Abundance
We all want more abundant lives, businesses, and careers. We seem to think of this word only as a good thing, but I have discovered that abundance applies to everything – the good, the bad, and the mediocre. Without getting too metaphysical or philosophical; I’d like to share my thoughts on how each of us […]
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Music Theories In Business
Even without coherent words; music is a powerful communication tool. Composers throughout the ages have expressed and communicated complex emotions through this invisible, yet tactile medium. Throughout my entire life; I have been exposed to music. My formal education began when I was young and I have been playing music consistently for nearly 30 years. […]
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A Good WHY Leads To The Best HOWs
Just over two years ago I decided I was going to enjoy living a healthier lifestyle. I specifically remember it NOT being a difficult decision; and it was not about making abrupt radical changes. However, it is important that the decision was made and WHY it was made. I wanted to improve my physical health, […]
David R Frick 