2020 Was the Year of Women!

While 2020 will be known as the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, we also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. However, based on many events that took place during 2020, it appears that 2020 was also the year of women and their amazing and inspiring accomplishments. 

To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, "A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water."

Here are the names and the events that made HERstory during 2020:

KAMALA HARRIS - First female Vice President of the United States, chosen by President-Elect Joe Biden, and first Black woman and the first woman of Indian heritage.

"While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last — because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities." - Kamala Harris (November 7, 2020)

Keisha Lance Bottoms, Governor of Atlanta, on the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris' historic win: "It's great for me to see it happen, but I'm also happy that my mother gets to see it, and my daughter get's to see it, because this is so much that so many generations have hoped for."

DR. JILL BIDEN - First "First Lady" in 230 years with four degrees including a doctorate in educational leadership, has plans to maintain a paying job outside the White House. She will continue teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College, where as Second Lady, she advocated for students and education after high school.

"As I work hard every day to inspire my students, it is ultimately they who inspire me."  - Dr. Jill Biden

RUTH BADER GINSBURG - Due to the passing of RBG, her legacy inspired millions of girls and women to get involved in politics, the law, and standing up for others.

"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made." - RBG

KIM NG - First female General Manager hired by the Miami Marlins major league baseball team - and first woman hired to be the GM by any of the professional men's sports teams in the North American major leagues.

"I entered major league baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next General Manager." - Kim Ng

HOLLY MITCHELL - With the election of Holly Mitchell to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, a once-all-white-male institution will now be led by five women.

Janice Hahn, a member of LA's Board of Supervisors, said she hopes the novelty of having five women on the Board wears off eventually, but she’d like to celebrate it for a little longer. “We’ve once again broken a glass ceiling right here in Los Angeles County."

According to the Los Angeles Times, "For the first time since the board’s inception more than 150 years ago, the powerful Board of Supervisors will consist of all women, each of whom comes with significant backgrounds in politics and government. I can’t think of another example in the entire United States where you will have five women having control of ... the largest county in the entire country just in terms of people, but also the largest county budget in the entire country,” explained Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro, a professor and chair of gender studies at USC.  

JANET YELLEN - Back in 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Janet Yellen as the first woman Federal Reserve Chair. While that appointment was a shattering of a glass ceiling then, in 2020, President-Elect Joe Biden nominated Janet Yellen as the first woman Secretary of the Treasury.

According to Alan Blinder, a Princeton University economist who served with Yellen on the Fed’s Board in the 1990s, "If she becomes Secretary, when she goes into a room with finance ministers from other countries, she's going to be the best prepared person in the room - probably the smartest person too."

According to Julia Coronado, founder of economic-advisory firm MacroPolicy Perspectives, "One of her underappreciated talents is the ability to drive a consensus in pretty convincing ways."

Back in 2013, I wrote a blog post about Yellen's appointment - here's the link:
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-kind-of-leadership-legacy-are-you.html

Other quotes that continued to inspire during 2020:

Priyanka Chopra's father: "Don't try to squeeze into a glass slipper. Instead, shatter the glass ceiling."

Hillary Clinton: "Whether I am meant to or not, I challenge assumptions about women. I do make some people uncomfortable, which I'm well aware of, but that's just part of coming to grips with what I believe is still one of the most important pieces of unfinished business in human history: empowering women to be able to stand up for themselves."

Chelsea Clinton: "One of our core values in this country is that we are the land of equal opportunity, but when equal hasn't yet included gender, there is a fundamental challenge there that, I believe, having our first woman president - whenever that is - will help resolve." (2016)

Michelle Obama: "When you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed."

Nancy Pelosi: "I would say that one of the things that encouraged me so much when I became elected to the leadership was the letters I received from fathers of daughters, saying that, ‘My daughter can now do many more things because of what you did.’”

Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat."

Shirley Chisholm: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.”

Ayanna Pressley: “I wanted to fight for girls, not be their voice, but to lift up their voices.”

Kirsten Gillibrand: “If I had a daughter, I would tell her certain things. I would tell her that it’s great to be smart, really smart - that being smart makes you strong. I would tell her that emotions are powerful, so don’t be afraid to show them. I would tell her that some people may judge you on how you look or what you wear - that’s just how it is - but you should keep your focus on what you say and do. I would tell her that she may see the world differently from boys, and that difference is essential and good.” (On November 20, 2018, I had the opportunity to attend an event at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, where United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York presented a reading of her book BOLD AND BRAVE, and talked about women's suffrage and the state of our democracy following the 2018 mid-term elections.)

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex: "With fame comes opportunity, but it also includes responsibility — to advocate and share, to focus less on glass slippers and more on pushing through glass ceilings. And, if I'm lucky enough, to inspire." 

Image Credits: Quote by RBG; Kamala Harris image by artist Bria Goeller; Debbie Laskey's Great-Grandmother, Bertie Green, suffragist in New York in the early 1900's; and Facebook frame for November election designed by the National Women's History Museum.

Does Your Brand Communicate with Customers?

Like many of us during the covid pandemic, I shop more online than in the pre-covid days. This translates to purchases made via websites that in the pre-covid era, I would have visited stores in person to make my purchases.

One recent item consisted of three dozen colorful plastic hangers. While this item was not a necessity, it added some smiles when hanging clothes during the challenging covid era.

I chose some teal, purple, red, and yellow hangers on a retailer's website, and completed the online purchase. A few weeks later, in a timely manner, the teal, purple, and red hangers arrived on my doorstep. They were just as advertised, and immediately, they "met" some clothes and were placed in my closet.

But something was wrong. I noticed that the yellow hangers were missing. Soon after the box's arrival, I received an email indicating that the yellow hangers were not available from any nearby stores, but they would arrive shortly.

I don't know about you, but "shortly" means "soon" to me, certainly, within a week or two. Otherwise, the store should have sent another email and either provided a delivery update or asked if I wished to cancel my order.

Two months later, and still no yellow hangers. I only purchased five yellow hangers for a total less than two dollars. But where is the update from the retailer? I have sent a couple of emails asking for an update, and I have received no response to any of my communications.

I understand that we are living in a different world, but if a brand offers to sell products, and those products are not available, and the brand accepts payment, then it owes its customers an explanation or a refund. 

You can probably guess the name of the brand I'm talking about.

What would your brand do in this scenario?

Branding and the November Elections

While it is advisable for brands to remain neutral when it comes to American politics, brands should definitely be aware of current events that impact the community-at-large, consumers, customers, and fans. The recent November elections are a perfect example whereby brands should not choose candidates but they can still promote voting.

Here are examples of how five brands participated while staying neutral.

PIZZA TO THE POLLS
This nonpartisan nonprofit was founded in 2016 with a simple mission: make "democracy delicious by delivering free food for all to polling places with long lines." If you see a line at the polls, go to the website, provide the address, and free pizza will be delivered. Both small pizza joints and large pizza chains are used for deliveries. This happened on election day in 25 cities across America.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Most online news content comes at a cost. But on election day, The Wall Street Journal offered its content for free.

ZOOM
Election day is not yet a holiday, and it may never be, but many people still had to go to work. Zoom provided a background promoting "get out the vote" and "voting" to get users in the mood and so that users could add a vote-themed background to their online meetings during election day.

M&M'S CHOCOLATES
Many people who voted wore their "I Voted" sticker on election day, so it was cute to see a familiar face, or in this case, a familiar M&M chocolate candy, in this case, Yellow, showcasing his stickers.

KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS
If one wore his or her or their "I Voted" sticker to Krispy Kreme, a free original glazed doughnut would be provided.

What brands stood out to you on Election Day? Please chime in and share.


Image Credit: Pizza to the Polls, The Wall Street Journal, Zoom, M&Ms, and Krispy Kreme via Instagram.

Three Instagram Brand-Building Tips from Halloween

 

Instagram is an easy-to-use and fun social platform for brand-building. Brands use it to share engaging images, thought-provoking quotes, and timely product or service launches. If a post grabs viewers’ attention, they will comment or like it – thus increasing brand awareness.

While holidays present an opportunity for memorable posts, Halloween provides three useful tips for brands to apply toward other holidays later in the year like Thanksgiving, the December holidays, and New Year's.

COLOR
Color is a universal way to tell a brand’s story. What brand is associated with red? Coca-Cola. What brand is associated with brown? United Parcel Service. What color provides the nickname for IBM? (Big) Blue. Once October begins, all variations of orange take front and center. Recall the beverages served by your favorite coffee houses and doughnut stores at this time of year: pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin iced coffee, pumpkin spiced iced latte, to name just a few.

My two favorite examples are a post by Pantone, the color company brand, and a post by Sherwin-Williams, the paint store brand. Candy corn, the most popular candy from Halloween is featured, and it is comprised of several colors. Pantone showcases the specific colors that align with candy corn. In Sherwin-Williams’ post, jelly beans are featured, and one specific color is called out. Does your brand integrate color in a creative way during October, November, and December?

HUMOR
When brands introduce characters into their posts, they often showcase humor, and humor is a universal way to attract interaction and support. Who wouldn’t laugh at the Muppets, the Energizer Bunny, or the M&M characters? Does your brand have characters that tell your brand’s story? If not, how can your brand integrate characters and humor into your Instagram posts?

My favorite example is a post by M&M’s chocolate candies. Two chocolate characters, Brown and Red, are featured in a field full of pumpkins. Everyone can associate with the two characters because everyone would like to have fun with their family and friends in a field of pumpkins.

TRADITION
When brands integrate elements of tradition into their posts, their posts become embraceable. When we think of the fall season with colder weather, the beginning of the holiday season, leaves changing color, we often think of times spent with family. And food is often associated with family gatherings. Starting with Halloween and pumpkins, there is the arrival of pumpkin pie. What’s more traditional than pumpkin pie?

My favorite post that demonstrates tradition is by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. This post shows how its pumpkin beverage was created by the traditional pumpkin pie. Do your brand’s posts show how your product or service originated or began?

How will you apply these three Halloween tips to your brand storytelling during the remainder of the holiday season? Chime in to share.


Image Credits via Instagram: @MMSChocolate, @Pantone, @TheCoffeeBean, and @SherwinWilliams.

Inspiration from RBG - A Tribute

During the days following the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, people who knew her personally reflected on their memorable experiences and memories. But for those who watched her from afar, we reflected on her actions and words. I've assembled some of my favorite RBG quotes below.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.

I'm a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.

So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.

Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.

Don't be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, resentment. These just zap energy and waste time.

I pray that I may be all that (my mother) would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons.

I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.

We are at last beginning to relegate to the history books the idea of the token woman.

My idea of how choice should have developed was not a privacy notion, not a doctor’s right notion, but a woman’s right to control her own destiny, to be able to make choices without a Big Brother state telling her what she can and cannot do.

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.

And lastly, about RBG:
No other justice in history has become a popular icon in the way RBG did. She modeled for all of us in how to spend a life working to make society and individual lives better. We only can hope for a new justice in her mold. ~Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law


Image Credit: Paying tribute to RBG while attending an exhibit in her honor at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles in February 2019.

What Happens When Leadership, Service and Encouragement Join Forces?

Over the last decade, thanks to social media, I have had the privilege to meet a variety of amazing leadership experts. One of these experts is James Strock – who I met in 2011 – a speaker, author, and reformer in business, government, and politics. His book is a must-read, Serve to Lead 2.0: 21st Century Leaders Manual. Connect on Twitter @jamesstrock and visit his website at http://servetolead.org. We recently had a discussion about leadership, and highlights follow below.

QUESTION: One of your pearls of wisdom is, "When your ultimate concern is those you’re serving, your vantage point necessarily is from the outside-in, not the inside-out.” Can you please explain? 
JAMES STROCK: Quite understandably, many people analyze their life and work from the inside-out. They approach the world seeking, as it were, to sell the notions they’ve spun, the perspectives they created, the knowledge they’ve accumulated. This is encouraged by the ways in which most people are formally educated, with focus on their individual performance.

An alternative is to work from the outside-in, to transcend self-focus to attain a service mindset, focused first on those one would serve. This can result in much more effective value creation for customers and others. It can also be of significant value in building a strong psychological basis for one’s work and life. Various studies have borne out that when we’re focused on serving others, many of the stresses and anxieties that can inhibit performance are reduced or redirected positively.

As just one example that may be familiar to many readers, consider public speaking. This is a necessity for most of us, to one degree or another. Nonetheless it is often one of the greatest fears for many. If one removes self-consciousness, replacing it with an audience-consciousness, one’s performance may be enhanced. Going further, if one is aiming the performance of speaking or other tasks toward transcendent goals, the further one goes beyond self-concern the more effective the result can be.
 
QUESTION: Due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders for many employees, what new practices can businesses implement to collaborate with other businesses/strategic partners in the future?
JAMES STROCK: 2020 is emerging as a hinge moment. It may well be a year that is recalled in the way of 1914, 1919, 1929, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1963, 1968, 1974, 1979, 1989, 2001, and the Great Recession beginning in 2008. Which is to say, 2020 may be a year which divides the past from the present and future. We’re very much in the midst of 2020—and it’s a very crowded year thus far—so any observations are provisional.

One change that’s already manifesting is that telecommuting is rising to a new level. Rapidly improving communication technologies are a factor. So, too, the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many physical offices to close—along with schools—has meant that many employees were directed to work from home. Many bosses who were a bit out of date were brought up to speed rapidly, learning that employees can work at least as effectively from remote locations in many cases. This will change management approaches. It may lend itself to new office arrangements and schedules. CV-19 will prompt distancing in workspaces. This will coincide with the prospect of reducing commercial real estate requirements. Cities and states may incent distributed work arrangements for the benefits in reduced air pollution and infrastructure wear. This may come quickly in areas with extensive mass transit, which may face reduced usage because of distancing concerns.

So, too, the rising capacity for a distributed workforce may incline more enterprises to retain talent as contractors rather than full-time employees. This will add to a surging political debate on the regulation of independent contractors, already stirring because of the controversial AB 5 legislation in California, which seeks to push Uber drivers, for example, from independent contractor status to full-time employees with the prospect of unionization. One anticipates that many employers and employees may be receptive to new arrangements after the forced shut-down reset their views of long-established customs.

For business, as for other institutions, the pandemic has accelerated existing trends and exposed areas of weakness. Ultimately, two overarching trends may face examination and recalibration. One is the financialization of business over the past forty years, including its relation to international trade and supply chains. Another is the transition from an industrial economy to a service economy. We may end up with a hybrid built around updated notions of national sovereignty, with a rise in the US, for example, in manufacturing capacity. However that sorts out, it will be necessary to update social insurance arrangements from the past century that were created for an industrial economy emerging from an agricultural economy, rather than a service economy.

In sum, there are numerous issues that will arise. The great thing is that ultimate outcomes are difficult to predict because we’re likely on the verge of an explosion of innovation, particularly in the US. The next decade holds the prospect of being extraordinary for entrepreneurs of all kinds.
 
QUESTION: You last appeared on my Blog back in 2018, and I asked you, "How can leaders (Presidents/CEO’s) explain their vision to employees so that they also embrace it?" How has the current COVID19 situation changed your thoughts about this when many businesses are closed? (Referenced link provided at end of this Q&A.)
JAMES STROCK: The specific practices change, but the principles of leadership communication remain the same. There have been numerous instances of excellent use of Zoom and related communication technologies by CEOs during the pandemic. Regrettably, there have also be dispiriting misfires. As with other areas, the pandemic may have constituted a stress test, with some enterprises and CEO’s emerging with flying colors – while others fell short.

QUESTION: Which three brands are your favorite industry leaders, and why?
JAMES STROCK: My favorites tend to be brands that customers and other stakeholders view as occasioning relationships, far deeper than merely transactional. This is consistent with Kevin Roberts’s notion of “love marks.”

May I offer a somewhat idiosyncratic group? One is The Beatles. This is an astonishing brand, conveying creativity, excellence, experimentation, joy, and a stunning capacity to reach across time and space.

A second would be Apple. It’s no accident that Steve Jobs constructed the Apple brand in no small part from the inspiration of The Beatles.

A third would be Southwest Airlines. In an industry that in the best of times is noted for strained labor-management relations, Southwest stands apart. So too their customer-centric approach to management has created exceptional customer loyalty. With the transportation, entertainment and hospitality sectors reeling under the pandemic lock-down—and the likelihood of ongoing distancing—Southwest is benefiting from its best-in-class service.

There are, of course, many more, but these three stand out in most any consideration of brands.

QUESTION: What is your favorite leadership quote, and why?
JAMES STROCK: I have so many favorite leadership quotes that choosing one seems a bit random! One that speaks to me is the epitaph selected by the late British politician Tony Benn: “He encouraged us.” When we truly encourage one another—inspiring courageous thought and action—many, many good things can follow.

__________

My gratitude and appreciation to James for appearing on my Blog a fourth time and for sharing his inspiring leadership insights!

Sharing Timeless Leadership Lessons – from 2018:
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2018/11/sharing-timeless-leadership-lessons.html

Leadership Is All About Serving Others – from 2014:
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2014/03/leadership-is-all-about-serving-others.html
 
Serve to Lead – What a Visionary Concept – from 2011:
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2011/03/serve-to-lead-what-visionary-concept.html

Image Credit: Debbie Laskey.

What's Your Favorite Fourth of July Brand?

Some brands include “America” or “American” in their names, and here are some:

• American Airlines
• American Apparel
• American Broadcasting Company
• American Eagle Outfitters
• American Express
• American Greetings Corp.
• Bank of America

  

During the months of June and July, brands can take advantage of the “America” or “American” portion of their names for advertising and memorable promotions.

The reason behind the advertising time extension can be explained by a simple advertising fact. Businesses want to capitalize on the buzz of the moment. In the case of June and July in the United States, that buzz is Independence Day, that takes place on the Fourth of July.

If your brand had “America” or “American” in its name, what would you do during June and July to capitalize on Independence Day or the entire month of July? Certainly, product or service discounts are an option, or maybe, the launch of a new product or service, or perhaps, the implementation of a new loyalty or referral program. But whatever announcement your business makes, you will definitely have an audience.

Another spin on this topic is if a portion of your brand name is tied to a national park, national monument, theme park, hotel resort, etc. There is no doubt that your brand has a head start on brand awareness if the name of your business is Mount Rushmore Cement Company or Yellowstone Coffee or Liberty Bell Music Store.

In all of these scenarios, the first goal of all marketing campaigns has been achieved. There is immediate brand recognition.

However, don’t lose sight of your brand strengths and the competitive positioning that you’ve worked hard to achieve.

Image Credit: Debbie Laskey (featuring American Greetings, American Airlines, and Bank of America)