Debbie Laskey's Blog

Welcome to Debbie Laskey's commentary about BRANDING, MARKETING, LEADERSHIP, SOCIAL MEDIA, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, and CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES. Debbie has worked in high-tech, the Consumer Marketing Department at Disneyland Paris in France, nonprofits, and insurance. Expertise includes strategic planning, brand development, marketing plans and audits, competitive positioning, websites, corporate communications, public relations, employee engagement, customer experiences, and social media marketing.

Monday, May 13, 2024

SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES – Featuring Kathi Kruse

Last fall, I featured an inspiring series here on my blog called, "Fall Back to Reading Series." Nearly 30 leadership, marketing, and customer experience experts participated and shared their favorite books and their thoughts about the importance of reading.

Joseph Lalonde, one participant, wrote a book entitled, REEL LEADERSHIP, which focuses on nontraditional ways to think about leadership. After I read the book, the seeds for this "Spring Leadership Series" were planted. Today, I’d like to introduce Kathi Kruse, and following a brief introduction, Kathi shares some nontraditional ways to think about leadership!

Kathi Kruse is a retail car gal, dealership profitability expert, social media strategist, coach, trainer, author of Kruse Control Newsletter, co-host of The First Pencil podcast, and founder of Kruse Control, Inc. and AutoCFO To Go. She is a board member of Hanaeleh Horse Rescue, and ten percent of Kruse Control profits go toward animal welfare.

QUESTION: Which TV show or TV series showcases leadership in a memorable way? This could be due to a specific character and their actions, a series of events, the plot of one or several episodes, or a specific time reflected in history.
KATHI KRUSE: THE SOPRANOS, a truly iconic TV series (that I loved from the first episode) and specifically Tony Soprano, the mob boss. Here are the show's leadership lessons:

(1) Strategic Thinking: Tony often displays a keen understanding of the bigger picture and the ability to plan several steps ahead.

(2) Decisiveness: Tony is known for making tough decisions quickly, a crucial trait for a leader in his position.

(3) Loyalty: Tony values loyalty highly, both in himself and in his associates. He often rewards loyalty and takes betrayal very personally.

(4) Adaptability: Throughout the series, Tony shows an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, whether it's dealing with internal family dynamics (both his own family and the mob family) or external threats.

(5) Charisma: Despite his flaws, Tony possesses a certain charisma that draws people to him and commands respect.

(6) Toughness: Tony demonstrates mental and physical toughness, a necessary quality for survival in his world.

(7) Intelligence: Tony is often portrayed as being highly intelligent, able to outmaneuver his opponents and navigate complex situations.

(8) Emotional Complexity: While this may not be a traditional leadership quality, Tony's depth of character and emotional struggles add a layer to his leadership style, showing a human side that contrasts with his often ruthless actions.

(9) Resourcefulness: Tony frequently finds creative solutions to problems that seem insurmountable.

(10) Influence: Tony has a significant influence over his crew and associates, often guiding their actions and decisions.

QUESTION: Which film showcases leadership in a memorable way?
KATHI KRUSE: SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993): A powerful depiction of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, who is credited with saving the lives of over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. The film is set during World War II and primarily takes place in Kraków, Poland, which was occupied by the Nazis.

Key aspects of the film's depiction of Schindler's leadership:

(1) Schindler's Transformation: The film depicts Schindler's transformation from a profit-driven businessman to a humanitarian. Initially, he sees the war as an opportunity to profit by employing Jewish labor in his enamelware factory. However, as he witnesses the brutal treatment and systematic extermination of Jews, he becomes determined to save as many lives as possible.

(2) Tactical Maneuvering: Schindler's leadership is showcased by his ability to navigate the treacherous political landscape of Nazi-occupied Poland. He cultivates relationships with high-ranking Nazi officials, using bribery and charm to protect his Jewish workers.

(3) Moral Courage: The film highlights Schindler's growing moral courage. Despite the immense risks, he uses his factory as a refuge for Jews. His list becomes a lifeline for those included, sparing them from transportation to concentration camps.

(4) Emotional Depth: The emotional depth of the film is notable, and I believe emotional IQ is crucial to leadership. Schindler is portrayed as a complex character, flawed yet capable of extraordinary acts of kindness and bravery. His emotional journey is central to the narrative, which makes it a great example of memorable leadership.

QUESTION: Which product, or product line, stands out as a symbol of leadership?
KATHI KRUSE: PATAGONIA's products are amazing. When you buy one, the experience illustrates the brand's core values: quality, integrity, environmentailism, justice, and not being bound by convention.

QUESTION: Lastly, since I’m a marketing professional, I would be remiss not to ask this question. Which brand do you consider the best embodiment of an industry leader, and why?
KATHI KRUSE: COSTCO is a retail leader and provides a stellar example of how to treat employees and customers. In the retail sector (where I'm from), leadership is best represented by how you deliver an extraordinary experience. Costco's return policy is one example: "We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund." It's memorable, customers tell others about it, and when you need to return something, it's easy and effortless.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

All Women Need a Leadership Compass!

While women have different experiences than men in the workplace, there is no dispute that women need a leadership compass. Gender equality expert Michelle Redfern has written the book that every woman must read! Her new book, available today, THE LEADERSHIP COMPASS, is truly what her subtitle calls, "The Ultimate Guide for Women Leaders to Reach Their Full Potential."

Michelle has appeared here on my blog three times, and I thank Susan Colantuono for making the introduction. Before I share highlights from the book, here's a brief introduction for this amazing woman and author!

Michelle Redfern is a globally recognized gender equality, diversity, and inclusion strategist based in Australia. She advises organizations in the business and sporting sectors on DEI strategy development and implementation and works directly with women leaders to advance their careers. She has been recognized as one of Australia’s Top 100 Women of Influence and has won awards for her contributions to women’s advancement. She is passionate about what sets her soul on fire, closing the global leadership gender gap, and enabling women to have a career that soars!

That bio may describe Michelle, but in her own words, here are the three things she does:

I fix workplace systems that prevent women and organizations from reaching their full potential.
I help women navigate the systems in their workplace to reach their full potential. I am like a human compass to guide women towards success."
I advocate for the rights of women and girls, particularly in the sporting sector."

Amazon describes Michelle's book as:

"An inspirational and evidence-based guide for women leaders. The Leadership Compass is not about fixing women. Rather, it is a compass to guide women to reach their leadership potential and navigate a system that is still fundamentally stacked against them. It is also a tool to help those already in leadership positions to close the leadership gender gap in their organizations. According to author and award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategist Michelle Redfern, women need to know, and be known for, critical business skills to reach their full leadership potential. Drawn from the experiences of a leader who has been there and done that, The Leadership Compass is essential reading for women at all stages of their careers."

And now, some highlights from the book:

Michelle provides an important reason for her book. She explained that in a 2020 report by Fortune magazine, of the top 200 best-selling business books, only 17 were written by women: "Why am I sharing this? Because old white guys do not have a monopoly on good ideas and the writing of good business books." More WOMEN LEADERS need to write business books!

A great leadership scenario was presented when Michelle asked readers to "Imagine you are the captain of a cruise liner. You have passengers (customers) who depend on you for a great time on their holiday. The cruise ship organization depends on you to ensure customers have a great experience so they become repeat customers. Your crew depend on you to ensure the working environment is safe and respectful, and that they have all the tools and resources to get their job done. As the captain, you're working from the bridge, and in front of you is the large dashboard that tells you where the ship is headed and how it is performing. You have executive team members who report to you to tell you how the customer experience is going and how the crew are performing. Now, imagine if you spent the entire cruise down in the engine room focusing on the mechanical aspects of the ship...[You'd be] missing out on the perspective you'd get on the bridge, watching out for the overall performance of the cruise liner and all the people on it." An effective leader cannot live (translation, work or hide) in their organization's version of the cruise ship's engine room!

A useful tool Michelle presented was understanding what great leaders and organizations cause. She asked if readers knew what happens when they walk into a room, walk out of a room, have a one-on-one conversation, chair a meeting, send an email, walk around the workplace, and more. Her list of possible outcomes included: support, trust, vision, wisdom, caring, clarity, guidance, innovation, inspiration, knowledge, motivation, movement, outcomes, progress, and results. If these positive outcomes are not your outcomes, then there's much work to be done!

Do you know the difference between the six different types of leadership styles? Michelle explains the differences, key phrases, and impacts on people and culture when discussing the styles:

coercive (directive)
visionary (authoritative)
harmonizing (affiliative)
participative (democratic)
exacting (pacesetting)
empowering (coaching)

And probably the most important lesson in the book is what I have always told my female (and male) colleagues throughout my career, create a personal brand that accurately reflects your expertise and purpose. As Michelle wrote, "You already have a brand, whether consciously crafted or passively shaped by external factors, so be intentional and proactive about the narrative you want to portray...Always remember that you are the best advocate for your brand, so brand intentionally, consistently, and brilliantly." And, a tip, make sure to create a detailed LinkedIn page that aligns with your personal brand.

As Michelle wrote, "Society tells women in many ways that speaking up is not OK. Many of us have been shushed, spoken over or interrupted, or simply cannot get a word in edgewise when some bloke is blathering on and taking up all the oxygen in the room...[So] as a leader, it is your responsibility to speak up on behalf of the following people and groups: yourself, your team members, those who cannot, and your organization." Tell your inner voice, speak up!

Michelle posed the scenario where the word "mentor" was struck from our vocabulary for two reasons:

(1) Because "Mentoring alone will not create forward movement in a woman's career."

and

(2) Because "women are over-mentored and under-promoted."

According to a Harvard Business Review article, "Women need what men get all the time, someone prepared to go out on a limb for them. A champion is someone who, behind closed doors, slams their fist on the boardroom table and says, 'If there's only room for one bonus in the budget, it's going to Jane, not John.'"

Monday, May 6, 2024

SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES – Featuring Rebecca Herold

Last fall, I featured an inspiring series here on my blog called, "Fall Back to Reading Series." Nearly 30 leadership, marketing, and customer experience experts participated and shared their favorite books and their thoughts about the importance of reading.

Joseph Lalonde, one participant, wrote a book entitled, REEL LEADERSHIP, which focuses on nontraditional ways to think about leadership. After I read the book, the seeds for this "Spring Leadership Series" were planted. Today, I’d like to introduce Rebecca Herold, and following a brief introduction, Rebecca shares some nontraditional ways to think about leadership!

Rebecca Herold has over 30 years of IT, security, and privacy experience and is the founder of The Privacy Professor Consultancy (2004) and of Privacy & Security Brainiacs SaaS services (2021). Rebecca has authored 22 published books so far, and co-authored NIST catalogs NISTIR 7628, NISTIR 8259, SP 800-213, NISTIR 8425 and TN 2066. She has served as an expert witness for cases covering HIPAA, criminals using IoT devices, social engineering, stolen personal data of retirement housing residents, and tracking app users with Meta Pixels. Rebecca hosts Data Security & Privacy with the Privacy Professor. Since early 2018, Rebecca has hosted the Voice America podcast/radio show, Data Security & Privacy with the Privacy Professor, and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

QUESTION: Which TV show or TV series showcases leadership in a memorable way? This could be due to a specific character and their actions, a series of events, the plot of one or several episodes, or a specific time reflected in history.
REBECCA HEROLD: The classic series COLUMBO contained so many fabulous lessons and leadership examples for how to analyze evidence, that are directly applicable today for technologies that did not even exist back when the show first aired.

One excellent example directly applicable today to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and most directly to medical devices, is the "How to Dial a Murder" episode from the show’s first season (Directed by James Frawley in 1978). In this episode, Columbo used ECG evidence to solve a murder. His dialog explained it perfectly in ways that the general public can understand without getting all techie: "You claim that you were at the physician's office getting your heart examined...which was true," Columbo states as he unravels a roll of the ECG readings. Yes, a physical, paper log back then, that correlates directly to the digital trails left today from all IoT devices that are responsibly engineered to log such data for those with authorization to identify health problems for their patients.

Columbo, while inspecting the electrocardiogram data states to the suspect while looking at the data on the paper roll of the ECG, "Sir, just before three o’clock, your physician left you alone for a resting trace. At that moment, you were lying down in a restful position, and your heart showed a calm, slow, easy beat." Then Columbo points to the ECG for the suspect to see and says, "Look at this part, right here. Lots of sudden stress, lots of excitement, right here at three o’clock, your heart beating like a hammer just before the dogs attacked. Oh, you killed him with a phone call, Sir. I'll bet my life on it. Very simple case. Not that I'm particularly bright. Sir, I must say, I found you disappointing. I mean, your incompetence. You left enough clues to sink a ship. Motive. Opportunity. And for a man of your intelligence, Sir, you got caught on a lot of stupid lies.”

Columbo did his due diligence, applied the data collected, and solved a crime using that data. Actually, many different episodes of Columbo have great data and IT security and privacy leadership lessons within them. Along with many other series, such as, Monk, Murder She Wrote, Fargo the series (the Molly Solverson character was so far above all her co-workers in critical thinking skills that all types of leaders need) and many more.

QUESTION: Which film showcases leadership in a memorable way?
REBECCA HEROLD: Another throwback to a classic: 1983’s WAR GAMES. Leadership by the military? Not directly. But indirectly by finally listening to a couple of teens who loved computers and were being leaders themselves by admitting they inadvertently found a huge security vulnerability in what could have been the most deadly military computer system that existed.

The main characters, David (Matthew Broderick) and Jennifer (Ally Sheedy), using modems to find what they initially thought was a computer game, Global Thermonuclear War. After they start playing this "game," they, and the military overseeing that program, realize they are just a computer button away from bombing the Soviet Union.

This showed leadership, that was flawed and delayed, to show how important computer security is, and the need to diligently secure all types of computer systems. Otherwise, dire harms could impact millions. This is quite simplistically stated. But, this has provided a great class topic for my security and privacy courses over the years, where we dig deep into all the associated vulnerabilities and threats, while also enjoying an entertaining movie. And, it is important to point out, that in 1983, most of the public did not even know what computer hacking was or understand the need for computer security.

Sadly, the majority still does NOT understand the need for comprehensive computer and data security and privacy. This includes the majority of business leaders, who often view security and privacy programs as "necessary evils" to meet "unnecessary regulatory requirements." Those views need to change. Those types of leaders are negligent through perpetuating their willful ignorance of the risks that exist and their responsibilities to mitigate those risks, under any situation not just when compelled by legal requirements.