3 Quick ways to become more interesting & unforgettable!!

Here is a 3 step formula to create an interesting business story.....that gets remembered.
The ability to hear and remember a story is literally part of our DNA.  

Look at this nice article from Inc magazine  to create & practice this process.

     Read more here

Hope you find it valuable......... Steve Brody

Failure is not an Option.....Maybe it should be!!

Have you ever heard the phrase.....failure is not an option!!  This may be so when it applies to space travel or bringing a man back from space.  When we face a life or death situation.

But...inside your firm and looking at Marketing Strategy, we have a different situation.  You see....failure is a very important cultural benefit.....if you have a healthy & constructive culture.  How can this be?   Rather simple, actually....if you are not failing enough inside your firm....it means that you may not be trying or experimenting with a lot of ideas.

 And experimentation and innovation leads to new products or services for you to expand.
You see, the GREAT Marketers understand that it is very DIFFICULT to predict success.  Very few of us are that smart.   But if you experiment enough....or take an empirical approach to trying things.....you just may trip over something or the light bulb goes on regarding something new, different, and exciting.    So in this regard.....failure may be a very good option.......if performed on a limited basis and if the team takes the time to debrief.....to learn....to study what went wrong.....and then revise the idea and go back to experiment or expand.

The above is how the BIG ideas get discovered.  They are rarely planned....in advance.

Some years ago a writer was interviewing the famous, Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.
The writer asked Mr Walton.......how can you explain your success?  What followed was interesting.
Mr Walton replied:     that's easy  MAKING GOOD DECISIONS
The writer then asked: how do you make good decisions.....the reply ALWAYS BE LEARNING
Final question to Walton was:  so how do you keep learning....the reply MAKING BAD DECISIONS

i.e.  Walton was confirming that you must be learning from your failures or bad decisions!!

So what is the culture in your firm?  Can someone fail without being punished or fired?
Do you have a culture of experimentation?   Do you have a culture of learning?

If not, how will you go about growing and trying new things.  Not easy but required.

So here's to your failures.....and better yet....your learning & innovation!!

       Steve Brody
      Brody & Associates

 

The Race to the Bottom is Unforgiving

Be cheap or figure out how to be better!!  One of these is a much more difficult strategy.   Which one would you guess?

If you said.....be better....you are correct.
Unfortunately too many CEOs listen to their Sales team when they say to management......we have to be lower priced or we will lose the business.  Really?  This is a race to the bottom when you believe you compete in a COMMODITY business.    i.e.  there is no significant difference between your product or service vs the competition......either real or perceived!!

If you believe this you just may be in a race to the end of your firm.

Being better or differentiated is hard.....it demands strong leadership & a team that is aligned.  Think Apple or Nike or Starbucks......do you willingly pay a premium?  You betcha.

Here is an interesting Blog from Marketing guru.....Seth Godin that defines more about the above.  Read it  here 

Try the hard path.....but figure out how to be DIFFERENT!!

Happy Marketing.

   Steve Brody

Attitude is more important than IQ

Do you believe the above statement?  How can this be the case?

The underlying meaning is all about the difference between a FIXED MINDSET vs a GROWTH MINDSET.  The Growth Mindset is a stronger link to Emotional Intelligence..... EQ vs IQ.

The Growth Mindset says that success in life is all about how you deal with failure.  Failure is just information.....we label it failure, but it's more like "this didn't work, and I'm a problem solver, so I'll try something else."  A more flexible and positive approach.

This is as described by Dr Travis Bradberry.....author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0
You can read more about it  here 

Hope you find it valuable

    Steve Brody

3 Keys to creating a culture of trust!!

It has been written about by various authors that TRUST is an important element in creating an effective team and organization.  But just how do effective leaders generate TRUST?

An interesting article from Inc. magazine puts a focus on 3 Key things:

  Listen

  Be humble

  Give employees freedom

Without trusting your team to contribute in meaningful ways, you fail. It's the leader's responsibility to ensure a culture of trust exists, which invites and rewards opinions and innovative ideas.

You can read the article   here  

Hope you find it valuable

     Steve  Brody  

Being a more effective leader

Ever notice that the higher up you go in the organization, your success does not depend on your brilliant knowledge of something.  Rather a higher priority is placed on how you select and develop people around you.

If you're set on progressing your career, you've go to commit yourself to a course of personal development.

5 Key insights from famous Executive Coach Marshall Goldsmith include:

 1.  Don't fall into the superstition trap

  2.  Technical chops aren't enough for leaders

  3.  Your effectiveness as a leader is based on others perception of you

  4.  Listening to what other people say is the most important skill for a leader to develop

  5.  You need to pick and choose your areas of improvement

You can read more about this from an article in Business Insider, Aug 2016
 Read more  here 

Hope you enjoy it.

     Steve Brody

I do not want to be your boss!!

"I don't want to tell you what to do or what not to do. I don't want to be your mother either. I'm not your teacher, your best friend or your guru. I care deeply about you. I care enough that I expect you to realize your potential and experience a sense of real accomplishment in all you achieve. I want your days to be purposeful and as such, fulfilling. I want you to want to work hard for what matters most. I want you to experience more life."

The above is an interesting statement from a business associate, leader, and Executive Coach I know .   This statement is fundamentally about being your leader.... not your traffic cop or school teacher.   From Phil Liebman at ALPS Leadership.  

Have you ever felt some of these same thoughts regarding your Executive Team?  Does it feel good or would you rather be spending your time doing more important things?   This is a basic concept in leadership.....having your team be responsible and doing the right things without you having to micromanage the firm.  

Leadership can be learned....definitely,  but not without a lot of work,  desire to excel,  challenge to yourself,  and deliberate practice on a regular basis.   Not rocket science but hard stuff.... according to well known author James Kouzes  in a recent book called Learning Leadership.  

Kouzes claims you need to understand five  fundamentals

  1.  Believe that you can
  2.  Desire to excel
  3.  Challenge Yourself
  4.  Engage support
  5.  Practice deliberately

He includes numerous pragmatic tips for any  leader to ponder and then develop as practice.  Suggest that you review his material.

Hope you find it valuable

    Steve Brody