The old chestnut of “personal brand” is topical as ever. And this week I joined a Linkedin Live session with Naishadh Gadani and Karalyn Brown, talking about what it means, and if it’s even a thing.You can watch it here.Note – it’s an hour, so if you don’t have time...
During what passes for idle chatter during coffee and networking at a recent event, the throw-away comment, “I think values are a load of rubbish” got my attention. Because too often rubbish is what companies big and small peddle.We continued to talk and agreed that when people say values, they...
Walking through the lunch throng after a recent conference talk, I got waylaid by the comment ‘we’re working on our brand’.Because I had ‘Brand Counsel’ on my tag, it’s understandable people wanted to talk about it. So I asked what that meant for them. I was curious because in my...
The combination of hubris and aspiration, liberally sprinkled with puffery make many value sets mosh pits of self-delusion.So there’s every chance your company values are complete bullshit. And if they are, it’s a quick ride on the slip slide to cynicism and ridicule when actions reveal them to be naked...
Born at the turn of the last century, trailblazing American anthropologist Leslie White was a founding professor of the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He was also the author of a controversial theory about how culture works, sometimes referred to as “White’s Law”.The theory says:“Culture...
What are the enemies of the brand result? The desire to fiddle, resistance, and the doldrums.The first one – the desire to fiddle – might feel counterintuitive. After all the things you do result in the brand. And while yes that’s true, for it to work you’ve got to do...
Here’s the idea. Don’t try and change the world.Heresy I know, because we live in the age of go big or go home. But I’m more than a bit exhausted by it all. Don’t get me wrong, I‘m not suggesting people give up, just that it might be time to change...
While taking a morning spin through a few email newsletters I get, a quote in an article about a fashion label taking private equity funding, grabbed my attention and got me thinking:“… founders…say they approached Alecon looking for a partner which could provide expertise on the operational and logistics side...
I’m always looking for ways different ways to make it easier for people to think about their promises.Last week listening to a recent Knowledge Project podcast, I stumbled on a conversation between host Shane Parrish and a guy called Jim Dethmer with a lively section on promises, except they don’t...
Unheroic work sustains a robust and resilient brand result. However, I have never seen one achieved if people in leadership aren’t also driving it.And when I say leadership, I include the chief executive, general manager, owner and founder, and also other people within the organisation who lead in various ways.So...