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...
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.Peter Drucker The book “Super Pumped” by Mike Isaac follows the ups and downs of Uber from the first glimmer of an idea until today. And sprinkled through is the idea – “We don’t have a brand...
People making demands of a company to act differently isn’t a new story. However, the nature of what they’re asking for is shifting.In a Bloomberg article sent to me by Nancy Hellmrich (@getnance), people working for furniture maker Wayfair had walked off the job because their company is doing business...
Thinking about buying a franchise? There’s no shortage of options. So even if garden care, baking or beauty aren’t your bag, one of the more than 1,100 different Australian franchise groups out there might be for you. Yet, for every story of franchise success and happiness, tales of woe and despair...
The organisation and the brand are related, but they are different. You may think I’m splitting hairs, after all, using ‘brand’ as a de facto when talking about a company has become commonplace. To paraphrase the line “the economy, stupid” coined during the 1992 election by Clinton’s campaign strategist: ‘it’s the...
Where do we want to go next year, in three years, five years, 10 years? Thinking about the imagined future captures a chunk of an organisation’s focus. Instead, however, we should consider what might be learned from shifting some of this focus to ‘what is’? ‘Well, that’s no fun’, I hear...
The business is starting out and needs a foundation to build on. Or it’s been around a few years and is growing, fast. A venerable family-owned company is going through a changing of the guard. Or the not-for-profit organisation is trying to stay relevant. The reasons to gather around the...
The world really doesn’t need another kind of statement. Or does it? Hijacked by the “do good” police, purpose today is wielded like a weapon. Coupled with the tepid consensus-driven visions and missions of corporates, these statements breed cynicism and lead me to think it’s time for a different kind of...
In the process of trying change to renew or invigorate an organisation a lot of things get ignored. In the rush to move forward what gets left behind is the legacy. Every organisation and the resulting brand has a legacy; the result of promises kept over time, the cumulative wealth of...
I am often asked by leaders “what’s the one thing I can do?” My return question is most usually: “To do what?” Because it depends. Sometimes there is one thing. More usually there are a series of one things. But organisations seem to be hard-wired to look for a silver bullet....