How to Avoid Death by Meetings

Have you ever fallen asleep during a meeting? You know the type of meeting I’m talking about. Someone talks for what seems like hours about a topic that has nothing to do with the project that needs discussing. Or, the meeting was progressing well and then somehow takes a detour and never gets back on track. Or, there is no agenda for the meeting. Did you know that these unpleasant meetings can be avoided? The solution can be simple: determine the meeting’s objective, assign a meeting organizer, create an agenda, and set start and end times for the meeting.

When someone has the task of organizing or coordinating a meeting, all of a sudden, there is meeting ownership. With ownership, the meeting assumes importance – it is not just a weekly meeting where people gather for coffee and conversation. With importance, there is an objective for the meeting. Something needs to be accomplished, and the management team or project team has determined that a gathering of a project’s contributors is the best way to accomplish the objective.

As a meeting organizer, know the purpose of your meeting. Have you assembled attendees to brainstorm and debate or just sit and listen? Is the meeting’s purpose to solve a tactical problem or a more significant strategic issue? Or share schedules or review weekly activities? Or discuss the competitive landscape or team development? Have you planned how to engage attendees in the first 5 or 10 minutes so that they understand the meeting’s objective and how they can best contribute? Don’t allow people to cause strife in the name of being a “devil’s advocate” – if challenging perspectives are discussed, make sure that there are reasons behind the perspectives. If time is not being spent wisely during the meeting, it is the organizer’s job to re-focus (e.g., someone talks and talks and talks – but not on point). While everyone may think a meeting is successful if it ends early, the true sign of a successful meeting is if it ends with clarity and commitment from attendees. Of course, if you want the meeting to end really quickly, you could remove all of the chairs from the room – just kidding. Lastly, keep track of commitments and next steps – don’t let people leave the meeting without stating the next steps.

As a meeting attendee, here are some ways to be more productive and engaged. Review the meeting agenda in advance and prepare questions at the beginning of the meeting. Make sure that administrative, tactical, and strategic aspects of a project are all discussed. Don’t assume any aspects of a project – this is when errors and miscommunication can occur. If time constraints end a meeting early, follow up with the meeting organizer or project leader with any unanswered questions.

While meetings are part of everyone’s business life, perhaps, we should think of them as adventures. Sometimes, we encounter something new and learn, but in the process, we are fully awake and engaged.

Top 10 Brand Equity Books

A brand book, Achieve Brand Integrity, began, “A brand strategy is the ultimate business strategy and often the least understood.” How many corporate and non-profit leaders understand the essence of both marketing and branding? Strong brands take time to build, and their messaging, positioning, and core values must be consistent. I have a list of helpful brand equity books, but to set the stage, here are some great quotes about brands:

Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind. ~Walter Landor

A brand is a living entity – and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures. ~Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney

If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you. ~John Stuart, former CEO of Quaker Oats

Here is the list of my top 10 brand equity books. Enjoy!

Achieve Brand Integrity: Ten Truths You Must Know to Enhance Employee Performance and Increase Company Profits
c. 2007
By Gregg Lederman

Managing Brand Equity
c. 1991
By David A. Aaker

Brand Leadership: Building Assets in an Information Economy
c. 2009
By David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
c. 2002
By Al Ries and Laura Ries

The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands
c. 2005
By Al Ries and Laura Ries

Secret Formula: How Brilliant Marketing and Relentless Salesmanship Made Coca-Cola the Best-Known Product in the World
c. 1995
by Frederick Allen

ESPN the Company: The Story and Lessons behind the Most Fanatical Brand in Sports (c. 2009)
By Anthony Smith and Keith Hollihan

Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World
c. 2004
By David Kiley

Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney
c. 2008
By Lee Cockerell

The Power of Retail Branding: Reinvention Strategies for Empowering the Brand
c. 2006
By Arthur Winters, Peggy Fincher Winters, Carole Paul

Top 10 Leadership Blogs

Thanks to the Internet, there are many great leadership minds, so how do you find the best leadership experts amidst all the clutter and never-ending conversations? I have assembled my “Top 10” list with names, descriptions, blog links, and Twitter handles. Now, the next time you need some leadership advice or just want to see how the experts would handle your leadership challenge, the answer is just a click away. Enjoy!

John Baldoni
Leadership author, coach, speaker, and Harvard Business Publishing columnist.
http://www.johnbaldoni.com/blog/
Twitter: @JohnBaldoni

Michael McKinney
President of M2 Communications and leadership expert.
http://www.leadershipnow.com/index.html
Twitter: @LeadershipNow

Wally Bock
Leadership behavior expert, business writer, coach, and consultant.
http://blog.threestarleadership.com/
Twitter: @wallybock

Mike Myatt
CEO coach, leadership consultant, and author.
http://www.n2growth.com/blog/
Twitter: @mikemyatt

David C. J. Cameron
Communications strategist.
http://onbrands.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @dcjcameron

John Ikeda
Leadership, project management, and organizational development consultant.
http://www.leadwithhonor.com/blog/
Twitter: @LeadWithHonor

Sam Silverstein
Author and Past-President of the National Speakers Association.
http://samsilverstein.com/category/articles/
Twitter: @SamSilverstein

Stephen J. Gill, Ph.D.
Leadership and management consultant.
http://stephenjgill.typepad.com/performance_improvement_b/
Twitter: @sjgill

Scott Eblin
Leadership coach, speaker, and author.
http://www.scotteblin.typepad.com/
Twitter: @ScottEblin

Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Harvard Business School professor and author.
http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/
Twitter: @rosabethkanter

The “Twitterization” of Social Media

When did the lines of social media begin to overlap? Isn’t anyone concerned that social media brands will become indistinguishable in terms of target audiences and uses?

Back in November 2009, LinkedIn offered a partnership with Twitter so that Twitter users were able to link their Twitter accounts to LinkedIn and feature their Twitter updates or tweets on top of their LinkedIn pages. I asked this question back in November, since the audiences and uses of LinkedIn and Twitter are different, why would someone want to connect the two? Most LinkedIn users provide a wealth of information to build their personal brands (aka, their professional identity) with the goal of building business contacts: their name, location, photo, expertise, current and previous jobs, job duties, education, contacts, group affiliations, links to portfolios, links to presentations, links to blogs, etc. A LinkedIn user must provide specific details in order to establish an account. By contrast, Twitter users do not need to show their photos, professional backgrounds, telephone numbers, websites, or even use a real name. Twitter exists and succeeds as a micro-blog where users discuss areas of specialty, opinions, news, and initiate and engage in conversations – all in 140-characters or less.

Although Facebook users have had the ability to include their tweets on their Facebook pages, this month, Facebook introduced a re-tweet style function for links. While Facebook users can share information, they can write more than Twitter’s 140-character limit.

So, perhaps, the question is not when did the lines of social media overlap, but instead, what have you been doing while the Twitterization of social media happened – and did you notice?

When did television shows become brands?

The current buzz around Hollywood is the battle between two late-night comedians, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. But the buzz should really surround the question as to why this is a battle at all.

Conan O’Brien, the host of The Tonight Show, a show with less-than-desirable ratings since Jay Leno departed as host in May 2009, was recently quoted as saying that “The Tonight Show brand would be negatively affected if it started after twelve midnight instead of at its 11:35 pm start time.” When did television shows become brands?

There is no question that consumer products, restaurants, and even theme parks can easily be embraced as brands as a result of their consumer experience and customer service. Coca-Cola, Nike, and Disney are recognized throughout the world as top brands, but, television shows? When did we describe the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Bonanza, or even Friends as brands? The experience of watching a television show does not correspond to drinking a soft drink, wearing a pair of tennis shoes, or visiting a theme park, so what is the connection? And what about reality TV? How does the length of Kate Gosselin’s hair create a brand?

While we are talking about TV shows, when did Simon Cowell become the embodiment of the Idol brand? While his comments are not always kind, his picks have not always won the final competition – and due to Ellen DeGeneres’ fans, the future of Idol may survive just fine without Simon. Besides, don’t people watch that show to watch people sing and sometimes make fools of themselves?

With so much content available to television viewers, it would seem that the buzz should be about the quality of that content – which would easily explain why HBO continues to win awards – its emphasis is on a quality consumer experience without constantly talking about its brand.

Top 10 Business Books of 2009

It’s that time of year when there are lists for everything. I guess it has something to do with the infamous “nice” list created by the guy who dresses in red, travels with reindeer, and lives in the North Pole. Since I call the business world home, the following is my list of the top ten business books for 2009 – all have great messages to share.

Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up
By John Baldoni, Leadership author/speaker and Harvard Business Publishing columnist
http://www.baldoniconsulting.com/index2.php

How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life
By Joanna Barsh, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and Leader of the McKinsey Centered Leadership Project
http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/books/RemarkableWomen/index.asp

How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
By Jim Collins, Co-Author of the bestselling classic, Built to Last, which has been translated into 29 languages, and teacher to senior executives and CEO’s
http://www.jimcollins.com/index.html

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
By Carmine Gallo, BusinessWeek writer and communication coach for admired brands
http://carminegallo.com/books

Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking
By Andy Sernovitz, professor and creator of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association
http://www.wordofmouthbook.com

Googled: The End of the World As We Know It
By Ken Auletta, writer for The New Yorker Magazine and author of 11 books
http://www.kenauletta.com/index.html

Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business
By Erik Qualman, Global VP of Online Marketing for EF Education in Switzerland
http://socialnomics.net/about

The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff
By Clara Shih, author, blogger, and entrepreneur
http://www.thefacebookera.com/home.php

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
By Joel Comm, NY Times author and social media expert
http://twitterpower.com and http://www.joelcomm.com

Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Consumers
By Bridget Brennan, CEO of Female Factor and speaker
http://www.thefemalefactor.com/intro.html

A Few Words on Branding

These days, the topic on many people’s minds is brands: product brands, service brands, and as a result of social media, personal brands. Everyone has joined the conversation that traditional brand marketers have been having for years. So, the question is, what is a brand and how can it affect business?

David A. Aaker, brand expert and UC-Berkeley professor, shared an excellent explanation in his 1991 book, Managing Brand Equity:

“A product is something that is made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by a customer. A product can be copied by a competitor; a brand is unique. A product can be quickly outdated; a successful brand is timeless.”

To put it simply, a brand centers on an experience – something so incredibly unique and memorable that it cannot be duplicated by another product or service. A customer has a positive experience and wants to repeat it. Reasons for this positive experience may include customer service, product quality, or ease of purchase. Some examples may be as small as a particular brand of toothpaste or beer to something more substantial as a retail store or automobile.

So, how does this apply to a personal brand? The other half of the brand equation is a corporate identity, or for an individual, an individual identity. This includes differentiation, perceived quality and value, the creation of positive attitudes and feelings, and strong associations. So, when you set up a LinkedIn account and begin building a personal brand, apply the elements that yield memorable and long-lasting product and service brands – and you will be on your way to becoming a memorable brand yourself.