Brands Must Promote Equality 365 Days a Year - Not Just During June

What did your brand do during the month of June that might have been different than other months? Did you change your logo colors? Did you add a new tagline to your logo? Did you send email blasts promoting equality? 

No matter how you altered your marketing campaigns during Pride Month to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion, the better solution is to actively promote these important organizational characteristics and brand attributes each and every day of the year - not just during the month of June.

To quote Unbounce (@Unbounce on Twitter), "Representation in marketing matters. The images you choose can either perpetuate or break down stereotypes."

Two brands recently launched an LGBTQ+ Guidebook to support brands as they make more inclusive visual choices. Here is a link to the Guidebook: https://www.gettyimages.ca/lgbtqguide.

According to The Visibility Project launched by GLAAD and Proctor & Gamble, "Brands can no longer afford to isolate themselves from important cultural conversations around inclusion, equality, and equity. In response to COVID-19’s global pandemic and to the U.S.’s racial injustices and reckoning, consumers expect – and respect – brands that make social statements supporting true inclusion and equality. Consumers require more than just words or writing a check. True investment in Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion requires strategic planning, design, and action."

Read the findings from the Advertiser and Agency Perspectives on LGBTQ Inclusion Study here:
https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/P%26G_GLAAD_AdvertisingResearch2021.pdf.

So, what did your brand do during June? Perhaps, the marketing changes that your brand did during June were a start. But, don't stop now that June has ended.

"Diversity, inclusion, and  representation are simply good for business and good for the world.” ~Sarah Kate Ellis, President & CEO, GLAAD (@sarahkateellis of @glaad)

Image Credits: Oreo, Museum of Modern Art, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and T-Mobile.

Effective Leaders Don't Need to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Over the last decade, thanks to social media, I have had the privilege to meet a variety of amazing and inspiring leadership and marketing experts. Back in 2017, I was inspired by Kevin Eikenberry, a leadership guru. In 2018, I shared a review of one of his books here on my Blog, and a link to that review is provided at the end of this post. Kevin and I recently had a discussion about leadership, and highlights follow his bio.

Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group and the Co-Founder of the Remote Leadership Institute. He has spent 30 years helping organizations and leaders from over 40 countries become more effective. Inc.com has twice named him in the top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World. His books include, Remarkable Leadership, From Bud to Boss, and The Long-Distance Leader. His new book is The Long-Distance Teammate. Follow his blog at: http://blog.KevinEikenberry.com; LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry/; and on Twitter @KevinEikenberry. His company websites are: http://KevinEikenberry.com and http://RemoteLeadershipInstitute.com.

QUESTION: How do you differentiate between management and leadership?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: Differently than many people! If you Google the difference between them, much of what you will find are lists that frame management as “bad” and leadership as “good.” If you have a job of leading or managing others, both management and leadership are a part of your job. We manage things – plans, budgets, forecasts, logistics, for example, and we lead people – coaching, setting a vision, influencing, creating change, and more. I believe both are important parts of our role – and we must take getting better at both seriously.

QUESTION: Which three leaders inspire you, from business or history, and why?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: There could be a long list. I’ll say Abraham Lincoln because he led from deeply held principles, stuck to them, yet listened to others – including those with different perspectives than his own. Oh, and he preserved a nation. Ronald Reagan, because he set a clear vision, stayed fixed on it, overcame big odds, and in the end, ended the cold war without a shot being fired. And my dad, from whom I first learned about leadership, up close and personally. He was flawed as we all are, yet he was passionate, worked hard, and trusted others (including me) early and often.

QUESTION: How can people without grandiose titles lead others?  
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: I love this question because leadership isn’t a title at all! Leadership is a verb – if you think you are leading and no one is following, you are just taking a walk. The way to lead is to help people create or see a picture of something better and influence, engage, and encourage them to move toward it. Purpose, passion, and belief in others are all far more important than positional power.

TWEET THIS: If you think you are leading and no one is following, you are just taking a walk. ~@KevinEikenberry #Leadership #EmployeeExperience #EmployerBranding

QUESTION: What three tips would you give a new manager?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: I co-wrote a whole book about that titled From Bud to Boss: Secrets to the Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership, so I suppose I have lots to say here. But if forced to boil it down to three, here we go:
(1) Determine what is expected of you and what you expect of your team.
(2) Listen first and more often.
(3) Remember that trust and relationships are an important part of your job.

QUESTION: On your Blog, you wrote about “The Feedback Sandwich: The Sandwich No One Wants to Eat.” Can you explain this for readers who may be unfamiliar with the analogy?

(Post referenced: https://blog.kevineikenberry.com/coaching-developing-others/the-feedback-sandwich-the-sandwich-no-one-wants-to-eat/)

KEVIN EIKENBERRY: Much has been written, and many have been advised to use the feedback sandwich when coaching, which is this: share your negative feedback after giving something positive, and close with something else positive. In other words, have some positive bread to go with the negative feedback. In short, the problem is this: most often, people only advise this when you have negative to deliver, and so, too often, the positive bread is either less specific, unclear or meat to soften the meat in the middle. Is there a time or place where a feedback sandwich could work? Yes. Is it overused and misused? In my experience about 90%+ of the time.

QUESTION: How can a CEO be an effective brand ambassador?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: Truthfully, every CEO already is a brand ambassador, just like every leader at every level is a role model. People watch leaders (and yes, watch, more than listen) for clues and direction. The question is, are leaders (including CEO’s) role modeling what they want others to follow and believe? The actions, decisions, and words of the CEO in many ways inform the brand daily. So if a CEO wants to be a more effective brand ambassador, they must know what the brand stands for and means, and be intentional each day to model and lead in a way consistent with it.

TWEET THIS: Every CEO already is a brand ambassador, just like every leader at every level is a role model. ~@KevinEikenberry #Leadership #EmployeeExperience #EmployerBranding

QUESTION: To quote Peter Drucker, “There may be born leaders, but there surely are far too few to depend on them. Leadership must be learned.” What does this quote mean to you?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: I could quibble with the first part of Peter’s statement, but I believe ultimately we are in complete agreement. I believe all leaders are both born and made. There are genetics that make us uniquely ourselves and when we use those unique traits effectively, they can help us lead. And yet, ultimately, leadership is a set of skills (admittedly a large and complex list). Since leadership is about skills, they can be learned. I firmly believe that we were all born with the capability to become effective leaders, but many/most won’t take the serious effort to build the skills to do so successfully.  

QUESTION: One of my favorite leadership quotes is from author and consultant Mark Herbert (@NewParadigmer on Twitter): “Leadership doesn't require you to be the smartest person in the room. It requires you to block and tackle for others.” What does this quote mean to you?
KEVIN EIKENBERRY: If you are the smartest person in the room – and you picked the people in the room - you made a grievous error. Effective leaders have a healthy level of humility, so they don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. Their focus is on defining and coalescing a group of competent, and committed, (and yes smart) people around the vision. Leaders must take their ego out and realize that their job is to focus on the vision and serve the people (which means removing obstacles and barriers – doing the “blocking and tackling”). Not only that, I will take commitment and passion over “smart” every day.

My gratitude to Kevin for sharing his inspiring perspective about leadership and its impact on both the employee experience and overall brand experience.

Post referenced at the beginning: A review of Kevin's book, The Long-Distance Leader:
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2018/08/summer-reading-recap-business-and.html

Image Credit: Debbie Laskey.

Customer Service, ROI, and How to Create WOW Moments!

 

One of the many things I enjoy about social media is the amazing people I get to meet. Thanks to technology, I get to travel around the world and meet people with different backgrounds and perspectives. Thanks to Twitter, I recently met Shaun Belding from Ottawa, Canada, since he shares my passions for customer experience marketing, bold leadership, and inspiring workplace culture. We discussed our shared passions, and highlights follow Shaun’s bio.

Shaun Belding is CEO of Belding Training, and a leading global expert on customer experience, leadership, and workplace culture. He is the author of six books, published internationally in 12 languages. His most recent book is The Journey to WOW, the path to outstanding customer experience and loyalty, a highly acclaimed Amazon bestseller. Learn more about Shaun on his website at www.beldingtraining.com; on his Winning at Work blog at www.beldinggroup.com/winning-at-work-blog; on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/shaunbelding; and on Twitter @ShaunBelding.

QUESTION: How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected customer service in Canada?
SHAUN BELDING: The best word I can think of would be “fragmented.” On a macro level, most organizations have pivoted quite well. A lot of companies are still struggling to adapt their customer service channels, though. And many which have successfully adapted their processes haven’t adequately mitigated the emotional exhaustion employees are facing. Having said this, front line customer service in person and on the telephone is, in many ways, far more human than ever. People seem just that little bit more patient and pleasant - and trying just a little harder.

QUESTION: Your blog showcases a myriad of good and bad customer service stories. So out of all you've experienced and heard about, what is your number one best customer service experience and number one worst?
SHAUN BELDING: Tough question! The worst ones, for me, are the ones where people or companies become so focused on their self-interests, processes, or policies that they forget about humanity.

The divide between WOW customer service and face-palming horrendous service is best illustrated for me in a single episode with US Bank in 2019 (link at end of Q&A) on Christmas Eve. The bank was holding a customer’s check. He had no money and found himself at a gas station with not enough to buy gas to get home. The call center agent told her supervisor, who hopped into her car and drove to the gas station to give the man $20 for gas. It was a truly Wow experience and aligned with the bank’s claim that “Our employees are empowered to do the right thing.” HOWEVER, a week later, the bank fired both the supervisor and employee for breaking protocol. Apparently “doing the right thing” wasn’t referring to how customers should be treated.

QUESTION: Too often, corporate leaders downplay marketing because they cannot see immediate results. Similarly, customer service ROI is a difficult metric to track. However, you wrote that "customer service is like vegetables." Can you explain how easy it is to evaluate customer service?

https://shaunbelding.com/customer-service-blog/the-roi-of-customer-service/

SHAUN BELDING: I love this question, because I have heard the ROI debate all my adult life. Back when I had a real job, working in strategic and client management roles in national and international ad agencies, we were constantly faced with ROI questions. That’s when I learned John Wannamaker’s famous quote, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” The same might be said with customer service.

The ROI of customer service can’t be measured on a transactional basis, just like the ROI of hiring an accountant can’t be measured on a day-to-day basis. It’s also hard to isolate the specific impact of customer service on revenue or profitability because it is only one of many drivers.

The best way to measure the ROI of customer service is, believe it or not, by focusing on the negatives. It is easier and more accurate to attribute decreases in negative indicators to customer service. Outstanding customer service will reduce customer churn, complaints, escalations, negative social media, etc. Poor customer service increases these things. They make for a good measurable – from which one can calculate tangible changes In revenues and profitability.

TWEET THIS: The best way to measure the ROI of customer service is, believe it or not, by focusing on the negatives. –@ShaunBelding #ROImetrics #brandexperience

QUESTION: You wrote the following on a blog post: "If we aren’t passionate – visibly and demonstrably passionate – we will never be able to instill this in our people. We can never lose sight of the role we ourselves play in the success of our organization." How can a business instill passion for the brand and/or the mission in its employees so that they provide excellent customer service?

https://shaunbelding.com/customer-service-blog/5-principles-for-leading-teams/

SHAUN BELDING: It has to start at the top. Just repeat those 7 words over and over again. Once that’s in place, it’s about the messaging. Here’s an example: About 15 years ago, I got a call from the CEO of one of our clients. I’d known him for a decade, and we had become good friends. He had built the company from scratch, and his charisma and passion fueled a rabidly loyal and proud workplace.  

He began the call with, “Shaun, I need your help.” He went on to describe how the “fire” had gone out in his workplace, and try as he might, he couldn’t rekindle it. He wanted us to identify the problem and help create a roadmap back to where they had been. Identifying the problem didn’t take us long. I had been there when he created the company, and the changes were palpable.

When the company started, my friend would spend a huge amount of his time roaming the halls, sticking his nose into things, bringing people coffee, chatting, laughing – and celebrating small successes. The memos he and his executive team would send out were all about doing the right thing – like treating customers and colleagues well – and giving shoutouts to individuals.  

Fast-forward ten years, and this was gone. Emails were all about business, and profit, and processes, and best practices and (ironically) ROI. Silos had sprouted, with precious little cross-communication in the company. Discussions around doing the right thing were quaint, distant memories.

It took him two years, but he turned it around. He single-handedly took ownership of doing the right thing and was absolutely relentless in ensuring that the message cascaded through the company. A couple of senior leadership team members who weren’t onboard with the changes were off-boarded in a hurry. The message that the CEO was serious was loud and clear.

The three lessons I learned from this transformation were:
a) Passion has to start at the top.
b) Customer service culture requires absolute relentlessness.
c) You need to focus on people more than stuff.

My friend has never given me permission to formally identify him, but I can tell you that he was my inspiration for the character of Avi Vincente in the leadership section of my book, The Journey to WOW.

QUESTION: Everyone in marketing and customer service circles has heard the Morton's Steakhouse story by Peter Shankman. What can brands learn from that story and apply toward their customer experience marketing strategies?

https://www.shankman.com/the-greatest-customer-service-story-ever-told-starring-mortons-steakhouse/  

SHAUN BELDING: The definition of a “Wow” experience is one that people will think of first when in a discussion about a customer experience, and one that they feel will be interesting to others. Peter Shankman’s Morton’s Steakhouse story is a textbook example. There are three big lessons that brands can take away from it:

1. When a customer reaches out to you – regardless of the reason – don’t ever ignore them.
2. Give your people the permission and the courage to seize WOW opportunities.
3. Don’t be seduced by big data. It’s the one-on-one interactions that create loyalty.

TWEET THIS: Don’t be seduced by big data. It’s the one-on-one interactions that create loyalty. –@ShaunBelding #CX #brandexperience

QUESTION: What's your favorite customer service book, and why should everyone read it?
SHAUN BELDING: Okay…I would be disingenuous if I didn’t say my book, The Journey to WOW – but I’m probably not really objective there.
 
My second most favorite book on customer service, isn’t technically a customer service book – but it’s one that everyone in customer service should read:  Dale Carnegie’s iconic How to Win Friends and Influence People. It was written 85 years ago and is as relevant and powerful today as it was then. There is no-one who has better or more succinctly captured the human condition – and the mechanisms for creating long-lasting positive relationships. The skill-sets he introduces speak to the very core of customer service, and his one quote, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you,” are words that can change people’s lives.

My gratitude and appreciation to Shaun for sharing his inspiring perspectives.


LINK to incident referenced in second question regarding US BANK and fired employees: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/02/supervisor-fired-from-us-bank-made-an-emotional-decision-to-ok-act-of-christmas-eve-charity.html

Image Credit: Pace Branding and Marketing (@paceadv on Twitter).

Branding Impacts Everything!

Over the last decade, thanks to social media, I have had the privilege to meet countless amazing and inspiring marketing and leadership experts. 

I'm honored to welcome back Bill Ellis, a marketing expert with experience in a well-known global brand, who demonstrates his passion for branding in everything he does. Recently, we had a discussion about how branding impacts all aspects of business, and highlights follow a brief introduction.

Bill Ellis is a master at unlocking the fearless potential in others. A veteran of corporate brand management for more than 25 years at global beverage giant Anheuser-Busch, Bill has come to learn and deliver his true value in the past decade as a public speaker, certified coach, and brand architect for individuals and businesses. 

Bill’s weekly blog, Friday’s Fearless Brand, has earned a following around the world as he masterfully highlights core elements of brands – whether people, places or organizations – that he considers to be fearless. It is Friday’s Fearless Brand that is the foundation for Women Who Won, a book sparked by Bill’s twin granddaughters and his wish for their happy future as successful intrepid women. It is his hope that this compilation of stories of amazing women from all walks of life will inspire and remind – both men and women – that we all can win. Bill is also the host of the What’s the Point? podcast, which is dedicated to helping people to define, clarify, and live their purpose, fueling it with passion, and evolving it through persistence. Connect with Bill at his website at www.brandingforresults.com, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/wcellis, on Twitter @WCEllis, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/billelliscoach, and on Instagram @wcellis.

QUESTION: You were one of the first people I know who described his/her/their role within marketing as "Brand Architect." Can you please clarify?
BILL ELLIS:​ That's a great question. My mission is to make good brands better. As you well know, building, evolving, refining, and optimizing brands - be they companies, products/services, or personal brands - can be a very complex proposition. Discovering, clarifying, and growing a brand's value requires a variety of considerations and processes. For years I spent a great deal of time trying to answer people's question of "What do you do? Are you a coach, a consultant, a speaker, a facilitator, an author - what exactly are you?"

One day, it finally occurred to me that making good brands better - building more effective brands - is somewhat similar to constructing a building. There are a wide variety of disciplines required, but it all starts with the vision, experience, and talents of an architect. That realization made it very simple for me to define what I do regarding my work with brands: I'm an architect, a brand architect.

QUESTION: You appeared here on my Blog five years ago. One question I posed was this: "Most businesses have added to their C-level suite with a Chief Talent Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and even a Chief Customer Officer. When will businesses create Chief Branding Officers?" You provided a "NO" as your answer then. Has your opinion changed since 2016?
BILL ELLIS: No, my opinion hasn't changed at all. I don't believe that the position of Chief Branding Officer is one that will become widespread. However, let me help explain my opinion. To begin with, most people have a very narrow definition of brand and branding, thinking of it as the tangible elements such as logos. A brand is so much more than that. A brand is comprised of the value proposition of a company, product, or individual.

Creating a CBO title will, in my opinion, create too much confusion. What I do see as an evolving trend are titles which take into account the importance of building relational value - perhaps Chief Relational Officer. More and more the value of strong relations is becoming more evident as a critical element in a successful business.

TWEET THIS: A brand is comprised of the VALUE PROPOSITION of a company, product or individual. ~@WCEllis #brandstrategy #brandstorytelling #brandexperience

QUESTION: In 2017, I shared a review of your book, WOMEN WHO WON, Stories of Courage, Confidence, Vision and Determination. How have the events from 2020 (the #MeToo Movement, the celebration of the 19th Amendment, and the election of the first female vice president) altered your perspective about the importance of personal branding, and especially for women?
BILL ELLIS: The timing of my book, Women Who Won, was somewhat serendipitous in that it was written and published prior to the #MeToo movement and the long overdue acknowledgement of - and appreciation for - the potential represented by women. If anything, I believe more strongly than ever that understanding and building our personal brand is vital to our success in all aspects of life.

This is true more so for women. In my view, there is a deeper and more widespread openness to the talent, skills, and leadership represented by females. One question I was asked when my book was first published was "Who would you most like to read your book?" My answer was "Everyone, but especially men, as I recognize that most women know their talents and power, but as a whole, men need to become more aware."

(Post referenced: https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-first-book-for-your-2018-reading.html)

(Post referenced: https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2020/12/2020-was-year-of-women.html)

QUESTION: One of our fellow marketers, Jim Joseph (@JimJosephExp on Twitter), said, "It's nearly impossible now to separate an organization's leadership and its values from a brand. They are completely linked." What does this quote mean to you?
BILL ELLIS: I believe that Jim is absolutely correct in his statement. Frankly, I believe that's always been the case, but is just now becoming more widely recognized and accepted. An organization's leadership plays a significant role in clarifying, strengthening, and communicating a company's brand - and that of its products. What is ideal, as I see it, is for all of us to define our core values and make certain that wherever we work or get involved, has core values which are compatible. When I mention "core values", I'm referring to our deepest beliefs, those values which truly define our lives - our ideals.

TWEET THIS: An organization's leadership plays a significant role in clarifying, strengthening, and communicating a company's brand. ~@WCEllis #leadershiptip #brandtip #brandexperience

QUESTION: On your website, you promote the importance of conducting a brand self-audit. Can you share some of the key points that that a brand can discover upon doing this?
BILL ELLIS: Think about it this way, if we want to take a trip, but have no idea of our financial resources, what are our travel options, which of our possessions and wardrobe are appropriate and so forth, how can we expect to have a fulfilling holiday? I created my brand audit as a starting point for people to self-evaluate their brand status. It's suitable for assessing personal or company brands. For many, the results will highlight areas that the individual can address to immediately strengthen their brand - to make a good brand better. Many are capable and interested in a DIY approach. However, to reap the greatest benefits, my advice to people is to partner with the most appropriate brand architect for them.

(Link referenced: https://brandingforresults.com/brand-self-audit/)

QUESTION: What brands do you think are doing a good job with their advertising and marketing during the COVID-19 crisis? Please share examples.
BILL ELLIS: Advertising during this worldwide pandemic has clearly presented tremendous challenge to advertisers. Many of the more prevalent advertisers are ones whose industries have been most impacted - airlines, travel, restaurants. Many advertisers took a sentimental approach, a few tried simply to have fun. Not many of them stood out to me. I do want to give a shout out to my former employer on their creative re-imagining a classic "Whassup" campaign. They created what they called the "Quarantine version" with altered copy and the payoff exchange of "Whassup?" answered by "just quarantining, having a Bud". They leveraged an iconic spot for many, yet many younger viewers no doubt, assumed it to be a totally new spot. Either way, AB-InBev created a high-quality ad by cleverly avoiding the pitfalls of new production during Covid.

My gratitude and appreciation to Bill for sharing his inspiring perspective about the important alignment between leadership and branding.

Bill's first appearance on this blog: May 16, 2016:
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2016/05/secrets-to-get-your-brand-in-lights.html

Image Credit: Debbie Laskey.

Design Impacts Customers – Especially During a Pandemic!

Over the last decade, thanks to social media, I have had the privilege to meet a variety of amazing business experts. One of these experts is Paul Biedermann, who I met on Twitter in 2013. We recently had a discussion about marketing, and highlights follow below Paul’s bio.

Paul Biedermann is Principal/Creative Director of re:DESIGN, a small agency specializing in Brand Identity, Strategic Design, and Visual Marketing — creating great design and smart strategies that reach, engage, and inspire people to action, based in Long Island, New York. Formerly a Creative Director for The McGraw-Hill Companies and Art Director for the NFL, Paul founded a global design community, is an adjunct professor of design, and serves on boards and advisory committees that support the arts. Paul has a BFA from the School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Visit his website and blog at www.redesign2.com; check out his Facebook community at https://facebook.com/groups/redesign2; and follow on Twitter @PaulBiedermann.

QUESTION: On your blog, you wrote, “Design is never about you and me, it’s about the impact your business makes on its customers.” Please explain.
PAUL BIEDERMANN: The intent was to take subjectivity out of the design process and put the focus where it should be — on how well a design satisfies a particular business objective or some other goal. It should never be about whether a client’s favorite color is green or the personal style of a particular designer, but rather about how effectively design solves the business problem at hand. And that ultimately benefits the client’s customers, prospects, or end-users.

TWEET THIS: Design is never about you and me, it’s about the impact your business makes on its customers. –@PaulBiedermann #marketing #brandexperience

QUESTION: While the traditional marketing landscape of printed collateral including annual reports, brochures, and fact sheets has evolved in the digital era to websites, emails, and mobile ads, how do you see the future of design?
PAUL BIEDERMANN: Design will always have a place, it just evolves with the media. Remember, design is more about the message than the form — so clarity, functionality, persuasion — how well design gets the reader or end-user to take notice and act is what it’s all about.

This could be the difference between someone staying on a website or clicking somewhere else — or how easily they are able to locate what they need once there, whether they sign-up or make a purchase — no different than getting pulled-in by an ad or poster and attending an event, or how easily one can absorb and retain content. Design meets the moment. Moving into things like augmented reality and whatever else the future may hold, the need to grab somebody and influence a response or entice an action will always be the role of good design.

QUESTION: Have you seen any exceptional ad campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic?
PAUL BIEDERMANN: One that stands out happened at the beginning of the crisis, and how McDonald’s (Brazil) split apart its famous golden arches to convey social distancing. It was a simple, whimsical solution that was attached to their core identity — which they literally ripped in two (like a broken heart?). It effectively communicated the need to close their dine-in areas while promoting safety through drive-thru, carryout, and delivery options.
 

QUESTION: What is your thought process when designing a logo?
PAUL BIEDERMANN: That’s a rather broad question, because SO much thinking goes into creating an effective logo! People often seem to have a misconception that logos are easy because of their simplicity, but the reality is far different. Indeed, designing a good logo is among the most difficult things a designer can do.

I always start by learning what the company, organization, or service is about — and then iterating on how to best communicate its essence. The solution could be quite literal or oftentimes, something more abstract that nonetheless communicates the right feeling. So, it’s a mix of business needs, aesthetic needs, and practical needs such as if the brand mark will work effectively in all media, materials, colors, and sizes. Not easy — but that’s the magic. It just looks simple when it’s done.

QUESTION: What are your three favorite brands, and why?
PAUL BIEDERMANN: It’s probably no surprise that my favorite brands tend to utilize design in a way that makes our lives better. Stylish? Perhaps. But also, a great user experience. My three are: Netflix, Apple, and Twitter.

NETFLIX: Because who doesn’t like Netflix, especially during a pandemic? But seriously, it exemplifies a well-designed user experience: intuitive browsing, easy to preview, and simple to use. It’s an overall seamless experience that leads to less frustration and more viewing enjoyment! Netflix has also been vocal about race relations and the current civil crisis, and hopefully, will translate that into action.

APPLE: I know, I know… but I’d be remiss not mentioning the brand permeating my life for the past 30 years now: Apple. Beginning with the dawn of the Macintosh at the start of my design career, that’s the same desktop system I’m sitting at now and the brand behind the little digital and creative device so often in my hands — a true life-changer — first revolutionizing the creative field and then almost everything else. Not much I can add to what’s been said so many times before, but from their products to their retailers, packaging, and advertising, Apple is a designer’s dream. They pay attention to the little things and the needs of the end-user — all hallmarks of good design and undeniable proof of the business success that comes with it.

TWITTER: Besides the fast-moving, fluid communications vehicle they’ve developed, no social media platform is more prone to the serendipity that a casual tweet can produce by immediately putting you in proximity to some of the most influential people on the planet. That is by design as much as anything else. But with great power comes great responsibility — so I also commend Twitter for their integrity in protecting their platform and brand with recent moves to flag tweets that share misleading information or promote violence.

My thanks to Paul for sharing his marketing insights and for appearing here on my Blog.

Blog post referenced in Question #1:
“Design Is Not About You or Me, It’s About Them”
https://www.redesign2.com/blog/design-is-not-about-you-or-me-its-about-them/


Image Credits: Debbie Laskey via the ImageQuote app and McDonald’s Brazil.

3 Leadership Secrets: Build Consensus, Be Open to Challengers, and Delegate

 

If you’re not familiar with the name Erika Andersen, then get ready for some valuable leadership take-aways. She is someone who stands out wherever she appears in the digital landscape, whether as a guest writer on Forbes, her own website, or on Twitter. 

Erika Andersen is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting, and training firm that focuses on leader readiness; and over the past 30 years, she has developed a reputation for creating approaches to learning and business-building that are tailored to the challenges, goals, and cultures of her clients. Erika and her colleagues at Proteus focus on helping leaders at all levels GET ready and STAY ready to meet whatever the future might bring. In addition, Erika is the author of many books as well as the author and host of the Proteus Leader Show, a regular podcast that offers quick, practical support for leaders and managers. Follow on Twitter @erikaandersen and @ProteusLeader – and also on the web at www.proteus-international.com. Erika and I recently had a discussion about leadership, and highlights follow below.

QUESTION: When President Obama introduced Janet Yellen as the new Federal Reserve Chair in October 2013, he said, "Janet Yellen is a proven leader who knows how to build consensus, the kind of person who makes everybody around her better." Certainly, President Biden remembered this when nominating her as the first woman Secretary of the Treasury. What three characteristics do you think are necessary to create a consensus-builder?

Blog post referenced: What Kind of Leadership Legacy Are You Creating?
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-kind-of-leadership-legacy-are-you.html

ERIKA ANDERSEN: The first three things that come to mind when I hear “consensus builder” are listening, “fair witnessing,” and generosity.

Listening – true, deep listening, where your intention is to fully understand what the other person is saying – is foundational to all good leadership and management, in fact to all healthy relationships. It’s especially necessary to building consensus: understanding what all parties think and feel is the core pre-requisite for being able to find a solution that includes the most important elements of each person’s point of view. It also assures that each person will feel heard and respected – which goes a long way toward “unsticking” people from rigid positions.

Being a fair witness, which I talk about a lot, means being as objective and neutral as possible. That becomes more challenging the more emotionally attached we are to a topic. If, as the person responsible for finding consensus, you can maintain a neutral focus on finding the best outcome for the greatest number of people (vs. lobbying for your preferred solution), I’ve found that helps everyone become more objective and less likely to simply argue for their own outcome.

Finally, generosity. Such a critical leadership capability – especially when emotions are running high and people have different and strongly-held viewpoints. If you as the leader can assume positive intent about everyone involved – that they are advocating for what they truly believe is the best outcome – it provides a powerful hopeful example that makes it less likely that people will fall into negative and limiting beliefs about each other, and much more likely for consensus to be achieved.  

QUESTION: Last year was the “year of women” in visible seats of influence - see my Blog post written in December. From your personal and consulting experiences, how can more women earn positions of influence in business, law, medicine, nonprofit, etc.?

Blog post referenced: 2020 Was the Year of Women
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2020/12/2020-was-year-of-women.html

ERIKA ANDERSEN: I have great faith in the younger generations – Millennials and Gen Z – who now make up a majority of the workforce, and who will continue to grow as a force over the next decade. They are more diverse than previous generations, and more progressive in their thinking and actions regarding inclusion and collaboration of all kinds. The people I know in their 20’s and 30s expect that women – and people of color – will have power and influence commensurate with their skills, capabilities and ambition. I think that means that the future is in good hands.

But what about now? First, I would hope that any woman who is now in a position of power and influence will do her best to be a model of representation, and to remove obstacles and provide opportunities for those who are coming up behind her. I would also encourage powerful women to turn to their male colleagues and help them understand how they can be practical allies by creating more opportunities for women to succeed.

And all of us can, with kindness and hope, recognize in ourselves and point out to each other where we might have limiting assumptions about women – and people of color, the disabled, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized people. And once we recognize those limiting assumptions, we can all work to question and work against them, so that we invite and welcome a more diverse group of people into positions of power and influence.
 
QUESTION: I read a recent post from Wharton that shared the concept that all leaders need to be surrounded by a “challenge network.” Can you elaborate on this?

Blog post referenced: Why You Need a “Challenge Network”
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-you-need-a-challenge-network/

ERIKA ANDERSEN: I love this idea – that leaders need people who will challenge their ideas and conclusions. I talk about something like this in my book “Leading So People Will Follow,” where I contend that leaders need “Wizards, Well-wishers, and Wildcards.”  

Wizards are those people who know things you don’t know, and who can help you break through your image of yourself or of what’s possible and find new solutions and new ways of operating – part of what you can get from a “challenge network.”

Well-wishers are the opposite of a challenge network: they’re the people who genuinely think you’re marvelous, and truly want the best for you (which I think is also invaluable –being challenged all the time is demoralizing and unhelpful).

Wildcards are those people from whom you get unexpected value – they may seem negative, or grouchy, or just weird, but they have insights, skills or assets that can support you to achieve an outcome or solve a problem better than you could yourself. The essence of what a challenge network provides!

A lot of research over many years has shown that one of the biggest predictors of leadership failure is an environment where others can’t or won’t push back on the leader’s decisions. Having a challenge network filled with Wizards and Wildcards helps make sure that doesn’t happen.  
 

TWEET THIS: One of the biggest predictors of leadership failure is an environment where others can’t or won’t push back on the leader’s decisions. ~@erikaandersen #LeadershipTip #ChallengeNetwork

QUESTION: Many people believe that leadership is only possible with a title. But there are many ways to lead and to be a leader. How do you counsel your clients to promote from within and build people up?

To read more on this topic, check out this Blog post: Spot these types of hidden talent in your organization:
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2020/08/spot-these-types-hidden-talent-your-organization

ERIKA ANDERSEN: A lot of our coaching of leaders focuses on helping them become better developers of people. In addition to teaching them the core skills of feedback, delegation and coaching, we also encourage them to think about applying the “hedgehog” model Jim Collins popularized in Good to Great, where he noted companies that become great find the intersection among three things: what they’re best at, what they’re passionate about, and what “drives their economic engine” (i.e., makes them sustainably profitable).

Leaders can apply this to their folks by helping them think through what they’re best at and most passionate about, that will drive the organization’s economic engine. In other words, to focus their coaching and development on those areas where the employee would love to improve, where they can become really excellent, and where the company needs more capability.

Too often, leaders try to coach and develop just based on what the company needs, without thinking much about the employees’ interest or natural talent. And employees sometimes over-focus on what they’re passionate about, without thinking enough about whether they can get really good at that thing – or whether the company needs it.  

And once you, as a leader, have helped an employee get clearer about what they could be best at and passionate about, that will drive the company’s economic engine, it’s important to determine two other things. First, you need to find out if the employee is really willing to make the effort needed to grow (and, unfortunately, you can only really know that by seeing how they respond to growth opportunities). Second you need to have a “coach mindset” about that employee, which we define as “believing in their potential and wanting to help them succeed.”  

If all these things align, you get to have that wonderful experience of watching someone grow, knowing that you’ve helped.
 

TWEET THIS: Too often, leaders try to coach and develop just based on what the company needs, without thinking much about the employees’ interest or natural talent. ~@erikaandersen #LeadershipTip #LeadershipCoaching

QUESTION: You wrote a post published in Forbes comparing great leaders to movie heroes. Can you explain this comparison?

Blog post referenced: What Do Great Leaders And Movie Heroes Have In Common?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2015/07/20/what-do-great-leaders-and-movie-heroes-have-in-common/

ERIKA ANDERSEN: I just used the movie hero comparison as an interesting way to tee up the importance of delegation!  

It’s easy to think that being a hero means doing everything yourself. But in almost every good movie, one of the things the hero learns is how essential it is to have the support, collaboration, and skills of others – that achieving difficult outcomes is almost always a group effort.

And leaders who are good at delegation, who have and use the skills and the mindset needed to share power and responsibility, are much more likely to build teams of capable and motivated people who achieve great things. Then, they all get to be real heroes!

QUESTION: Lastly, you have another inspiring leadership book out later in the year (October). How does it differ from “Growing Great Employees,” “Being Strategic,” “Leading So People Will Follow” and “Be Bad First”?

ERIKA ANDERSEN: Thank you for asking! The new book is called Change from the Inside Out, and it first explains the simple, predictable process any individual has to go through in order to make any change – we call it the Change Arc. Then it offers a model for cascading any change throughout an organization, by focusing well and consistently on the nuts-and-bolts necessities of change while supporting everyone in the organization through their own mental and emotional Change Arc.

The book offers new insights and models, and leverages many of the core skills and models you’ve seen in my earlier books, all in the service of helping leaders, their teams, and their organizations become more change-capable – better able to thrive and grow in this era of continual, disruptive change. I hope that’s a good “trailer for the movie” – and I look forward to having a more in-depth conversation about it as the publication date draws nearer this fall!

My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Erika for appearing on my Blog again and for sharing her leadership insights!


For more inspiration, check out Erika’s previous appearances on my Blog:
 

Review of: Leading So People Will Follow by Erika Andersen (October 2019)
(Fall Back to Reading with 12 Thought-Provoking Business Books)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2019/10/fall-back-to-reading-with-12-thought.html

Leadership + Strategy = Amazing Employee Experience (November 2018)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2018/11/leadership-strategy-amazing-employee.html

Review of: Be Bad First by Erika Andersen (October 2018)
(Fall Reading Recap: Leadership, Branding, and Voice of the Customer Marketing)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2018/10/fall-reading-recap-leadership-branding.html

Are You the Type of Manager Or Leader YOU Would Follow? (January 2014)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2014/01/are-you-type-of-manager-or-leader-you.html

25 Employee Engagement Tips to Improve Your Workplace
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/08/25-employee-engagement-tips-to-improve.html

Want to be Nicknamed Strategy Guru? (July 2011)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2011/07/want-to-be-nicknamed-strategy-guru.html


Image Credit: Etsy.

How Has Covid Impacted the Workplace, Corporate Culture and Leadership?

 

Whenever I think about leadership, I think about Eric Jacobson. Today, I would like to welcome Eric back to my blog. We met through our work with MicroMentor in 2009, and since then, Eric has appeared on my blog four times as a featured guest and countless other times with quotes. 

Eric has more than a quarter-century of experience in successfully leading employees and teams through periods of revenue growth, new product development, and re-engineering. He is an experienced mentor and coach and holds an MBA Degree from Keller Graduate School. Eric’s passion is helping individuals to become effective leaders at work, within organizations, and wherever they are called upon to lead and inspire. 

Recently, Eric and I had a conversation about the changing nature of leadership based on a series of interesting and timely articles, and highlights follow below. For more about Eric, visit his Blog at https://ericjacobsononmanagement.blogspot.com/ and follow him on Twitter @EricJacobsonKC.

QUESTION: A recent article in Fast Company reported that the post-Covid office is not dead. What are your thoughts on this topic?

https://www.fastcompany.com/90605978/the-office-is-not-dead-heres-why

“After almost a year of remote working, we’re seeing a slow decay of connection. According to Gallup, remote employees are 7% less likely to see their connection to the mission of a company. Staring at a laptop screen with six other faces is inherently transactional, less spontaneous, and less human than working in an actual room with actual people.“

ERIC JACOBSON: This article mentioned, Susan Lund, PhD, a leader of the McKinsey Global Institute, who believes the return to offices will be about interaction. She said, “You’ll go into [the office] to meet with other people doing brainstorming and innovation, with more collaborative spaces, team rooms, and maybe individual phone booths for [private] conversations.”

The article also said that right now, there are too many unknowns (in public health, in the economy) to determine exactly when many employees will return to shared workplaces, but the advantages of human connection at work are so profound that a return to the office in some new, creative form is inevitable.

My thoughts are that many businesses will benefit from some type of physical office situation post-pandemic for the very reasons Lund stated in the article. I also believe that office space, at least for the foreseeable future (and where budgets permit), will and should look very different. Leaders will also need to help ensure employees feel comfortable and safe in a shared space, and employees will need to believe that space is purposeful.

The pandemic taught us that many businesses can function without employees being in a shared office space every day. It taught us that many employees can travel less often for work. It taught us how to use technology more effectively.

Post-pandemic, I advocate for leaders to offer flexible work schedules and flexibility as to where employees work – perhaps allowing a blending of working in a shared office and working from home.

And, in the meantime, while employees are working from home, leaders should go out of their way to be extra communicative – doing all they can to create a sense of teamwork, belonging and inclusion via a combination of Zoom (or similar platform), email, and phone conversations.

QUESTION: In a recent McKinsey article entitled, “The Vanishing Middle Manager,” several leaders discussed the loss of middle managers during the Covid era. How do you envision the impact of this phenomenon on the post-Covid workplace?

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-vanishing-middle-manager

ERIC JACOBSON: Loss of middle managers during the Covid-19 era disappointments me. Because, as the article pointed out, middle managers are more often than not the individuals who are providing employees daily coaching, real-time feedback, and training.

Most importantly, middle managers are also an organization’s next generation of leaders. I believe, as the article stated, that middle manager roles should be coveted and nurtured and curated, not eliminated. If you want to eliminate something, eliminate tasks—tasks that are administrative or bureaucratic and don’t add value. Hopefully, if an organization eliminated its middle managers during the pandemic for budget reasons, better future financial times will allow that organization to reinstate those roles.

TWEET THIS: Middle managers are an organization’s next generation of leaders. –@EricJacobsonKC #Leadership #EmployeeExperience #EmployerBranding

QUESTION: A recent article by Knowledge@Wharton was titled, “Why You Need a ‘Challenge Network.’” What are your thoughts on this topic?

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-you-need-a-challenge-network/

ERIC JACOBSON: Here are my two main takeaways from this article:

First, the ideal members of a challenge network are disagreeable — critical and skeptical. They’re fearless about questioning the way things have always been done and foster constructive conflict. Second, we learn more from people who challenge our thought process than from those who affirm our conclusions. I agree with both takeaways and see great value in having a challenge network within an organization, team, group, etc.

Leaders don’t have all the answers. Strong, effective leaders know that, and they value input from employees who question the status quo, play devil’s advocate, ask “what-if,” and, collectively, provide the opportunity for everyone to consider all sides of an issue.

Key, though, is that the challenge network members must be both constructive and respectful in their approach. Healthy conflict, discussion and evaluation are both critical and valuable when done in that manner.

QUESTION: I read an article by Paul LaRue (@Paul_LaRue on Twitter) that shared excellent leadership advice: Don’t lead from the rearview mirror. What does this advice mean to you?

https://upwardsleader.com/2021/02/14/dont-lead-from-the-rearview-mirror/

ERIC JACOBSON: This advice reminds me of what one of my first supervisors taught me. He told me, “if you make a decision I disagree with, I’ll tell you so and why, and let’s use that as an opportunity to learn, and then let’s move on.” I’ve done my best to live by that advice ever since in my leadership roles.

This leadership practice is quite similar to what LaRue shares in his article (his analogy), that cars have a large windshield and a small rear-view mirror. As drivers need to check behind them once in a while, they need to focus on the road ahead to ensure that they can successfully get where they are going. Great leaders know the wisdom of focusing on the present and future and spending very little time on the recent past.

He adds that when a leader works hard to train their people to get ahead of situations and prevent errors or poor execution, that leader becomes more effective than the one who would rather wait and pounce on an issue in arrears.

LaRue’s advice is so valuable, it is worth repeating here: People that are rear-view managers tend to be reactionary. They would rather jump on an issue after it occurred. Usually those issues are ones in which an error or poor performance took place, in which case the manager reprimands, then takes steps to correct the individual through steps such as remedial training or formal discipline.

Windshield leadership is quite the opposite mindset. A windshield leader is always looking ahead and doing whatever it takes to avoid the hazards and potholes up ahead. They set clear expectations, build reminders of what the goal and vision are continually, and train incessantly to ensure their people are on top of their game and perform at a high level at all times.

Finally, as he states, “We learn from our mistakes so we can succeed better,” rather than “You messed up, here are the consequences.”

QUESTION: A quote by Lolly Daskal (@LollyDaskal on Twitter) stands out: “Leaders sometimes think the more they withhold, the more power they hold. But I believe the opposite is true: the more you communicate, the more power it gives you.” What do you think about this advice?

https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/what-happens-when-a-leader-stops-communicating/

ERIC JACOBSON: I agree with Lolly Daskal’s advice to be a communicative leader. As she explained in her article, a leader’s lack of communication has the potential to harm teams, businesses, workplace dynamics, and the processes that keep everything moving.

More specifically, she adds that an uncommunicative leader and ineffective communication leads to employee frustration, distrust and confusion, a lack of respect, and a decrease in employee morale and motivation. In addition, when a leader doesn’t communicate, employees typically create a dialog and stories in their own minds, often assuming worse-case scenarios.

Leaders should communicate often and regularly, sharing both the good news and the bad news – good news to help celebrate, motivate, encourage, and inspire. And bad news to help build trust, to be truthful, and perhaps most importantly, because employees very likely have ideas and solutions to help turn a bad situation into a positive outcome.

While workforces are remote working from home, leaders should make a deliberate effort to communicate not only in writing, but also via Zoom (or similar tool). Good news or bad, it is important that employees receive communication from their leaders visually and verbally and not only through email.


My gratitude to Eric for appearing on my Blog a record fifth time and for sharing his always inspiring and thought-provoking leadership insights.


To read previous Q&A’s with Eric, see below for titles, dates, and links:

The Importance of Training, Customer Connections & Leadership (March 21, 2011)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2011/03/importance-of-training-customer.html

The Importance of Mentorships (March 11, 2013)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-importance-of-mentorships.html

Leadership Doesn’t Have to Be Hard (May 3, 2016)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2016/05/leadership-doesnt-have-to-be-hard.html

How Leadership Crafts the #EmployeeExperience (May 1, 2018)
https://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2018/05/how-leadership-crafts-employeeexperience.html


Image Credit: Real Leaders (Twitter and Instagram: @Real_Leaders).