Bossy Bosserton

As our days are filled by commiserating about that stuff that may be missing from our work, we must look at the top. If you work long enough, you will eventually be given more responsibility and perhaps other people who will look to you for direction.

I once worked for a "boss" who felt compelled to raise his voice in every meeting like the alpha male pounding his chest to remind the minions who’s in charge. He also had skin thinner than phyllo pastry, so you didn't dare challenge him or he would get offended or upset or throw a tantrum. Perhaps you've met that guy.

Organizational attrition is rarely documented if one or two people leave every couple of months but over the course of a decade, how much of your team has been replaced? Do you think it could be linked to weak leadership?

The human network is more vital than ever before. Your team does not want to fear you. They don’t want to walk on egg shells around you. They don’t want to hate their jobs. They want to respect you.

Help your team; they don't want a boss.
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Who's the Boss?

As our days are filled by commiserating about that stuff that may be missing from our work, we must look at the top. If you work long enough, you will eventually be given more responsibility and perhaps other people who will look to you for direction.

A friend told me about her boss who feels compelled to raise his voice in every meeting like the alpha male pounding his chest to remind the minions who’s in charge. Perhaps you've met this guy.

Collaboration Personified

Simply because people stay is not evidence of strong leadership. Most people need money twice a month to pay for those pesky things called bills. Organizational attrition is rarely documented if one or two people leave every couple of months but over the course of a decade, how much of your team has been replaced? Do you think it could be linked to weak leadership?

An org chart and a business card does not constitute leadership. The human network is more vital than ever before. Your team does not want a boss. They don’t want to fear you. They don’t want to walk on egg shells around you. They don’t want to hate their jobs. They need you to lead and help them grow. People will mess up, because they are people just like you. Your team will make mistakes, just like you. Your company will have challenges, just like you.

Remind them your job title and you may lose the room.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

officespace | original: jan 2012

Are You a Manager or a Leader?

If you work hard enough, you will eventually be given more responsibility and perhaps other people who will look to you for direction. Most don’t want you to dictate their actions but rather guide them and back them up. A friend approached me about her boss who feels compelled to raise his voice in every meeting like the alpha male pounding his chest to remind the minions who’s in charge. Perhaps you've met this guy.

Collaboration Personified

Simply because people stay is not evidence of strong leadership. Most people need money twice a month to pay for those pesky things called bills. Organizational attrition is rarely documented if one or two people leave every couple of months but over the course of a decade, how much of your team has been replaced? Do you think it could be linked to weak leadership?

A lot is written and said about the power of human connection but we need to mean it and dig deep on it and live it and embrace it for real. No stakeholder will believe a well crafted mission statement that says people are important if it’s not proven through action. You can’t pretend to care simply to get someone to do their job.

Do As You're Told

If you have kids, you have experienced a time when they defied you, acted up against your direction or disobeyed you. Discipline can be a justified response but what is the real issue going on? In the enterprise, if an employee has a temper tantrum, they are often reprimanded and sometimes dismissed. It’s not tolerated. But why is it endured when "the boss" flips out?

An org chart and a business card does not constitute leadership. The human network is more vital than ever before. Your team does not want a boss. They don’t want to fear you. They don’t want to walk on egg shells around you. They don’t want to hate their jobs. They need you to lead and help them grow. People will mess up. You will mess up. Your team will make mistakes. You will make mistakes. Your company will have challenges. You will have challenges. It's easy to run a ship on calm water. What you do during these situations is where you will show your leadership.

If you need to remind them of your job title,
you may have already lost the room.

Kneale Mann

2012 Top 10 - Jan 2012 | dimensions

Be Unpopular

It was May 2010. I was in a room full of smart people wondering how I snuck by security. I sat quietly to learn. At some point during the first morning, someone asked a pointed question that was quick and sharp. Erika Napoletano was funny, strong, and smart. I had a chat with her weeks later and my suspicions were confirmed.

Leadership isn't about being popular, it's about being fair and balanced and inclusive and having the ability to stand for something others can believe in. If that makes you popular, that's fine but if popularity is your only goal there will be trouble.

Now watch how Erika reminds us being popular shouldn't be the goal. There are some bad words in her TEDxBoulder Talk. You may be offended and she may not care.


Kneale Mann

TEDxBoulder | Erika Napoletano

Do You Dress for Success?

Someone asked me recently for my thoughts about provocative attire at work. And it led to a conversation about dress codes in general.

You don’t expect the plumber to show up in a suit and tie while you wouldn't see the CEO attend the board meeting in a bikini. Some organizations have a stated dress code while others have a more unwritten guideline. Casual Fridays in one sector may be leather loafers and cashmere sweaters while in another industry it could mean shorts and t-shirts.

Some educational institutions have dress codes which require students to wear a uniform. This may seem a bit strict for some but have a look around the board room of a financial company and count the white shirts and navy slacks.

Your brain, experience, creativity, imagination and passion are much more important than your attire in my opinion but some may disagree so we should take a moment and read the room.

I wish you success no matter the uniform.

Kneale Mann

image credit: guardian.co.uk

Is it Business or a Hobby?

In the last four or five years, I have met more entrepreneurs than the previous two decades. Some is through my work and some is the time spent on the social web.

We can get intoxicated by the numbers and paralyzed by the activity. Many have confided that they have spent a lot of time trying to build their online presence yet business isn’t where it needs to be and it’s time to get serious. Building business takes time and hard work. Building a strong online presence for your business can seem like an endless climb.

Collaboration: Working together to achieve a goal, a process where two or more people work together to realize shared goals.

I was speaking with a colleague recently about how to do a better job articulating offers and reaching prospective clients. She said, "It’s time to sell the hobby farm”. Of course it wasn't a shot at farming, which is an essential part of our survival but rather a metaphor that relates to figuring out how much time we are spending building a business versus how much we spend messing about and calling it business. Think of the wasted meetings and busy work compared to time spent actually growing your people and the company.

It would be easy to say this is only a concern of small business owners but this type of mentality can infiltrate leadership within all sizes of enterprise. Large organizations can fall victim of the activity verses progress conundrum. We can stay busy or we can help each other inside our organizations and across industries and the social web.

Let's Connect Not Collect

Kneale Mann

image credit: lego 

No One Wants a Boss

As our days are filled by commiserating about that stuff that may be missing from our work, we must look at the top. If you work long enough, you will eventually be given more responsibility and perhaps other people who will look to you for direction. Most don’t want you to dictate their actions but rather guide them and back them up. A friend emailed me this week about her boss who feels compelled to raise his voice in every meeting like the alpha male pounding his chest to remind the minions who’s in charge. Perhaps you've met this guy.

Collaboration Personified

Simply because people stay is not evidence of strong leadership. Most people need money twice a month to pay for those pesky things called bills. Organizational attrition is rarely documented if one or two people leave every couple of months but over the course of a decade, how much of your team has been replaced? Do you think it could be linked to weak leadership?

A lot is written and said about the power of human connection but we need to mean it and dig deep on it and live it and embrace it for real. No stakeholder will believe a well crafted mission statement that says people are important if it’s not proven through action. You can’t pretend to care simply to get someone to do their job.

Do As You're Told

If you have kids, you have experienced a time when they defied you, acted up against your direction or disobeyed you. Discipline can be a justified response but what is the real issue going on? In the enterprise, if an employee has a temper tantrum, they are often reprimanded and sometimes dismissed. It’s not tolerated. But why is it endured when "the boss" flips out?

An org chart and a business card does not constitute leadership. The human network is more vital than ever before. Your team does not want a boss. They don’t want to fear you. They don’t want to walk on egg shells around you. They don’t want to hate their jobs. They need you to lead and help them grow. People will mess up, because they are people just like you. Your team will make mistakes, just like you. Your company will have challenges, just like you.

If you need to remind them of your job title,
you may have already lost the room.

Kneale Mann

image credit: news.com.au

Challenging Your Best Laid Plans

If you have read any formal information about marketing, you know about the four P’s.
If you have been exposed to anything with regards to growing business, you have undoubtedly heard the phrase strategy before tactics. And if you have been in the workforce as either a stakeholder or someone who has direct reports, you may be familiar with the difference between a boss and a leader.

So with all the formal and informal training, seemingly endless information and learning why aren’t we living in a world of unlimited success and riches? Politicians are grappling with debt load, companies are making blind cuts in a quest to improve the bottom line and we can’t go anywhere without reading about the global economic crisis. Is it any wonder we have a collective pang in our stomachs most of the time?

Energy and Attention

Now think back to your best bosses or beloved mentors. Did they remind you of all the doom and gloom? Was it their quest to constantly point out and highlight your flaws and shortcomings? Or did they steer you to focus on your strengths and talents?

Businesses, as with each of us, have plans in place to succeed. No one makes a habit of navigating their work into the proverbial rocks. Yet we do it all day long. Our best laid plans may, in fact, be our biggest downfall. It’s not that we make a plan; it’s that we may not even have the challenges facing in the direction. Whatever gets our attention gets our energy. So if we build a plan to get out of a negative spot, our focus isn’t on positive footing but rather eroding foundation.

Mean What We Do

Imagine you’re at an amusement park enjoying a summer afternoon eating junk food, playing games and enjoying some rides. Suddenly you hear a man yelling. As you get closer, you see he is actually screaming at his two young children. As you get closer still, you can make out what he’s saying; “Get on that ride and have fun!” What do you imagine is the kids reaction?

Having a plan that is flexible is essential. But often we can do what we think we need to do and remain stuck. As leaders, we can push our people to work harder without really knowing that we’re even working in the right direction. Activity and progress can get lost in our pursuit to improve. If our plan is flawed, changing the tactics may not help.

Are your best laid plans aligned with what you want to accomplish?

Kneale Mann

image credit: architecture411

Viral Creation and Manufacturing Brands

Myth or Reality?

Many will argue they can create you a brand. It begins with a strong product or service followed by expertly designed look, feel, execution and emotional connection. Your intended customer will embrace such a wondrous entity and share the positive experience with all whom they know. And that simply not true.

Brands cannot be created. That is up to those who have the experience. If you are Canadian, you know the story well. If not, it’s one worth reading about all things branding and viral.

The Legend of Tim’s

If you are from or have ever been to Canada, you know of a phenomenon like few others on earth. It is a cultural and business marvel. And it is named after a legendary hockey player who was one its co-founders. The Tim Horton’s coffee company is one of the most successful franchise models and continues to grow into the U.S. under the expanded name Tim Horton’s Cafe and Bake Shop.

What the company does best is stick to what they do well. It amazes most experts that they can introduce new products all the time and all the while sell hundreds of thousands of gallons of coffee each year. What is equally amazing is that most of their customers have perfectly good coffee makers at home, but prefer to line up with their fellow java junkies for a cup of Tim’s. The future of building relationships and product awareness is through brand experiences customers can share with each other.

People Want More

Tim Horton’s doesn’t serve the most exotic coffee on the planet; it’s certainly not the fanciest joint on the block. However, while others try to dress up their customer experience with high back padded arm chairs and CDs featuring acoustic compilations, sometimes the right model is to get your customers in and out of your store with exactly what they want and expect from you. For that, they will line up.

Will Yours?

Kneale Mann

image credit: the fit gourmet | original: oct 2008

Leadership is Not a Title

I used to be one of those people who admired others who worked for themselves because of their perceived freedom. They could choose who they worked with and their hours were flexible. They had business expense write-offs and could take time off whenever they wanted. Of course, that was all too innocent of me.

Any  self-employed person will tell you that you don't know what it's like to work for yourself until you work for yourself. That doesn't let you off the hook if you work for someone or own a large enterprise.

Selling You is Hard Work

Developing your own brand, offering or services can be tough if you don’t have a team to lean on or a established company to back you up. Scaling your expertise can be as difficult as deciding what you will offer in the first place. But we need to remember we still have a team which comprises of our network of helpful humans. The business model is expanding far past any building walls.

One may think that selling a product is easier than a service and it’s not. There are millions of brilliant people developing necessary products who can confirm the hill is just as steep. I’m often asked “what do you do?” and I prefer to say “here’s how I can help”.

B2B + B2C = C2C

We portray a strong image through profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more. The keyboard can make us brave but earning business is hard work. You not only have to prove you can provide the services you promise but you must give a prospect a reason to hire you and work with you.

If you work for yourself, be proud of your accomplishments. There are good, bad, scary and busy days. None of us escapes them, including those who started large enterprise. From Henry Ford to Carol Bartz, Oprah Winfrey to Michael Dell, they all had to start somewhere. We reside on both sides of the counter, so we all work for someone.

So How Can You Help?

Kneale Mann

image credit: freelanceswitch | original: jul 2011

Selling the Hobby Farm

Collaboration: Working together to achieve a goal, a process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals.


In the last four or five years, I seem to have met more entrepreneurs than the previous two decades. Some is through my work and some is the time spent on the social web.

We can get intoxicated by the numbers and paralyzed by the activity. Many have confided that they have spent a lot of time trying to build their online presence yet business isn’t where it needs to be and it’s time to get serious. Building business takes time and hard work. Building a strong online presence for your business can seem like an endless climb.

Focus Focus Focus

I was speaking with a colleague a few weeks ago and we were discussing how to do a better job articulating offers and reaching prospective clients. She said, "It’s time to sell the hobby farm”. It was a metaphor that relates to figuring out how much time we are spending building a business versus how much we are spending messing about and calling it business.

Contact someone and offer to help. Contact someone and ask for help. Let's actually collaborate and sell the hobby farm.

Let's Connect, Not Collect

Kneale Mann

image credit: freefoto

The Product is You

You're the Boss

I used to be one of those people who admired others who worked for themselves because of their perceived freedom. They could choose who they worked with and their hours were flexible. They had business expense write-offs and could take time off whenever they wanted. Of course, that was all too innocent of me.

Any  self-employed person will tell you that you don't know what it's like to work for yourself until you work for yourself. That doesn't let you off the hook if you work for someone or own a large enterprise.

Selling You is Hard Work

Developing your own brand, offering or services can be tough if you don’t have a team to lean on or a established company to back you up. Scaling your expertise can be as difficult as deciding what you will offer in the first place. But we need to remember we still have a team which comprises of our network of helpful humans. The business model is expanding far past any building walls.

One may think that selling a product is easier than a service and it’s not. There are millions of brilliant people developing necessary products who can confirm the hill is just as steep. I’m often asked “what do you do?” and I prefer to say “here’s how I can help”.

B2B meets B2C meets C2C

We portray a strong image through profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more. The keyboard can make us brave but earning business is hard work. You not only have to prove you can provide the services you promise but you must give a prospect a reason to hire you and work with you.

If you work for yourself, be proud of your accomplishments. There are good, bad, scary and busy days. None of us escapes them, including those who started large enterprise. From Henry Ford to Carol Bartz, Oprah Winfrey to Michael Dell, they all had to start somewhere. We reside on both sides of the counter, so we all work for someone.

So How Can You Help?

Kneale Mann

image credit: performancerules

Make Great Stuff

Horse Meet Cart.

I tried a new Pan Asian restaurant yesterday. The place looks cool, the service was fabulous and the food is outstanding. It got me thinking about the main concerns of business owners which are advancing business and improving that pesky bottom line.

The server said they've been open for five weeks and business is soaring. He added that management knows they need to do some marketing.

He said they know the honeymoon would eventually end but wanted some time to do it right. It's unclear why they are waiting to tell potential customers but I enjoyed the lunch.

They made great stuff. Now what?

In some people’s mind, the crush of social media has evened the playing field and I flatly disagree. The old adage that you can apply lip gloss on the swine has never worked and the social web will only amplify the desperate tactic.

But if you have something good, don't be shy in telling someone about it.

Opening your organization to the scrutiny of online channels is the exact time when trumping out a bad business idea will be amplified – for all the wrong reasons. These channels can help you, but they won’t save a bad idea though many certainly try and use them for that.

Make great stuff. Then share it.

Apple had its share of critics for being a closed environment for decades and the misnomer was they didn’t listen to customers and that is simply not true. The essence of branding is what they say about you to others but in the online world you can monitor those discussions if you invest the time and prepare yourself for their honest opinions. Jobs & Co do just that. Constantly.

Apple makes cool stuff that works and continues to evolve their products in line with customer appetite. Like a Pan Asian restaurant, it is inclusive but may not be for everyone and doesn't compromise for that.

Make great stuff. And keep making it great.

If you wonder if your social media efforts are paying off, have a look at your offering and decipher whether you are giving people the chance to experience great stuff or are you just barking out the deal of the week on the hopes they will re-tweet you.

You must sell the dream before you sell a thing. And most don't dream about bad stuff. The empty pitch will be a short lived endeavor.

Doing well online or offline is not about fooling people with the tools but rather making great stuff people want. And it works best when you listen to them first and they then may listen to you. I think I'll be back to have chat with the restaurant owner.

Do you make great stuff?

knealemann
work with me: contact

Give to Movember.

image credit: digitaltrends | casaperiquet

The Physics of Marketing

Where science and behavior converge.

Far too often you can read diatribes and monologues about branding this and positioning that and little of it has a stitch to do with satisfying the customer.

When asked about their tastes and behavior, most people lie and those lies become the basis for decisions. One bad week, one bad post, one bad comment can dismantle decades of managing a brand.

We live in a self-publishing world where anyone with a connection and a keyboard can share their thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Dan Cobley is director of marketing in the UK for a little company you may have heard about called Google. Through the persistence of a teacher who taught him that physics is cool, Dan went on to get a degree from Oxford.

Here Cobley explains how his passions for marketing and physics are much more related than you may think. [video]



knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: ted

Fame and Fortune Guaranteed

Don’t let any channel be in charge of your success.
That is your job.

As online social networking spaces continue to explode, it is becoming easier to build online collateral that some may mistake as a brand.

Since branding occurs between customers and is not created in a chemistry lab, your effort to give the appearance of expertise can only take you so far.


Do You Like Me Yet?

If you meet someone at a party and they press up against you and shove their business card and a pamphlet in your face, you would probably call security. But some feel comfortable jamming in-boxes with unsolicited sales pitches perhaps because of the appearance it may be easier than building another relationship.

Your quest for instant success,
may irreversibly hurt the brand you are trying to create.

As with many industries, some who are less than skilled claim to be experts. I was approached by a company recently who guaranteed they could help me market my company through social channels yet their online footprint was virtually nonexistent. Last week, there was promotional material floating around for an e-course and it read like it was written by a child.

Social media take a lot of time and even more commitment. The work is worth it but not if you are going to try it for a while and hope it does miracles for you. Other media or even an inflatable gorilla on your roof can't even promise that.

Limited Time Offer

You and your company are not a campaign. I don’t care how many followers you have and you don’t care how many friends I have if we can’t help each other get there.

Return on Investment has been a phrase uttered in business silos since we were trading rocks for rice and now with some people the phrase has been changed to return on now. Clients want chiselled in stone success guaranteed. I have been in media and marketing for twenty-six years, nothing is guaranteed.

What is certain is your ability to stick with it, monitor your results, review your organization for strengths and understand that you are building a business, not a Twitter following.

What are your thoughts?

knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

Inflating Expectation

Do you know how customers or clients perceive you?

Do you know how they talk about you? How they feel about you? What they tell others about you?

Create or Deliver.

You may have heard the story of Frank and Bob - the managers of two different oil and lube places.



Both got the idea of offering a free car wash to every customer.

Frank printed up pamphlets, put a sandwich board out front, painted the window, put another sign by the customer service desk and devised an abrasive advertising campaign, all to tell the world about his special offer.

Bob simply washed customers' cars.

Who got more complaints?

Which guy had a line-up of satisfied customers who told everyone and which guy had to endure complaints from customers who were unhappy about their less-than-perfect previously promised car wash?

Bob exceeded expectation. Frank created inflated expectation.

Surprise and Delight.

Perhaps tuck in a little something extra when merited without making a fuss or a previous promise.

Possibly the under promise over deliver model is alive and well.

If you do those unexpected things your USP will become a lot clearer.

Do you think it will work?

knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

Image credits: oilchangecoupon | carsabout

Creating Your Social Brand

What Others Say About You

The fascinating issue about social media is that no matter who you meet you can get an opinion.

There are those who say they want to get more involved but are intimated or don’t know how to move forward. There are others who have some knowledge but have made the personal decision to become an expert and tell others how to navigate the space.

Who can forget the ever growing ‘you should do it that way’ group which is annoying beyond words. And there are vultures at every party so we have to watch out for the spam, scam and scrammers.

What do you do if you want to improve your social brand? How should you act? What should you post? Where should you go?

Let’s examine the word “social” which seems to be a catch-all these days. I am a social guy, I don’t have trouble in most social situations but others have called me too outgoing or talkative. Yup, that’s me. Oh well, deal with it or don't.

I can navigate discussions in a wide range of subjects because I love to learn about others and that is my social side.

Perhaps you are more reserved and you are intimidated by a guy like me? Perhaps you enjoy smaller groups of friends and a quiet dinner over being lobbed in to a speed networking event like the one I attended this week?

Brand is a term that is misused constantly.

Like viral, you cannot create a brand. That happens between customers. Like reputation, it's what others say when it's not in the room.

I can’t tell you how to feel about a certain experience – that’s your job. Some claim to be “brand experts” or run a “brand agency” which is not the whole story. As marketers, we can set the table and create an atmosphere but that’s it.

No one knows how Old Spice has become the most talked about company on the social web this minute. The team behind the campaign hoped it would happen, but no one can claim they predicted the reaction.

So back to you, back to your social brand, how do you create it?

Maybe the best place to start is to be yourself.
Do you think that will work?

knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credit: onbloggingwell

Will Your Customers Line Up?

If you are from or have ever been to Canada, you know of a phenomenon like few others on earth. It is a cultural and business marvel. And it is named after a legendary hockey player who was one its co-founders.

Tim Horton’s (not a client) is one of the most successful franchise models in North America.

What the company does best is stick to what they do well. It amazes most experts that they can introduce new products all the time and all the while sell hundreds of thousands of gallons of coffee each year.

What is equally amazing is that most of their customers (present company included) have perfectly good coffee makers at home, but prefer to line up with their fellow java junkies for a cup of Tim’s finest.

The future of building relationships and product awareness is through brand experiences customers can share with each other. It is getting increasingly more difficult to rest a sound business plan on financing options and color selection. People want more.

But in the case of Tim Horton’s, it’s not the most exotic coffee on the planet; it’s certainly not the fanciest joint on the block. While others try to dress up the customer experience with high back padded arm chairs and CDs featuring acoustic compilations, sometimes the right model is to get your customers in and out of your store with exactly what they want and expect from you.

For that, they will line up.

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

Clichés and Experts

I’ve been thinking more about an excellent presentation at SobCon hosted by Amber Naslund.

Many thought we should stop leaning on certain terms.

The challenge is to know when sayings become cliché and when cliché becomes a crutch.


The session featured a room full of heavy online users, marketers, consultants and media makers. The common thread, we were all business people.

Two-way Conversation

If you are in the financial industry, you may talk about the facilitation of standing orders. If you work in insurance, annuity considerations may be mentioned. Hockey players discuss the trap and pinch. Mechanics concern themselves with final drive ratio. And doctors know the difference between fungal and viral.

After the discussion spilled in to the next break, it was clear that some felt these and many other social media sayings are overused by people who can’t back them up or define them.

No matter your industry; you have ways of explaining things which may be exclusive to your discipline.

The challenge to all of us, whether we are consulting our doctor about that thing on our arm or a mechanic who is examining that strange clang in the back quarter panel, is to ensure those tossing fancy terms around can back them up with meaning and experience.

Relationship Economy

I doubt you would let an unlicensed financial, medical or mechanical individual near your money, body or vehicle. So it is doubtful you would do the same with someone who has memorized a few phrases and has a couple of thousand tweets to help you build your business.

Right?

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

photo credit: istock

Is Your Company Happy?

Have you taken a moment lately to think about all the good stuff in your life? How about those around you, those who work and create with you, keep going.

Time is precious and success is not a number at the bottom of a general ledger or counted by possessions.

We need to run our companies with us humans in mind. It is the sole reason there is often unrest and unhappiness and bars filled with commiseration at night.

This is a TEDTalk featuring Chip Conley which was posted today.

Find twenty minutes and watch this.
Then share it with everyone.



@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.