The Blog of Dr. Scott Kimball

Current State of the American Workforce and Happiness

2011-03-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to measure happiness? Gallup, in collaboration with Healthways, developed a well-being index and, based on this index, they surveyed at least 1000 people every day for two years to chart the change in happiness across the United States over time. The survey includes questions in the following domains:

1. Life Evaluation (overall view of life in the present and future)
2. Emotional Health (happiness, stress, and depression)
3. Physical Health (pain and sick days in the past month)
4. Healthy Behavior (smoking, a healthy diet, and exercise)
5. Work Environment (job satisfaction, using strengths, culture of trust, partnership)
6. Basic Access (safety, healthcare, food, and shelter)

So how are we doing America? Well, surprisingly the only factor that went down between 2009 and 2010 was “work environment”. This is not surprising given the state of the economy. However, even with widespread home financing problems and high unemployment, the overall index of well-being went up. Why are we behaving this way in managing our workforces? Is it inevitable to “expect more and pay less” or “get as much from your people” no matter the cost?

In response to a request by the New York Times, Gallup used the survey to come up with a composite of the happiest person in America: he’s a tall, Asian-American, observant Jew who is at least 65 and married, has children, lives in Hawaii, runs his own business and has a household income of more than $120,000 a year. What’s astounding to me is that they found a person who fits this description living and quite happy in Honolulu! Hilarious! Wouldn’t you just love to meet this guy?

Alvin Wong

I must admit though that I have my doubts about the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data. Survey respondents are asked to remember their behavior from the previous day. While that might seem like a simple task, human beings are notoriously unreliable when it comes to self-report of emotional and physical health, especially to a stranger on the phone. Furthermore, surveying different people each time is different from surveying the same people each time. On the other hand, the survey probably does provide a useful look at America's general sense of well-being over time. It's a barometer of life in America that should stimulate many interesting questions.

Here’s the bottom line. Our work-life impacts life in general. If you are miserable at work, you are likely to be miserable outside of work. The flipside is obviously that if you are happy at work, you are likely to have more happiness in general.

I know times are tough for many Americans. My challenge to bosses, supervisors, managers, and company owners is to provide a work environment where your people can thrive and where they can be happy. Both your employees and your company will benefit from your goodness!

Betrayal of Trust in Business - Has it become the norm?

2011-02-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

What do you do when someone betrays your trust in business?

Stay true to who you are, what you stand for, and the course you are on in life.
Remain professional. Even if others don’t, always control your temper and don’t let words that you cant get back fly out of your mouth.
Don’t fight spite with spite. Retaliation will only make you get down on the low level of your “contender.”
Express your reaction to someone that you can confide in – “I’m really sorry to see this person act like this. Its just not necessary.”
Realize that people are accountable for their own behavior. When others mistreat you or betray your trust, don’t take responsibility for their actions … leave it on them.
I know this sounds cliché, but learn from the experience. Ask yourself what lessons are there here to learn?
Commit yourself to not behaving the way you have been betrayed.
Be selective of who you surround yourself with … Build a network of strength by surrounding yourself continually with people that build you up, not tear you down.

Disengaged Employees Can Kill Your Company

2011-02-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Toxic, belligerent, nasty, rude, and mean employees can kill your company!

Employee engagement drives performance in organizations. It is a proven fact! Even without the research, common sense says that if you’re pretty sharp, committed and involved — and these attitudes are supported, respected, encouraged and rewarded — you’re likely to do a better job.

The words “supported, respected, encouraged and rewarded” are what’s important here. Who’s job is it to treat people this way? Everybody’s job! When entire organizations embrace this type of behavior as standards, great things happen with employee performance.

Clearly, failing to support, encourage, respect and reward people carries an enormous cost. Sometimes this failure is a sin of omission but depressingly often it is a sin of commission. Many managers consciously treat people disrespectfully, belittle their accomplishments and make every effort to “keep them in their place”. This cannot be tolerated in an organization!

We know what most people want: they want to feel valued. They want their contribution to be recognized. One of the consequences of not feeling valued or not being recognized is that people withdraw and do less and less. This has a major impact on an organization, lowering morale and productivity, draining resources, and blocking performance. It is also infectious — negative behavior has a multiplier effect on the behavior of others. And in turn, the bottom line is impacted.

Actively Disengaged Employee

Here are some signs that someone’s disengaged at work

Try to avoid being held solely responsible for things.
Avoid firm time commitments for getting things done.
Keep a low profile on issues.
Distance themselves from others’ failures.
Avoid sharing information with others.
Cut themselves off from people at times.

People don’t behave like this for no reason — it’s a reaction to the way their jobs are structured and, more importantly, the way they are being managed. Take control of employee engagement by nurturing your people. Create standards of excellence in your organization that help people be their very best!

Points on How to Improve Your Life - A Letter to Remember

2011-02-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is amazing! Randy Pausc died in 2008 of pancreatic cancer. But before he died, Randy wrote a book “The Last Lecture,” a bestsellers in 2007. What a legacy to leave behind…

In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow. I hope you find it insightful and inspiring!

Living the good life is a matter of choice, a matter of focus.

POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

I want to always remember these points. Share this knowledge with the people that matter most to you. Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you. These points remind me of what Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Employee Engagement Trends

2011-02-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

Management Expectations

2011-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

12 Beliefs of Great Bosses

2011-01-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

Bob Sutton has done a great job narrowing down what makes a boss great. If you're on twitter, you should follow him.

On the HBR blogs he wrote a great post on 12 things good bosses believe.

I found it worthwhile to repost here. While I don't consider most of these points to be simple and straightforward, give them some thought. They will push you to look for ways to be a better boss! I've rephrased these points as the 12 Beliefs of Great Bosses.

I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.
My success — and that of my people — depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.
Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.
One of the most important, and most difficult, parts of my job is to strike the delicate balance between being too assertive and not assertive enough.
My job is to serve as a human shield, to protect my people from external intrusions, distractions, and idiocy of every stripe — and to avoid imposing my own idiocy on them as well.
I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I am in charge, but humble enough to realize that I am often going to be wrong.
I aim to fight as if I am right, and listen as if I am wrong — and to teach my people to do the same thing.
One of the best tests of my leadership — and my organization — is "what happens after people make a mistake?"
Innovation is crucial to every team and organization. So my job is to encourage my people to generate and test all kinds of new ideas. But it is also my job to help them kill off all the bad ideas we generate, and most of the good ideas, too.
Bad is stronger than good. It is more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.
How I do things is as important as what I do.
Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk — and not realizing it.

Make Your Workplace Awesome!

2011-01-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Building a culture of excellence sounds appealing to most business leaders. But how in the world do you pull it off? Where do you even begin? Some look at this as a pretty daunting task, especially if your workplace seems crazy or just downright dysfunctional. To make this process more doable, break it down and focus on the following factors:

Improving the Power to Perform

1. Trust & Respect

a. Create a “got your back” atmosphere rather than the common feeling of “watch your back.” Trust cannot be built overnight, but it can become the standard in your workplace. Assure credibility, respect, and fairness in all your day-to-day business.

2. Pride & Loyalty

a. People want to be proud of their company, their department, and their position. At great workplaces, workers report they feel they're making a difference to the organization, and that their work is meaningful. Make sure workers get the recognition and dignity from higher-ups that build that a sense of pride.

3. Camaraderie & Friendship

a. Having a peer network at work is critical. People want to work with people they know, like, and trust. Sounds like friendship, right? Turns out that having a close friend at work – someone you can unconditionally rely on is a critical factor to job satisfaction and employee engagement. Promote these relationships.

4. Teamwork & Unity

a. Having all staff connected and committed to a common cause is essential. When the company is clear about what's expected, and what's important, people can feel a part of the big picture. Promote one focus, one purpose, and lay out a clear direction.

5. Acceptance & Authenticity

a. Get real! Let employees be themselves and not worry about being something they’re not. Too many workers say they have to put on their "work face" at the office and don't feel free to be who they are. When workers can be authentic on the job, they bring so much more joy to it. They feel more comfortable and are more likely to be engaged in their job and offer their best work.

Simple Steps to Powerful Change

2011-01-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

John F. Kennedy

"If we look only to the past or the present, we are certain to miss the future." John F. Kennedy is famous for having introduced the notion that we must embrace change and constantly look forward.

Organizations that are constantly striving to keep one step ahead of their competition understand this very well. For business leaders, it is important to understand how to manage the process of change, maximize the process of change, and allow for change to positively impact business performance.

The bottom line is that growth and success in organizations cannot be accomplished without change. The key here is that we are talking about positive change, which is created through a proactive process, where trends have been identified; new visions presented, clarified, and implemented.

Change is Inevitable, Growth is Optional - Dr. L. Scott Kimball

So, what's so difficult about change anyway? Well, for systems and processes to change, people have to change. This is the tricky aspect of change management - both research and common sense tell us that change is a natural condition of life. Additionally, as humans we are programmed to naturally resist change! We like things to be in a constant state. Yet, many business leaders know all too well that for their continued success, they have to keep their organizations in a constant state of change. The challenge then is to overcome this natural resistance and get people excited about embracing change. Easier said than done, right?

I'd like to offer suggested guidelines for maximizing change in your organization. These guidelines are based on my work with organizations around the world that embrace change, maximize change, and benefit from continuous improvement.

Engage People - For more than 50 years research has shown that "resistance" is negatively correlated to the extent to which people are involved in the change decision. That means, then, that the single best strategy for making change work is to involve and engage the people who will be impacted by the change, where they create change themselves! People must be brought into the process of analyzing the need and rationale for any change; without a sound understanding of the purpose of change, successful implementation is difficult if not impossible to sustain.

Fully engaging people begins by focusing on possibilities rather than problems. It means taking the time to make trial runs and revise plans based on those trials. For this to happen, designated leaders must be readily accessible, share information widely, and allow ample time to plan and implement. While not everyone needs a reason to change, most people do, so make sure the reason is understood or that people have an incentive to change. Don't make the mistake of thinking the only ones who can make sound decisions or understand the rationale are the senior management team! Engage people in all aspects of the change decision, planning and implementation. Give people a voice. Let them be heard.

Create a Clear Pathway for Success - It continues to astound me how many times I ask a leader what "success" will look like, only to get a vague, undefined response. Before steps are taken, define success for yourself! Where will you be if you get where you're going? What is it you really want to have happen? What is the desired future? What will success look like? And finally, how will you know when you get there?

We often find that a company's desired future is too fuzzy for much of anything but confusion to take place. Clarify. Make the vision concrete. Make sure the people who will be impacted by the change have been active in shaping this vision of success. Conduct a future search or similar activity around whatever the issue, need or concern is. Equally important is having a clear sense of why the change is needed, and whether the purpose for the change has been fully communicated to others. Finally, do people have the information they need to understand why the change makes sense, and how it will fit within existing systems and processes? Don't determine this simply by your own assumptions … find out! I always tell business leaders that what their people need more than any other thing is clarity: clarity of vision, clarity of purpose, clarity of direction, clarity of personal accountability, and clarity of personal reward. If business leaders can provide this or their people, the positive outcomes are dramatic in reducing resistance and increasing engagement.

Commit and Recommit - I find that it typically is not the front line people having the most trouble absorbing change, but the managers! Make sure that top leaders are fully committed to the vision and to the necessary changes. And make sure other designated leaders, managers and supervisors are equally committed to making things work. Commitment will filter downward in an organization.

Take into account the political realities. Change often means that some people lose something that may be important to them ... some form of structure, a routine, an incentive, relationships, and so on. If nothing else, I can guarantee that at a minimum people are all losing one thing - "the way things used to be." Make sure you assess who's toes may be stepped on by this change. Address those needs, and make certain that those people are fully engaged in working with the change decision. Finally, make that commitment visible by allocating the necessary resources. Leaders need to be seen visibly supporting the change. Adequate resources must be provided. Learning opportunities may be needed. And don't skimp on quality just to try to save a few dollars ... what you'll reap in the long-run will far outweigh what you had to shell out in the beginning.

Set Clear Expectations - Defining "success" is important, but don't forget to define success also in terms of individual and group behaviors. Have the new standards and expectations been established, and have they been clearly communicated? Don't make the mistake of thinking that since the memo went out or the poster posted, it means the expectations were clearly communicated! Different people receive and process information in different ways. Find out what people need, and check frequently with people to be sure the expectations are clear. Finally, make sure that designated leaders are indeed reinforcing the desired actions and making the change a priority. Far too often change fails to achieve the intended results because systems did not support the expectations.

Remove Obstacles - People impacted by a change must be involved in identifying obstacles. Who best knows what might make the new form, process or equipment unworkable within the existing system? That's right ... the people who use the existing system every day! Encourage people to share their doubts, raise questions, challenge the decision, and brainstorm solutions!

This can be as simple as keeping notepads around for people to quickly jot down problems, doubts, questions and concerns as they arise, or hanging large sheets on the walls for people to write their questions and frustrations. Establish a process for reviewing these comments on a daily or at least weekly basis. Don't skimp on the feedback when questions are raise; the doubts and concerns must be clearly addressed … and in a timely way. If you don't know, then tell people you simply don't know … and let them know when you'll get back to them with more information.

Reality Checks - Even transformational change occurs in some type of steps. Most change occurs in smaller increments. Knowing the progress steps and doing some reality testing will allow people to develop their self-efficacy and see that yes, the change will work. This leads to comfort and security.

People gain courage by taking one step, checking their progress, seeing their success, and then taking the next step. Be realistic and don't make the steps too large at first. Document your progress, and mark the milestones for review (or simply to reassure people that progress is being made!). Are people watching for early warning signs of trouble? Small problems are much easier to deal with than waiting until they're too large to handle.

Are communication channels to leaders open for all employees? During periods of significant change, managers and especially senior leaders must be seen walking around ... talk with people, collect their ideas, and get feedback. Host weekly small group lunches or breakfasts where people can sit down informally with key leaders to raise problems or questions. Meet daily for 15 minutes with your work group to see what has gone well and what needs help. And keep those loops open for continuous reality checking.

Provide Feedback & Recognition - As time goes on, how well are people meeting the new expectations? More importantly, do they know how they are doing? For organizational learning and continuous improvement to occur, both formal and informal feedback systems must be present.

Make sure people aren't somehow being punished for doing the right things, or rewarded for doing things wrong. Legitimize people's ambivalence about change … it's normal for people to be both anxious and exhilarated, and anxiety does not mean people are being resistant. Publicly recognize the challenges people are facing and the contributions and progress they are making. Then celebrate … even the small milestones!

Take Quality Action - A change is only as good as the quality actions and resources that support it. Do people have a chance to "try out" the change? Has there been some rehearsal before risk-taking? Can pilot tests be completed before involving a larger part of the system? Can people practice the new actions through role plays, simulations, or visualization? Are systems or task forces in place to frequently (formally and informally) review the change implementation, to revise, and to help people get the resources they need to make change work?

Taking quality action doesn't demand a great investment in scarce funds ... but it does demand an ability and willingness to pause now and then, to think critically about what is taking place, and giving people the chance to try out a new way of being or of conducting work.

Sustain Change - It's tough to keep the momentum going once the motivational speaker has left and people have trudged through weeks of trial and error and more trial. Put procedures in place to review progress and give feedback to people. Set up temporary voluntary task forces to assess progress and help smooth out the bumps in the road. It doesn't have to be elaborate ... it could be a formal learning team in each department or simply that 15 minute start-of-the-day gathering where each person talks about what went well the previous day, what made things difficult, and what would help them be most effective today.

Remember to document and evaluate progress regularly, and be sure that report mechanisms are in place. Know the criteria for progress and for success, then celebrate and make some noise! Focus on what's going well, and ways to make "going well" the norm. Make plans for the continued development of your internal change agents. Better yet, develop the systems so each person is a change agent, authorized with the knowledge, power, and resources to be successful! Finally, connect with external sources for support to help the organization maintain energy and excitement, and for an outsider's view of the progress.

Some organizational change has minimal impact on people (changes that do not alter the rights, responsibilities and rewards of all groups). Other change will have a potentially severe impact (those that systematically restructure people's power, roles, rights, rewards). Use a systems perspective and attend not simply to the change itself but also to how you facilitate and support change. In this way you can cultivate a social system for change that results in a remarkable level of commitment, spirit and energy to make change work!

Create a Culture of Growth - Enduring and sustainable positive change only results when systems are changed. I like to refer to this as second-order change. First-order change is simply when surface level policies and procedures change and is usually short term and induces minimal positive impact. Second-order change, on the other hand, creates long-term sustainable growth that changes how and why things are done, not just what is done.

When groups of people are engaged and mutually embrace change, it is very possible to create what we refer to as a culture of growth. In modern days, one of the greatest examples of this being created on a large-scale is the provider of iPods, iPhones, iPads, and a variety of other popular high-tech products. Apple Inc. has always been at the forefront of innovation. They have been dubbed the "Kings of Creative" by those in the business world. Most would attribute that driving success to the mind of Steve Jobs, one of the original founders. His iconic presence for the company has created the constant expectation, "I wonder what Apple will do next?"

From computers, to media players, to phones - Apple is absolutely unrivaled for their ingenuity and vision. What Apple has succeeded at doing best however, is building the foundation for all of that innovation which comes from their culture of growth. People consider it one of the "coolest" places to work. Do you think that when Apple came out with the latest and greatest iPod, and then set out to work on the latest and greatest iPhone, that their employees said, "What? We're changing? We just created that ... can't we just see how this goes for a while?" Apple has created the ultimate culture of growth from top to bottom. It affects everything they do, and is the underlying reason for their continued success.

Maximizing change is more that capitalizing on new growth platforms. It is about creating positive change for the organization, its employees, and customers. If implemented with structure and precision, change can maximize the potential of people and organizations.

No Matter What ... These Rules are Simply Common Sense

2010-12-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

What is common sense?

"Common sense" is: common among people -- most of us have it because it is something we are born with.

It is common sense not to stare straight into the sun as your eyes will hurt (sense of pain is innate).  It is common sense not to pet the lion as he will eat you (based on learned information).

Common Sense ... either you've got it or you don't. Ever meet a person that lacks all forms of common sense? Well, it can be a little frustrating, right? On the flip-side, I bet you love being around people that have common sense. Here is a quick list of no-brainer rules of common sense that will help. Share with all :-)

If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else, get permission to use it.
If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.

10 Simple Steps to Get Noticed in 2011 and Make More Money

2010-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

1. Always be a part of the solution! People always fall into one of two categories: Either they are part of the solutions in their organization, or they are part of the problem! Choose everyday which side of this fence you are on and stay there. Staying out of problems might be something as simple as not getting caught up in the drama at work, supporting a new initiative, or even something as simple as not complaining about a trivial issue.

2. Look for ways to use your strengths and natural abilities. Ask for additional responsibility but don't expect a raise when you take on the additional work. This will come later. More than any other thing, most bosses want and need people that they can count on. By taking on additional projects that capitalize on your strengths, you become viewed as a person that can get things done. By helping out and reducing your bosses work load you will get noticed at work.

3. Never ever say "not my job." I always find it amazing the generally the lowest person in the organization is the first one to say "not my job". I have never ever said that in my entire career. If your boss asked you to do it, it is your job and you need to figure out a way to get it done. At least 90% of job duties fall into the “other duties as assigned” category. Step up and get er’ done.

4. Try to make your bosses life easier. Bosses usually have a million deadlines and if they can count on you, then they will generally take care of you when it comes time to handing out raises and promotions. Look for ways to lighten their load. If you promise something to your boss, make sure you deliver!

5. Speaking of promises, under promise and over deliver! A key aspect to making your life successful at work is to deliver on your promises. In order to successfully do this under promise and over deliver on a consistent basis. Being positively surprised is great for your boss!

6. Meet all your deadlines. Don't be late for any deadlines – no matter what. If you are worried about missing a deadline, be extremely detailed in your updates so that there are NEVER any surprises. If your boss has to remind you about deadlines you will come across as very unprofessional.

7. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn once in a while, but ALWAYS be professional about it. It is important to point out the things that you have accomplished. You have to be careful how you do this. Don’t go around bragging and rubbing your accomplishments in others’ noses. However, there is nothing wrong with running your ideas by your boss and other important managers in your company.

8. Become an expert. When you become an expert you become invaluable to your organization. Learn more on a particular topic then anyone else. Be a problem solver. Be the “go-to person” that others rely on for the correct answers.

9. Volunteer. Sign up for special projects, committees and other assignments. Step up and lead the way. Make your face known throughout your organization. I sometimes think of some people as being “faceless” in their organizations. This is usually because they never step up and take part.

10. Be clear about who you are. Focus on standing for something. Like the song says, “You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.” Develop a clear personal brand that identifies who you are, what you stand for, and what you offer your company in clear measurable value. You cant market yourself, unless you know what you are really marketing.

Look for these opportunities to stand tall and you will begin to get noticed more and more. Along with being noticed, more doors will be opened and more success will be the result!

Simple Guide to a Great Tagline

2010-12-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

It's short and easy to remember. A tagline must say something about your company but not everything. If it's too long, people can't remember it. It will be a challenge, but boil your tagline down to its essential core message.

It conveys what's special about you. This is perhaps the most important element of a good tagline--it helps customers know how to distinguish you from competitors. If you serve a specific or niche market, you can focus your tagline on that. Remember, a tagline doesn't have to be memorable to everyone to be effective--just those you want as customers.

It conveys something you want potential customers to remember or feel. When a tagline succeeds in conveying a feeling, it strengthens the emotional bond between you and your customers.

You use it repeatedly and prominently. Naturally, you should use your tagline on all your marketing materials, throughout your website, and in every bit of advertising you do. Don't forget to put it on your business cards and use it as a tagline at the bottom of every e-mail in your "signature."

Examples of Strategic Taglines
Tagline	Strategic Use
Since 1904	Brand Credential
HR Consulting	Brand Service
Just Do It	Brand Emotion
Think Different	Brand Personality
Overnight Delivery	Brand Service
Breakfast of Champions	Brand Association
Good to the Last Drop	Brand Quality
Ultimate Driving Machine	Brand Message

We mentioned earlier a few characteristics of great taglines. Now, let’s review a quick checklist. As you develop your tagline, stay within these guidelines:

1. Is it impactful? A powerful tagline must be unique, original and bold. It must deliver a promise or set a tone for your brand. And it must do it quickly; we suggest no more than six or seven words.

2. Does it have sticking power?  In other words is it memorable. Your tagline must be relevant and has to resonate in the minds of your customers and prospects.

3. Is it easy to say?  If it’s hard to say, no one will say it. Not only must it roll off the tongue but it should be simple.

4. Does it communicate your brand benefit?  Not benefits, but the single, most powerful benefit of your brand—what we call your “brand essence.”

5. Does it move you forward?  A strong tagline not only reflects your brand’s “here and now,” but it should also reflect your future strategic direction.

Take a close look at your current tagline. Now compare it to your brand identity and ask yourself these five questions for creating a powerful company tagline. If it passes the test, congratulations! If it falls short, you have some work to do.

Building Brand Equity - Where to Begin

2010-12-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

Companies oftentimes lack a brand identity that is meaningful and clear. When this occurs, the company’s ability to engage their employees and consumers is minimized.

People don’t feel a connection to your product or service if your brand is weak. In today’s marketplace, branding is critical because of the high intensity of competition.

Building a brand (branding) is shorthand for building brand equity. Brands are the stories that unite us all in a common purpose within an organization, and connect us with the people we serve on the outside. Webster defines a brand as a mark or an image that signifies ownership. Identity is a sense of self and sameness. Think about this … an image of ownership that represents sameness. When was the last time you felt a connection to the driver next to you that was driving your same kind of car? You pull up to a stoplight, glance over at an identical car and you think “hey buddy wassup?” Right? How about the person wearing a ball cap of your favorite team? Branding is all around us. The clothes you wear, the car you drive, the food you eat, the color of your house, the name of your business, etc. etc. Some products and their brands change all the time (i.e. personal computers), while others seem timeless (Jack Daniels, the famous Tennessee whiskey). If you are not selling a timeless classic, make sure that you are managing your brand to adapt to the changing times and styles of your consumers.

Defining your mark and stating your identity to the world is critical for your success! Stand out to the world and leave your mark. Branding is your promise of value to the world. Look at this quick example of your choice when it comes to choosing a “chocolate-flavored cereal”:


Rik Rok Choco Crack	Cocoa Puffs

Which of these brands is more recognizable? Probably an easy choice for most. These same simple decisions are made every day by consumers. Most purchasing decisions are made at a sub-conscious level leading us to understand that your brand is even that much more important. You have got to leave an impression or you will quickly be forgotten!

How about a look at a service, rather than a product. The point is we make purchasing decisions all the time. Decisions are made based on the power of brand and your promise of value. Which of the following companies would you be more willing to have come into your home to clean your carpets – just based on their brand identity?


Red Dog Carpet Cleaning	Beyond Clean Carpet Care

Do you really want Red Dogs coming in to clean your carpet? Or would you prefer to have the clean and fresh result that Beyond Clean promises by way of their logo?

Common Branding Pitfalls:

Not knowing who you really are.
Relying on trends (ie. Y2K Cleaners, Y2K T-shirt.
Allowing your brand to stagnate by simply ignoring its management.
Misunderstanding of branding. You can’t have a great brand if you don’t understand what branding is.
Using low quality images. If your logo is pixelated, you’re done!
Using stock photos of people. It is likely that your visual of one of your doctors is also a contractor for a local home-builder.
Designing your brand to be in line with your personal preferences rather than thinking of your consumers.
Mixed messaging. Watch out for risqué, undesirable interpretations, or any kind of innuendo.
Not asking for help when you need it. A do-it-yourself logo is probably not going to be a big hit.

Achieving business alignment with your company brand

2010-11-30T20:05:00.001-08:00

Fundamental Branding Process:

Brand Leadership Development - conduct customized training summits across your organization to show your managers how to lead by example around what your company brand stands for.
Employee Engagement - develop an internal branding program, which engages your employees to understand and commit to your brand, whereby individual behaviors reflect what you seek to stand for.
Operating Process Alignment - we will work with your team to identify, assess and align critical operating procedures that act as brand touchpoints between your company and your customers.
Internal Communications Program - develop an internal communication program to raise employee awareness and create a consistent understanding of your brand.

Fundamental Branding Creates Measurable Business Outcomes:

Customers receive consistent levels of service - brand promise delivered
Improved customer loyalty
Empowered teams leading by example ‘living and breathing’ the brand
Collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing
Increased employee engagement, loyalty, and commitment
Consistent brand messages and experience
Internal and external brand advocates
Your company brand is owned by all departments not just your marketing department!
Sustained business growth

The most effective branding processes are developed as a strategic partnership between the client, the strategist, and the designer. The Fundamental Growth, Inc. team provides you with the strategist and the designer for a winning brand identity!

Naming Your Business

2010-11-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

Choosing a name for your business carries a slew of possibilities … or repercussions. On one level, you certainly don't want a name that's offensive. The proprietors of Pen Island thought their name merely reflected the edgy quality of their writing products and office supplies, only to confront an obvious brand conflict. Similarly, I recently worked with a client in rebranding their business Odle Management Group, commonly referred to simply as "OMG." Try a Google search of OMG and you will get nearly 60M hits, none of which on the first 20 or so pages have anything to do with my client. We rebranded the company as Odle Management, erased any brand artifacts referencing OMG, and relocated them on the web. OK, so now that I hijacked your brain thinking about the alternative meaning of Pen Island, let's get serious and talk about the importance of naming your company!

Getting your business name right is more than just finding words that you think customers will connect to. Your name can be the core of your brand identity. Here's a seven-point fundamental primer to help you choose the best name possible:

1. Make the name meaningful. 
Since the name is often the first thing someone knows about your business, consider it an important marketing tool. Avoid vague names by thinking about the key focus of your business. Pat's Carpentry Services is more descriptive than ABC Industries. Some people, especially artists and designers, like to include their first or last names in their business names. This can help personalize your product or service, and it is easier to avoid conflicts with a business name that includes your personal name.

2. Make sure the name is easy to understand and pronounce. 
Because you want your business name to be passed along easily by word-of-mouth, make sure it is easy to understand and repeat. Those with unusual names know this can present a challenge but can also provide for a memorable business name, once people have it in their minds. Also, shorter names are usually more memorable and less likely to be sources of confusion.

3. Choose a name that you can live and grow with. 
Be forward-thinking in your choice of a business name, so it can expand as you do. The name Anytown VCR Repair can limit a business that wants to expand to include DVD players, camcorders, or other electronics equipment. Choose a name that is broad enough to give your business growing room and narrow enough to retain the power to communicate its focus. Also, make sure the name will outlast current fads or trends. What will happen to Jan's Y2K Clothing Design in 5-10 years? It's likely that “Y2K” will either have changed meanings or will, at a minimum, sound hopelessly dated (probably on Jan 1st 2001).

4. Make it unique.  As a sole proprietor, you'll be required to file legal forms indicating your business intent and the fictitious name you've chosen. Your name must also be unique, since two businesses in the same geographic area cannot legally operate under the same name. It's a good idea to prepare a list of three or four alternate business names when you go to file, in case your first choice is taken.

5. Try it on for size.  In choosing a business name, jot down a list of possibilities and try them out on friends and family. Don't rush the process. Live with each possibility for a while. Remember, you'll probably be using this name for quite some time.

6. Does it work in print?  Remember that your business name must also look good in print, because that's the way most prospects and customers will encounter it first. Write your name out several ways, and also experiment with how it looks in different sizes and type fonts. Is it easy to spell? Also, a name that comes earlier in the alphabet is always a plus since many listings are alphabetical (take it from someone who has battled being a "W" of Working Solo for more than a decade!). Although the phonebook is going out of style quickly, it is still in use especially for local service industry businesses.

7. Turn to designers for a professional-looking logo.  When it comes time to put your business name in print, turn to professionals to create your logo and letterhead. These days, you can achieve very polished results even if you have a modest budget. This is an area where it really pays to
hire a professional. Unless you're a graphic designer, don't take the chance of having a "home-made" look. It will pay off in the professionalism you will be able to achieve right out of the starting gate. Don’t cut corners here. Over the years, I have seen many poorly designed logos and some that just make no common sense.

Naming a business is no easy task. Be careful to think this through. Follow a proven process! Choose a name that you connect to and that others will connect to as well. Choose a name that will provide a good image and will communicate your business purpose clearly. Also, make sure you like it. After all, you'll be spending a lot of time with this baby. By selecting wisely, you'll make your business name a valuable company asset, and a phrase you'll say with pride for many years to come.

Customer Service at 30,000 Feet

2010-11-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have flown more than a million miles in my lifetime. I have flown on several different airlines in many continents. All my experience as a customer of several different airlines has taught me that you don't always get top-notch service from the airlines. I admit to feeling more than just a little slighted overall in my experience with the airlines. Today I discovered why this might be ... I am a Platinum Medallion flyer with Delta and they are the worst! This isn't so much a matter of my opinion as it is a matter of fact reported by a recent poll.

Delta Airlines Automated Customer Service
Based on the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) Report, which covers 18 domestic carriers, here is a list of the airlines that could stand to do the most work on making their customers happy. The report's conclusions are based on surveys of airline industry experts, with positive and negative values assigned to different elements in airline quality. Several common complaint areas were factored in -- including on-time arrival, mishandled baggage, delays and involuntary denied boardings -- the scores of which were then calculated to produce an overall quality score. They took a look at a number of other sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and the Air Travel Consumer Reports by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Regional airlines are ranked separately because of their tendency to score lower.

Delta had the worst AQR among major airlines with a -1.73, and a couple of its regional airlines did even worse (see Comair and Atlantic Southeast below). It also had the largest drop in passenger satisfaction in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. According to the Air Travel Consumer Reports, Delta was number one in delays for major airlines (78 percent of flights arriving on time in the 12-month period ending August 2010) and first in consumer complaints (averaging 2.23 per 100,000 enplanements in 2010). Also, make sure to note Delta's baggage fees below, as they can get quite painful for those hauling heavy and/or large cargo.

Domestic Baggage Fees:

1st Bag: $25 ($23 if checked online)
2nd Bag: $35 ($32 if checked online)
3rd Bag: $125
Overweight Bags: $90 (51 - 70 lbs) $175 (71 - 100 lbs)
Oversized Bags: $175 (larger than 63 - 80") $300 (larger than 81 - 115")

So, why in the world do I travel on Delta Airlines? ... may have something to do with the location of their hubs and my typical travel agendas. But I must say ... this survey makes me question why I stand for the nonsense and occasional poor customer service that I encounter - mostly from flight attendants.

Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight
... apparently neither is good customer service!

I love it when flight attendants can introduce some humor into the whole experience. It isn't all about the humor, but it is about having an engaging experience. You've probably all had a flight attendant or two that was trying too hard to be funny and ended up annoying the hell out of you. Not good either right? In fact, Southwest Airlines (considered to be full of funny employees) was the fourth rated company - not the top.

Customers want to feel attended to, want their needs met, want to feel like their patronage is appreciated, and want to get to their destination with as little stress, inconvenience, and discomfort as possible. Airlines need to reevaluate their systems, policies, and expectations of employees as related to customer service. #1 on the list - Hawaiian Airlines with a AQR of -0.40, meaning that they are meeting the wants and needs of their customers.

Top 5 Performers:

1. Hawaiian Airlines
2. AirTran
3. JetBlue
4. Southwest
5. Continental

Oddly enough, Delta's new slogan is "Not just bigger - Better!". OK Delta, nice job with your branding, but remember that one of the most critical components of your brand identity is to put your words into action and have those words come from your customers, rather from your marketing department. Words are cheap. Let this statement dominate the customer experience.

Is your organization struggling because of bad communication?

2010-11-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

Communication is oftentimes blamed as the culprit for faltering teamwork. Better said, the lack of communication is oftentimes labeled "the culprit." I am sure you can think of a time at your place of work when communication was seen as the problem, when in fact it was just one part of a more serious and more difficult underlying issue.

For example, you might hear people say, “We have a major communication issue.” Upon further investigation you discover that nobody trusts the boss or that a new policy that was just implemented is causing a decrease in sales. Oddly, neither one of these issues is really a “communication issue,” yet both could easily be labeled as such.

So aside from all the "hoohaw" about this topic, what is a real communication issue? What is at the heart of good communication? Usually issues come to the surface as people are left out of the loop or people lack commitment to working with others or supporting others’ needs in their organization.

Commit yourself to the following and you will be perceived as a great communicator in your organization.

Be open, clear, and honest.
Be real with people. Tell the truth and don’t sugar coat situations.
Assume good intent in others. Be positive with others and focus on what’s right.
Keep people informed. Wherever you fall in the chain of command, keep people in the loop. Communicate upwards and downwards, left and right. The more people know, the less people will have to invent stories.
Avoid all drama. That’s right I said it – drama! Stay out of the gossip in your organization. If there are chats taking place around the water cooler, don’t approach with your ears and interest keenly on point. Stay out of it! Drama, rumors, and gossip are completely destructive to the well-being of an organization and specifically destructive to teamwork.

Take these tips and share them with your coworkers. Ask yourselves where you are falling short and where you are succeeding with communication. Commit yourself to excellent communication and hold your standards high as an organization!

How do you build relationships of trust in your organization?

2010-10-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Consider This:

Do you nurture relationships of trust in your organization?
Do people say they trust others and still secretly betray?
What are the keys to developing relationships of trust?
What would your organization be like if relationships of trust between employees were strengthened?

To first understand the need for the right people lets define what it is.

Relationship – “an emotional or other connection between people”
Trust – “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence”

Trust is the foundation of all successful interpersonal relationships, both personal and business. Trust is the confidence or belief a person feels toward a particular person or group. Trust is, therefore, one of the primary binding forces in any interpersonal relationship. It permits people to overcome doubts and unknowns and enjoy peace of mind. The absence of trust causes confusion, worry, inaction, and fear. When interpersonal trust is present, a person feels a confidence that everything will somehow work out.

In the workplace, trust is a prerequisite for effective interpersonal communications. Without trust, employees may feel uncertainty, worry, and a sense of insecurity. No relationship, personal or business, can exist for even a short period of time if some element of trust is not present. Trust is an essential leadership ingredient that binds any human relationship into an effective, working partnership.

Even though trust is fundamental to human relationships, it is actually misunderstood by many people. People use trust, or the lack of it, to explain good and bad relationships with others. Consider the cliché phrases: "Don’t worry, you can trust me" and "Just trust me." Trust has become both a buzzword and an excuse in our society. Trust is as much abused as it is used in today’s business world. It is used to define and explain; yet few leadership training programs have seriously considered what it is and what it is not.

We are just beginning to learn how trust really works. Research suggests that trusting relationships are predictable, caring, and faithful. When a manager’s behavior is consistent over a period of time and another person can reasonably predict that behavior, trust is possible. By contrast, it is difficult to trust a person whose actions are inconsistent or unpredictable.

Caring in a relationship involves actions that express consideration toward the other person. Through effective leadership training, a caring supervisor knows when final exams are scheduled at the local college and asks employees who will be taking the tests how much time off will be needed to study. A caring supervisor finds out about a birth, death, anniversary, graduation, or sickness and sends a card to the employee’s home.

Faith is the belief that an employee’s behavior will be in direct response to the trust placed in that relationship. Faith can be demonstrated by communicating clear expectations and then telling the employee, "I know you and I believe you can accomplish this assignment." Managers who have difficulty demonstrating faith in others typically have difficulty trusting them as well. Trust as a leadership training component can help change this.

Building trust in the workplace is vital for a long-lasting, satisfying, rewarding, and successful relationship. Leadership training helps effective managers practice behaviors that promote and build trusting relationships. They learn to do this with consistent actions each day. In return they obtain the benefits of high-trust employee relations. These benefits include higher morale, increased initiative, improved honesty, and better productivity. All are important aspects of a profitable and rewarding business experience.

It’s not uncommon for people to use the word "trust" to describe a feeling they have regarding some interpersonal relationships. Trust does not magically appear in a relationship without certain elements preceding it over time. And once trust has been breeched it is difficult and sometimes impossible to establish once again.

Three steps pave the path before enduring trust begins. The first step is effective communications. When we communicate effectively with another person we have an opportunity to move that relationship to the second step, which is real understanding. That is when two people have communicated to the point of honest and deep understanding. This can lead to the third step in the relationship of mutual respect. A respecting relationship demands that each person contribute enough respect that it can be reciprocated back from the other person. Unilateral respect in relationships is temporary and superficial. Mutual respect that can lead to trust is much deeper and must come from communicated understanding. Once a relationship has experienced mutual respect it is possible for the participants to experience enduring relational trust. This is a feeling that binds people together over time and through trials.

The four steps are dependent upon the actions or integrity of the individuals involved. Integrity is not only keeping agreements, but it is also "walking the talk." If, for example, a person communicates deceitfully, how much understanding will there be? And how much respect will the other person have? Ultimately trust will be lacking.

Enduring trust is a leadership training process that takes time and effort. It is clearly the essence of what fuels meaningful relationships. The best way to improve the trust in your workplace is to measure it and understand what is building trust and what is tearing it down.

Test your Trust

Answer the following five statements on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not true and 5 is completely true.

1. My actions each day demonstrate that I trust my employees.

2. My employees can trust me with sensitive or private information.

3. I would never betray a trust with an employee.

4. I keep confidences and would never share confidential information inappropriately.

5. I am able to trust my employees.

Tally your scores from the five items. A total score of 20 to 25 would indicate that you and your employees probably share an atmosphere of trust. A score of 15-19 would indicate that trust is present, but not in abundance. A score of 14 or less probably means that some additional leadership training efforts in building trust would be appropriate.

3 Simple Steps to Increase Employee Engagement

2010-10-13T22:33:00.001-07:00

Employee Engagement is the reciprocal relationship between the employee and employer. It is the sure way to maximize the potential of your workforce.

What can you do to get staff more engaged?

Unfortunately there is no magic wand that creates instant engagement. However, there are certain actions and standards that will engage your workforce and build success into your organization. The quality of, and investment made, in each of these steps will demonstrate your credibility and determine your success.

1. Create an Employment Brand Strategy

This is an image of the organization as seen through the eyes of the employee and potential employees. The brand allows an employee or applicant to connect to the organization and encourages pride. This should not be a one-size-fits-all model because your organization and employees are diverse. It is important to connect all employees to some facet of the organization. Branding is more than logos and other cultural artifacts, it is the very identity of the organization along with the emotional experience of being a part of the organization, hence the common usage of the complete term “Employee Emotional Engagement.”

Standards and norms play a huge role in shaping the levels of engagement. For instance, if your organization allows screaming, yelling, and cussing, these behaviors become part of your brand identity and play into the process of getting employees engaged or not. On the positive side of this point, if respectful, collaborative, and success oriented behaviors dominate the culture, your levels of employee engagement will benefit.

2. Align Engagement with the Company Vision

A roadmap for employee engagement begins with leaders articulating a clear vision of the company's direction and how each employee contributes to the success of the organization. Once this process is under way, continued executive and employee involvement and communication is key. Providing a clear idea for each employee how what they do on a day-to-day basis provides value to the big aspirations of the company will inspire employees to excel.

3. Provide a Culture Club to Oversee Engagement

Selecting a group of all-star employees to serve in a committee (culture club) to oversee engagement efforts will yield extraordinary results. This group should consist of employees that model engagement.

Employee engagement is about trust. Trust is a simple thing and is gained via consistent behavior over time. As you explore employee engagement, think about what it takes for you to develop trust with a person, process or organization. While you may have certain criteria for building trust, each trust-building circumstance is unique and built upon past experiences -- good and bad.

Employee engagement directly addressed issues surrounding employee commitment and contribution resulting in tangible financial benefits. And, an organization's credibility may be judged by the commitment made to this endeavor.

Contact me today to learn more about how to get your staff fully engaged!

Bailing Out Your Company at NO COST!

2010-08-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Disengaged Employees Cost $$$

Is our economy really tanked? Are we on a slippery slope to nowhere? Crazy questions! The better question is how can we overcome the economic woes that currently face our country? While many companies have downsized and right-sized, others are finding opportunity to work smarter in attempt to stay alive and continue to succeed.

What about the employees? How is morale these days at your place of employment? Never better? Never worse? It’s no surprise that recent employee polls are reporting severely diminished levels of engagement and loyalty. Having lost trust in their organizations, workers feel no need to reciprocate with innovation or long-standing loyalty. Even more disturbing is that the company’s most valuable employees — the all-star high potentials — are at the greatest risk for jumping ship.

What if you don’t have money to invest in an elaborate employee engagement initiative? Well, the good news is that you don’t really even need money to focus on the basic employee needs. In fact, effective organizational leadership is simple:

Have a vision of where you want to get to,
Clearly and persuasively communicate that vision to employees, and
Be consistent in your behaviors as you strive to achieve that vision.

Engaged Employees - A Company's Greatest Asset

Do this and your employees will follow. Fail and you will be out there on your own. Involve your people and value their input. Getting employees to give their best efforts toward the success of the business requires you, the business leader, to be clear and engage your employees. If times are tough and you are trying to invest in your workforce without breaking the bank, focus on these three elements of leadership and your people will respond with engagement and loyalty. Do nothing and you will be writing pink slip after pink slip until finally, the pink slip you are signing is your own.

Could it be any simpler?

Employee Engagement and a Shirt - Texas Roadhouse Grill

2010-08-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

Do these guys really love their job? This is what I asked tonight as I sat down for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse Grill in Evansville, Indiana.

As I first noticed the shirts, I thought that one of two things is likely going on:

1. Employees are feeling forced to wear a shirt that doesn’t reflect their true sentiment, and therefore are resentful toward the employer. Not exactly a good move by any employer, right. Or ...

2. Employees are engaged in their jobs and wear the shirt with pride because they, in fact, do love their jobs. In this case, the shirts might serve a great purpose in shaping employee engagement, culture, and even directly impact customer service.

Asking an employee to wear a shirt with such a definite message, such as “I love my job!” can be a huge risk for employers, unless they are also willing to invest in employee engagement. Employees that are engaged feel a profound connection to their job, are generally satisfied with their job, and are loyal to their job. An engaged employee is also likely to be a high-performer and positively benefit customer loyalty by providing excellent customer service.

So, what about these particular employees at the Texas Roadhouse Grill? Did they demonstrate employee engagement? Listen to the following interview with Clint (one of the waiters at the restaurant):

Notice the factors that Clint raises:

1. He loves his job

2. He loves the people that he works with

3. He loves the food

4. Everybody buys into this philosophy

5. Everybody always helps each other out

6. You don’t let one of your friends go down

7. If you need to, you pick up your coworkers

What a great real example of an engaged employee! You go Clint!

What started tonight as a curiosity in a shirt resulted in a brief discussion with an employee about the very essence of employee engagement: Feeling a profound connection to one’s job and giving your all to the job day in and day out. Why? Because your employer creates a work environment where you make a difference, have opportunities for growth, feel appreciated, and thrive in doing what you do best everyday! Clint's words are spot on perfect as to what we try to create in employees so that they find their job rewarding and contribute in great ways to the success of their organization.

So, Texas Roadhouse Grill … keep up the great work. I commend you for getting your employees engaged in their job! You should be very grateful for engaged employees like Clint. It is this type of employee that produces greatest results in profitability, productivity, customer loyalty, and staff retention. By the way, my sweet potato was scrumptious!

Personal Branding - Be the Expert!

2010-08-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Personal branding is projected to be the big craze in the marketing world. Personal branding will be the best way for you to secure a job in your industry, build your network, and further your career.

Human psychology truly fascinates me (maybe that's why I spent 11 years in college and graduate school studying it!) and it is amazing how easily the human mind can be influenced. The psychology behind human behavior as it pertains to brand selection can be both rudimentary and complicated at the same time. Let's focus on some creative ways to cast out a brand that sticks!

If you constantly introduce yourself as a business strategy expert and tell everyone that business strategy is your expertise, sooner or later, you’re going to establish yourself as the business strategy expert, just because you’ve been saying it. I find that truly fascinating!

It doesn’t matter if my material is good or bad; it doesn’t matter if the videos I make online make me look like a complete joke; if I keep repeating that I am an expert in a subject, then people will begin to believe it. People will begin to introduce me as, “This is Scott. He’s a business strategy expert.”

Don’t believe me? A friend conducted an experiment at his office and in 6 months, he was being introduced as, “This is Steve. He writes like Hemingway and is amazing at excel.” How was he able to accomplish this feat in just 6 months?

All he did was keep introducing himself as “Steve, the excel ninja who writes like Hemingway.” He just kept repeating that to everyone. Eventually, everyone was just brainwashed to think that Steve was amazing at excel and writes extraordinarily well. To Steve’s credit, the guy is a very good writer. But the point is that even a mediocre writer can just keep repeating to everyone that his expertise is writing and eventually people will start to believe it. So what? Why should you care?

The simple knowledge that the human brain tends to grasp onto and believe what it is told completely changes the game. If you understand this, then you can use all of the tools given to you to brand yourself as an expert in an easy and efficient manner.

This is the strategy to quickly brand yourself as whatever you like in as little as 6 months:

Use the About Me in All Social Media Networks

In the About Me section, write something along the lines of, “I am an expert in [insert expertise here].” Do this for every social network out there: Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumble, Mixx, and the list goes on. Now every time someone looks up your profile on one of these networks, they’ll quickly be reminded that you are an expert in a certain field. With consistency, you can position yourself as “the expert.”

Develop a Blog Specific to Your Brand

Start writing a blog about the topic that you want to be known for. If you want your personal brand to be “The expert in Interpreting Mayan Religious Hieroglyphs,” then start writing a blog about that topic. Furthermore, make sure the url is explicitly related to that topic. So in this case, your url would be mayanreligioushieroglyphs.com/blog or something along those lines because I’m sure that url is taken. :-)

The beauty is that you don’t even have to be an excellent writer. Just keep pushing content so that people are constantly reminded about your expertise. The less you write, the less people will think you know what you are talking about. Your message about being an expert becomes a pretty tough message to sell if there is no content out there from you.

Work on Your Sticky Introduction Tagline

So what is your personal tagline going to be? Take my colleague Jed as an example.

“Hi my name is Jed. I speak like Churchill and sing like Neil Diamond.” There is no way that you would ever forget that. Jed hands out his personal brand business cards that have a picture of himself along with his sticky tagline. This further solidifies his personal brand. By the way, Jed is one of the best public speakers I have ever seen and he truly does sing like Neil Diamond!

Now when the person gets home, Jed follows up with him and shoots him an email with his blog, twitter links, and YouTube video links showing him speaking like Churchill and singing like Neil Diamond. All the web exposure about Jed confirms the sticky tagline and solidifies Jed’s personal brand.

I promise you, the next time this person thinks about hiring a keynote speaker that has substance but also knows how to give a group a good time, they will think of Jed.

Get Personal Branding Business Cards

I personally think this is a little cheesy, but if you want an effective way to further brand yourself as an expert in a certain topic, then get business cards with your face on them that say you’re an expert in your field. So now when you introduce yourself to people, they’ll have a souvenir with your face on it that keeps repeating what your expertise is. They won’t be able to resist remembering you as “that guy who is an expert in [X].” ALWAYS put your tagline on your business card.

If you want to use a funny (but effective) guerrilla marketing technique then do this … take a sleeve of your business cards with you to the local library, head directly to the section that has books that pertain to your area of expertise and slide a business card into every one of the books in that section. Voila! There you will gain some targeted exposure! I did this and it was alomost funny when I got calls from people saying they had found a card in a book at the library!

The Viral Loop

As you keep branding yourself in this way, more and more people are going to know about you as the expert in your field. Use HARO to find people writing stories about your expertise and ask them to interview you or write a piece about you. As people start writing about you, you can leverage each new publication to get on bigger and bigger ones.

The point here is to be creative in cutting through the noise and standing out! Get others attracted to your brand. Make them want to connect with you and do business with you. Brand is nothing more than your promise of value to the world. What's your promise of value?

Building Brand through Great Employees

2010-08-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

Branding is much more than logos, marketing creatives, and good customer service. Great brands are built on the foundation of a great workforce.

Earlier this year, nearly two million people enjoyed a free Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast. Denny’s CEO Nelson Marchioli envisioned the one-day promotion, which offered up free breakfast to all of America, as “reacquainting America with the Denny’s brand.” What a great way to give first!

The promotion was hugely successful at getting people in the door to experience Denny’s again, or for the first time. But a promotion of this magnitude only succeeds if the experience Denny’s employees give those customers positively shapes their impression of the brand and gives them a reason to come back. Even a great breakfast for free can be spoiled if the interaction with employees is sour.

Employees have the power to either build up or break a brand’s promise of value every time they interact with a customer, shareholder or even another employee. Because of that, you can’t build and sustain a strong brand externally if you don’t start with your employees. Assure that employees are connected and committed to the vision of your brand and the type of service that the brand embraces. This way your brand will be reinforced through every customer / employee interaction.

Teamwork Begins with You

2010-08-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Teamwork begins with you! That’s right, you are the key to making your team come together and succeed! If every person in your organization took on this mentality …. WOW! Teamwork can be magical. Teamwork is a mindset, a way of thinking, a way of working. These simple strategies provide you with a recipe for creating team unity in your organization. Commit today to being a team player!

Focus On Strengths

Be a part of solutions in your organization. Focus on that which is right. Those that focus on what’s wrong usually are not the ones that add value to your organization. These people waste all their energy on complaining and bickering. Stay positive and offer up your very best!

Reach out to discover the strengths of others. Focus on others’ strengths and help them to maximize their natural abilities. Part of being a great team player is your ability to focus on the strengths of others and not nit-pick their deficiencies. As you do this for others, they will return the favor and focus on your strengths.

Find ways to partner with others in your organization in a complementary way. Thank goodness everyone does not have the exact same skillset. Find ways to provide assistance to others in ways that bring out the full benefit of your strengths. If you have specific skills that others lack, help them by filling those gaps. For instance, if you are pretty sharp with Excel spreadsheets, a skill that others in your department lack, step up and provide that assistance any chance possible.

Look for ways that your strengths can be further developed. Not always are we able to do what we do best everyday all day long. However, look for ways to strategically position yourself to be able to do what you do best most of the time.

Common Vision

Identifying and communicating a clear vision is one of the most important assets of any organization. A vision is a mental image of the future of the business. The vision defines who and what the business is, why it exists, and where it is going in the grand scheme of things. In order to understand or identify your organization’s vision, you must define:

Your business’s fundamental reason for existence beyond just making money
The timeless, unchanging core values of the business
The “big picture” aspirations for the future of the business
What drives your passion for doing what you do as an organization

Discover for yourself what the vision is for your organization and how your role in the company plays into this vision.

A shared vision exists when every person in the organization accepts the vision, understands the vision, takes ownership of the vision, and most importantly aligns their behavior with the vision. Be sure to add value to this vision and be a part of the big picture in your organization.

Equality

In any social relationship, people are monitoring the checks and balances – what they give versus what they receive. This is also common in the workplace; we monitor relationships just as we do outside of work.

Make sure that all you do contributes to the strength of your team. Add value every chance you get. Share the workload fairly. Volunteer to take on your fair share of the work and be the one that is willing to step up your contributions. Make teamwork the norm. Sometimes “doing the minimal” is the norm and people become bitter when their perception is that they are doing more than everyone else. When you have multiple people being careful to not do more than their fair share, you have got a big problem! Change these norms by embracing a sense of full collaboration, helping, and good hard work. See your coworkers as equals and do all you can do to provide them with any assistance that is needed.

The beauty of this kind of work is that real relationships are reciprocal. What you get out of a relationship is proportionate to what you give to it. If you abide by this simple rule, you will win more times than not in workplace relationships and teamwork. Give first always and don’t measure what comes back! This is a simple rule, but one that has dramatic positive rewards.

If you embrace this as your norm in life, you will be amazed at the rewards to relationships at work and in your personal life.

Trust & Openness

Building trust in your organization is no simple task, nor is there a secret recipe for creating trust. However, there is a secret first step to creating trust. This secret step is to be willing to trust others. Anytime “Watch your back!” is commonly stated in an organization, the lack of trust is inevitable. You’ve got to transition the norm to commonly stating, “I’ve got your back!”

Like any kind of phenomena in relationships, you get what you give. So if you want to be trusted, you’ve got to be trustworthy. Similarly, if you want to have a lot of friends, you’ve got to be friendly! Not rocket science, right? So, commit yourself to being trustworthy. If you commit to having a project completed by a certain time, or if you promise to cover a shift for a coworker etc. Just do it! Do what you say you’re going to do! Trust will be destroyed if people talk the talk of teamwork, but are unwilling to walk the walk.

Express your dependency to your coworkers. Let them know that they can count on you and that you need to count on their support. Expressions of trust and confidence such as this can open up opportunities for trust building.

Acceptance of Differences

Diversity in the workplace is oftentimes brought up in reference to differences of race, gender, religious, or other aspects of one’s ethnic definitions. But think about this, you could have two people with a long list of ethnic descriptors (i.e. – African American, female, Christian, married with three children, each with a household income of $75k per year), yet these two individuals have very distinct ways of thinking and behaving. Diversity comes down to thinking differently.

Diversity in the workplace has always been present and will forever be present in our world. We are fortunate to get to work with people that think different from ourselves. Recognize this as a strength to your organization and to yourself personally. Learn from others’ differences. Be willing to accept others’ ways of thinking. Narrow minded people think their way is the only way. Don’t fall into this trap! Just as you want to be yourself at work, let others be themselves as well and celebrate your differences.

Great organizations look within for innovations and solutions to difficult market conditions. This is obviously a great practice, and one that is underutilized. Seeking new ideas from your team will give them a voice, empower their opinions, and engage them in the building up of the company and its objectives.

If your organization has such a program, participate! You have ideas, but they are worthless if you don’t share them openly and in a structured way so that the “higher-ups” can catch wind of your brilliance.

Communication

Communication is oftentimes blamed as the culprit for faltering teamwork. Better said, the lack of communication is oftentimes labeled the culprit. You know what’s kind of strange, but I am sure you can think of a time that this has occurred in your workplace … Communication is oftentimes blamed, although it is just part of the more serious and more difficult underlying issue. For example, you might hear people say, “We have a major communication issue.” Upon further investigation you discover that nobody trusts the boss or that a new policy that was just implemented is causing a decrease in sales. Oddly, neither one of these issues is really a “communication issue,” yet both could easily be labeled as such.

So aside from all the "hoohaw" about this topic, what is a real communication issue? What is at the heart of good communication? Commit yourself to the following and you will be perceived as a great communicator in your organization. 1) Be open, clear, and honest. Be real with people. Tell the truth and don’t sugar coat situations. 2) Assume good intent in others. Be positive with others and focus on what’s right. Communicate about what’s right. 3) Keep people informed. Wherever you fall in the chain of command, keep people in the loop. Communicate upwards and downwards, left and right. The more people know, the less people will have to invent stories about. 4) Avoid all drama. That’s right I said it – drama! Stay out of the gossip in your organization. If there are chats taking place around the water cooler, don’t approach with your ears and interest keenly on point. Stay out of it! Drama, rumors, and gossip are completely destructive to the well-being of an organization and specifically destructive to teamwork.

Altruism

Lastly, embrace a spirit of altruism by demonstrating an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Selfishness pumping of one’s own ego has become way too common in the workplace. Build yourself up by making others look good. Put others’ needs first.

The power of team begins with you! You are the key. Model excellent team skills and you will see a dramatic transformation in your reputation and true character. Others will see you as a team player. They will follow your example and opportunities will be presented to you that will allow you to continue to achieve long-term success and sustainable personal growth.

10 Attitudes of Successful Workers

2010-08-08T00:52:00.000-07:00

Why do some people seem to reach the top of the corporate ladder easily, while others remain stuck on the middle-management rung? You might think that it is just because those people have more of what it takes to succeed, like brains, talent and powerful people in their corner. But there is something else that is just as important: attitude.

Dr. Martin Seligman, an authority on optimism, discovered that attitude was a better predictor of success than I.Q., education and most other factors. He found that positive people stay healthier, have better relationships and go further in their careers. And he even found that positive people make more money.

Anyone can adopt the right attitude. No matter where you are from or how much innate talent you have, the right attitude can make a difference in your career. Try adopting these 10 attitudes of successful workers:

1. I am in charge of my destiny.
If you spend your entire career waiting for something exciting to come to you, you will be waiting a long time. Successful professionals go out and make good things happen. So commit yourself to thinking about your career in an entirely different way. You will make it to the top, and you are in charge of making it happen.

2. Anything is possible.
Think that there is no way you will ever be at the vice-president level? Then you definitely won't. Remember: If you think you can't, you probably won't. Adopt the attitude of The Little Engine That Could -- "I think I can."

3. No task is too small to do well.
You never know when you are going to be noticed. That is one reason to take pride in your work -- all of it. One public relations executive in Chicago said that her first task in the PR department of a ballet company was reorganizing the supply closet. She tackled the project with gusto and was immediately noticed for her hard work and attention to detail. Remember this the next time you feel like slacking because you are working on a menial task.

4. Everyone is a potential key contact.
While you do need to be aggressive in the workplace, you can also go far by being nice to those around you. Do you think it's unimportant to establish a good rapport with your boss's secretary? Well, just try getting your meeting squeezed onto the schedule when you really need it. Be courteous to those around you -- you never know when your past contacts will play a role in your future.

5. I was made to do this job... and the one above me.
If you spend your days feeling like you are not cut out to do the work you are responsible for, your performance will suffer. Your job may not be the perfect fit, but successful workers act like they are in their dream job, no matter where they are.

6. It's not just what I know, but who I know.
Successful workers understand the importance of networking, both in and out of the office. You need to proactively establish professional contacts. Invite a colleague out to lunch. Go to the after-work happy hour. Join your professional association. Do your part to establish a networking path for your future.

7. What else can I do?
Since you are in charge of your destiny, it's your job to look for ways to improve your professional self. Volunteer to take on an extra project. Learn a new skill that will make you more marketable. Stay late to help your co-workers. Successful workers don't just complete the job and sign out -- they look for additional ways to make their mark.

8. Failure will help pave the way to my success.
While it seems like some people never experience setbacks, the truth is everyone fails from time to time. The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is how they deal with failure. Those who find success are the ones who learn from mistakes and move on.

9. I am my own biggest fan.
Have you been waiting for someone in the office to recognize your talents and efforts? Maybe it's time you start tooting your own horn. Step up and talk about your accomplishments and what you have done for the company. Successful workers know how to point out their achievements without sounding boastful.

10. My opportunity monitor is never turned off.
Yes, there will be days when you will want to just be happy with the status quo. But remember that successful workers are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve. Keep your eyes, ears and your mind open to new opportunities -- you never know when you will discover the one that will change the course of your career!