The Engaging Brand

3 Ways to Bore Your Audience Really Well

Just in case you are a vibrant leader who inspires people to believe in your dream, and cannot understand how to disengage people...

1. Ensure that there is no energy in the voice...keep it beautifully monotone. Helps people to sleep in the audience and catch up on the sleep that they missed out on last night. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
2. Keep asking mundane questions that add no value to the audience or the content. Great way of showing that you have not got a clue of what you want to say and are just filling in. Stops any confusion from people who may have thought you were knowledgeable...
3. Read straight from the small text on your slides...ensure that there are far too many words on each slide with no pictures. This ensures that people do not get tired out by writing notes on what you are saying...leaving them fresh for the party later.

When you are communicating as a leader, it is a way of refueling your team, refueling the ideas......your role is to create that spark, create that energy which will fuel the growth. Do you refuel people, or do you drain their emotional tank?

Lifting The Customer' Mood

I love it when I find those employees who are the real gems, the ones who love their job. I was at the AdTech conference this week and the conference was on the third floor - accessible only by the lift. In the lift was this wonderful lady, whose job all day was to move people between floors - I asked her "Do you get tired of being in the lift all day?"

She smiled and said "Why, would I? This role is truly about customer experience, I literally lift people up.....between floors but also by smiling and making sure that they feel ready for the conference...my job is not lift operator but make your day woman!"

Wow, that lady made my day...seeing someone who understand their role in the vision of the company....her role was not about the task..lift operator but about the vision of creating a customer experience...wonderful.

The Heart of an Employer Brand

I like to say that what brings a brand alive is ....Heart

H= Health. A heart needs to be looked after to keep strong and fight off internal disease....A business needs to look after the people to ensure that the internal disease of mediocrity does not hit....stretch them, exercise their minds, feed them a vision.
E= Emotional Intelligence. Leaders need to have more than core technical skills. Leadership is about leading people, people have emotions, so do you. Develop your ability to manage emotions - both inside of you and being aware of those around you.
A= Arteries and Veins. A heart needs blood flow...a business needs a flow of communication...in and out, up and down, side to side.
R= Rate. There needs to be a strong beat to inspire action, but also an understanding that the speed will need to change  - the need to slow to assess, the need to quicken to succeed.
T= Team Player. A heart is required but so are the rest of the organs...the heart feeds the oxygen, feeds the energy but as central as the heart is....the body would not function without all the parts. A leader is the heart, the employees the soul of the company.

A Leadership Tip From Marie Curie

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done."

Do you think Marie Curie was talking about leadership, about companies who don't engage with their people? Doubt it! But it is a wonderful insight into what makes your leadership, or your employer brand stand out from the crowd.

Take time to notice the progress, take time to thank people, take time to energise the team...If you were marketing a product you would thank customers throughspecials, deals, promotions, loyalty programs, so why not your employees who are the front line ambassadors of that brand?

Show #113 - The Leadership Brand Pt2

Show 113 of The Engaging Brand  podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, I have written some instructions at the bottom of this post. No downloads of software are necessary - if you are new to podcasts.

Today's show is the second part of the interview with Dave Ulrich - for many people the leading thinker/writer on leadership and people management. We discuss further, his new book The Leadership Brand . I discuss with him

• What are the core leadership qualities and what are the differentiating traits?
• How do you measure the effectiveness of leadership brands?
• How world leaders impact the business world.

Remember to hop over to The Engaging Brand facebook group - and add your thoughts to the conversation! If you enjoy the show then you can always Juice it at Blubrry! or review on iTunes

For other books from previous interviews and ones that I recommend, take a look at The Engaging Brand bookstore.

If you have feedback on the show or want to contribute to the new leadership tip section then record an audio message by clicking on the recorder on the side of the blog or e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the podcaster news page. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

4) Or if you don't want to subscribe, just want to listen to this show as a one off the go to the podcast page and click download to save to your computer.

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Baby Boomer Retirement - Problem or Opportunity?

I read regularly about the impending crisis when the baby boomer's retire, but I wonder whether it is a negative crisis or a positive chance for real change?

We talk about developing talent, we talk about collaboration, we talk about the use of technology, we talk about the wisdom of crowds....often though within many corporations this stops at just 'saying that words'. In many ways, people see it as turkey's voting for Christmas(UK!).

Well when change is slow, often it needs a crisis to make that change stick.

With the baby boomers due to retire, business leaders are faced with such a situation. The drain of experience, of talent will mean that both work and work practices will have to change. There will be no choice. When you can see that happening I would much rather design the future than wait to see what happens....

Businesses that change before the crisis will get an early lead in the search for talent. The great news for companies is that many social media tools exist to help this transition - wiki's as a way of holding on to knowledge and for collaboration.....podcasts as a modern communication and development  medium...blogging as a way of communication without the layers.

Change now...it is not turkeys voting for Christmas, it is the sign of a turkey as a manager if you don't!

Leaders Have Great Balance!

I love blogs, I love the internet, I love the ability to communicate.....the downside to all of this new technology is the overload of communication, of data. One aspect of leadership and indeed of companies, development in the future...will be the ability to

• Support people in finding the thinking time that we all need to digest the data.
• Find ways of bringing the relevant data to our consumers, our employees

Businesses that will succeed will develop core skills in

• Finding the right data
• Understanding the right data
• Explaining the implications of the data
• Allowing and encouraging people to think about the data

Leaders need great balance - the ability to balance the in and outflow of communication with the ability to create thinking time to allow the creativity of growth.

Podcast Show # 112 - The Leadership Brand

Show 112 of The Engaging Brand  podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, I have written some instructions at the bottom of this post. No downloads of software are necessary - if you are new to podcasts.

I am honoured and privileged to say that today's show is an interview with Dave Ulrich - for many people the leading thinker/writer on leadership and people management. I recently read his latest book, The Leadership Brand and was so captivated that I just had to invite him on to the show - and was amazed when he said "Of course"

This is the first part of the interview when we talk about

• What is the difference between leaders and leadership?
• The concept of building your brand from outside, in.
• The need to move from product-centric to service-centric
• The effect of collaboration via the web is having on our skills and our ability to making decisions.

Make sure that you subscribe to the show - see below - so that you don't miss a fantastic part 2. In the second part of the interview we discuss more about leadership and also global leadership.

Please note that there is a slight crackle on the line which comes and goes - I so wanted this to be perfect and did not hear it during the interview - I must have been engaged! But I don't believe it affects the listenability of the show....so sit back and enjoy!

For other books from previous interviews and ones that I recommend, take a look at The Engaging Brand bookstore.

Remember to hop over to The Engaging Brand facebook group - and add your thoughts to the conversation! If you enjoy the show then you can always Juice it at Blubrry! or review on iTunes

If you have feedback on the show or want to contribute to the new leadership tip section then record an audio message by clicking on the recorder on the side of the blog or e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the podcaster news page. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

4) Or if you don't want to subscribe, just want to listen to this show as a one off the go to the podcast page and click download to save to your computer.

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Trust is the Key to Pressure

One of my little stories....

When I was 19, I was faced with a 3ft putt to win the Yorkshire Ladies Golf Championship. I was the outsider, the underdog, I was not expected to win. I looked around the green and saw quite a crowd of people, it was scary! They looked tense, they knew that short putts were not my strength! I smiled, actually I laughed at the sight of friends and family showing on their faces, what I was feeling inside  - PRESSURE. Laughing helped me hugely as it relieved the pressure, it broke the tension but that is not what I want to explain. At that moment, I remembered what Dad had always told me.

"These are the times that you practice for, enjoy the moment and then focus....when under pressure in life know that this is when successful people stand up to be counted, they don't hide....they trust in their ability, in their knowledge.They don't fear failing, they fear not trying....replace that pressure with an inner ability to trust in yourself"

I knew the technique needed, I had "researched" the line, I knew what to do...it was just trusting my ability to deliver. The only thing that could prevent me from achieving my goal was me...the only thing that could stop me, was allowing pressure to affect my coordination. I holed that putt.

I went on to lead people and was faced with similar pressure decisions, similar potentially embarrassing "failures".....but I always remembered back to dad and that putt....key to pressure is putting trust in yourself, trust in your ability, trust in the work you have put in that means you DO KNOW what to do, trust in  - not fearing failure but fearing not trying...

Audio Show # 111 - The Brand Experience

Show 111 of The Engaging Brand  podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, I have written some instructions at the bottom of this post. No downloads of software are necessary - if you are new to podcasts.

Today's show is discussing how to create a customer experience that expresses your brand values. I talk with Shaun Smith a great speaker and author on this area. Shaun has written three books Uncommon Practice, Managing the Customer Experience and See,Feel,Think, Do. Uncommon practice is one of my favourite books, when you are looking for real life examples of how to bring your brand alive. Shaun speaks passionately on the need for clarity, the need to understand your customer requirements and how to align the organisation to the brand values. Shaun uses real life examples to illustrate how to achieve a brand experience with case studies - enjoy!

For other books from previous interviews and ones that I recommend, take a look at The Engaging Brand bookstore.

Remember to hop over to The Engaging Brand facebook group - and add your thoughts to the conversation! If you enjoy the show then you can always Juice it at Blubrry! or review on iTunes

If you have feedback on the show or want to contribute to the new leadership tip section then record an audio message by clicking on the recorder on the side of the blog or e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the podcaster news page. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

4) Or if you don't want to subscribe, just want to listen to this show as a one off the go to the podcast page and click download to save to your computer.

Message from Sponsor
“Online Meetings Made Easy with GoToMeeting Try it Free for 45 days use Promo Code Podcast”