Debbie Laskey's Blog: SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES 2025

Last year, I launched a Spring Leadership Series to think about leadership in nontraditional ways. As 2024 continued, I presented additional ways to think about leadership during my Olympics Leadership Series and Holiday Leadership Series. With a new year upon us, I've invited 25 thought leaders to share their responses to five questions relating to team-building, reading, and leadership. My #SpringLeadershipSeries2025 began the first day of Spring and continues through June 20th, the first day of Summer.

Before we begin, I'd like to applaud two special individuals for providing the inspiration for this series. First, big applause goes to Erika Andersen, a leadership expert and author who I've had the pleasure of knowing for nearly 15 years, and she's appeared on my blog 13 times since 2011. She wrote an article for Forbes entitled, "How Springtime Can Make Us Better Leaders," and that article serves as the core of the series as its first question. Second, I also applaud Joseph Lalonde, a leadership expert and author of a book called REEL LEADERSHIP, for planting the seeds for last year's Spring Leadership Series on my blog. After I read Joe's book, I started looking at movies as well as works of fiction, TV shows, and TV characters with "leadership-tinted glasses."

For today's post, I'd like to introduce Laurel Aynne Cook. We connected on Twitter/X as a result of some of my posts about branding and brand marketing. Laurel is an Associate Professor of Marketing at West Virginia University and also serves as the Social Technology And Research (S.T.A.R.) Lab Founder & Director. To quote her faculty page bio, "As a social marketing and public policy researcher, Dr. Cook uses a variety of approaches to address the following three primary streams of research: (1) Health and Financial Well-Being; (2) Consumer Collaboration and Competition; and (3) Social Responsibility. Her research has been published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Consumer Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Education. She regularly presents her work at refereed national conferences; and her teaching experience includes digital marketing, consumer behavior, marketing research, strategy, principles, and a doctoral seminar on advanced research. Prior to pursuing a doctoral degree, Dr. Cook worked for six-and-a-half years as a brand manager with Black & Decker. She worked specifically with the Porter-Cable and Delta Machinery brands, and was heavily involved in coordinating product launches and national marketing campaigns."

QUESTION: Leadership expert and author Erika Andersen wrote an article for Forbes entitled, "How Springtime Can Make Us Better Leaders." In the article, Erika compared gardening to management and leadership. What are your thoughts, or was there something that stood out from the article?

LAUREL AYNNE COOK: I can relate with and greatly appreciate, the seasonal metaphor used in this article, however, as a consumer behavior researcher, I would like to see more academic references (i.e., perhaps from the leadership or organizational behavior literature) as evidence to support the arguments that were made (e.g., clarity/growth/warmth/optimism leadership attributes). Also, the article could have delved deeper into how leaders strategically cultivate perceptions of clarity, growth, warmth, and optimism to influence stakeholders from a personal branding standpoint (c.f., Montoya & Vandehey, 2002; Shepherd, 2005).

There are some fun (and well disseminated) brand personality traits (e.g., Aaker's Brand Personality Scale) that could also be tied to marketing literature on human-brand analogies. The article also does a great job at targeting business leadership, in general, but there are wide variances in levels (e.g., new, executive) and industries (e.g., creative vs. analytical).

The audience for this article could be more clearly segmented to showcase various needs (e.g., startup founders may interpret growth and clarity much differently than corporate leaders). A stronger call to action for the reader (e.g., checklist, leadership self-assessment) would have been helpful to include as well.

QUESTION: What was the most recent example of inspiring leadership that made an impact on you?

LAUREL AYNNE COOK: I don't have any examples with personal impact, but I'd like to share two examples of leader exemplars that motivate and inspire me.

I follow Leah Thomas (@GreenGirlLeah on Instagram) who is an "eco-communicator" leader in the areas of sustainability and digital activism. She blends cause-related marketing with strong personal leadership, which is perfect for someone like me who studies values-based branding.

I also really enjoy Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) on X (@satyanadella) because (A) we have a shared passion for tech, especially being used for GOOD, and (B) he embodies empathetic leadership. His communication is warm, and he has a very strong personal brand.

QUESTION: What is your favorite team-building activity, and why?

LAUREL AYNNE COOK: I think a personal "brand board" (i.e., collage) activity would be a lot of fun. I'm a creative and deeply empathetic person, so I love to balance fun with meaningful engagement. Branding is something that I appreciate personally AND professionally. I teach it, live it, and understand how empowering it can be. Activities designed in a team setting could benefit from a personal branding workshop. I also find a lot of value in mentorship and vulnerability - something this sort of activity could spark for both. A personal twist I'd add would include a prompt to help participants chose a brand archetype that reflects their personal style/leadership.

QUESTION: Which book is on the top of your to-be-read pile, and why?

LAUREL AYNNE COOK: I've been rereading the "Red Rising" series by Pierce Brown. I love to read and while I'm required to read a lot of non-fiction for my job, my preference during my free time is to read fiction series - the longer the series, the better. I also read every evening before I fall asleep - it's one of my favorite times of the day. As a result, it's very rare that I would ever choose to re-read anything. The "Red Rising" series, though, is masterfully written. It fascinates me with its novelty, creativity, clever banter, characters, and exceptional plots. The series also mirrors some of the values I hold dear: challenging unjust systems, being a champion for underestimated voices, and connecting strategy with heart. I've never recommended this series to someone who regretted reading all six books (and counting).

QUESTION: In the past year, has a TV show, film, or work of fiction stood out as a result of its emphasis on leadership?

LAUREL AYNNE COOK: I've got to respond with a bit of sci-fi: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is, interestingly, often studied in MBA and leadership programs because of the emphasis on leadership by specific characters. For example, Captain Picard often faces situations where there is moral conflict or ambiguity. He responds with calm, diplomatic, and ethical leadership. Nearly every episode is also a mini case study on team dynamics, cross-cultural communications, and values-based leadership. It's an infinite source of inspiration, for sure!

Debbie Laskey's Blog

Monday, June 9, 2025

SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES 2025 – Featuring Laurel Aynne Cook

SHARE THIS: Star Trek: The Next Generation is often studied in MBA and leadership programs because of the emphasis on leadership. ~@LaurelAynne #FunFact #SpringLeadershipSeries2025 #DebbieLaskeysBlog

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