The Engaging Brand

Your Talent is a Social Object

Hugh Macleod talks about social objects and I couldn't agree more...I think you can take this concept into the world of attraction and retention of talent. Do you give people good things to share about your talent, do you create a social object around your personal brand?

• Do you find ways of giving value to all the people you meet?
• Do you ask how you can provide value to the people you meet?
• Do you achieve your goals on time, on budget...on promise?
• Do you try and go beyond what is asked of you...do you add an extra piece of value free of charge?
• What is your unique selling point....something that people will talk about? Do you try and fit into the crowd or stand out from the crowd?

Personal brands are social objects in nature. We talk about people that we meet, talk about people that touch our lives in both good and bad ways. What I feel is important is that each interaction with you, is a good experience for the other person..if it is then you will get free word of mouth advertising.
Do you see yourself as your "own brand" which will deliver the basics but not the experience...or a premium brand that will leave the consumer wanting to talk positively about you?

Murphy's Law of Employee Engagement

You know the idea of Murphy's Law - if anything can go wrong, it will. Well I was thinking of it, in relation to business leaders and employee engagement. Here is my take on the old adage

1. The more you try and control the conversation, the less likely it is, that there is a conversation.
2. If you believe the employees cannot be trusted with social media, you are creating a culture that will be hurt my social media
3. The more money you throw at employee engagement, the less engaged the people will be....happier maybe in the short term but not necessarily engaged. Do you think Google employees are engaged because of the free meals or because they believe they have a chance to make a difference (and a freedom to make that difference)?
4. The more personality you show as a brand, the less personable you will be to the masses. (However, the more personable you will be to your niche audience)
5. Opening the dialogue, opens the floodgates....but I would rather be ready with my waders than marooned on my own!
6. Engaged employees are harder to deal with - they give more, but then expect more from the leadership. They are demanding - they want to achieve more. To keep the 'followers', a leader needs to keep further ahead.....the motivation switches from you having to motivate disengaged employees, to motivating yourself to stay ahead as a leader of people.
7. The more you put in place simple measures of engagement, the more complex you will realise engagement is....However, ALL engagment CAN be measured.

Employee engagement occurs when you have people who are motivated to come to work, and understand how they are part of achieving the strategy. They know how they fit into the whole picture, they know that they will be recognised and valued for their unique contribution.
Murphy's Law No 8 says the more you do at a corporate leve,l the less likely people will feel it at the individual level.....think personalisation for identity with the overall corporate brand.

Think Trends in Our Time Not Generational Differences

I was invited to speak in London today about  - Inside the Bloggers Mind, The Gen Y Perspective.

I struggle in a way to talk about generational differences...why? Because I don't believe that we can categorize people by age. I know we love to categorize, as that is easier - however I think it is too dangerous. My mum at 77 is a member of social networking sites such as Linked In...my nephew who is 21 has not heard of Facebook!

What I do think we can look at, are the trends in society that are strong as we enter the workforce. Why? Because I think the trends of our time, influence the way we behave before corporate life potentially "makes us to conform to the way we do things around here!"

Trends of this time which will affect the Millennial's are

• A sense that personal debt is normal
• A sense of freedom and desire for personal expression
• A sense of embracing technology to make life easier
• A sense of our impact on the world
• A sense of sharing, collaboration
• An awareness of social media

To name but a few....now these are trends, not specific to an age group. Society is evolving, there are people across the generations that will evolve with these societal changes and others that will see these changes as bad and will resist them for as long as possible. I believe in business, we need to see people's resistance to change rather than their age...that way we don't disengage people who could be agents of change.

Show #161 - Psychology of Conversations Pt2

Show 161 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - it is all explained at the end of the post.

This is the second part of the conversation I had with Alison Hardingham who is a business psychologist and also an Associate Professor at Henley Management College. Alison runs Yellow Dog Consulting and has published 7 books on her field.

If you haven't listened to the first part of the interview then here is the link to Show 160 - The Psychology of Conversations Pt 1.

Today we talk about

How we develop a good conversation

Can you have a conversation with more than one person

How to engage a person in a conversation

Conversational skills for social media

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand.

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 blubrry 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

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Tomorrow Never Comes For Unsuccessful Leaders

My lawn needs cutting, it has needed cutting for a few days - I'll do it of course tomorrow!
Problem is tomorrow never comes just like in business...it never comes for unsuccessful businesses who put off until tomorrow

1. Dealing with poor performers who might turn round
2. Dealing with leaders who do not share the values of the business
3. Talking to customers
4. Listening to feedback
5. Adopting social media
6. Thinking about the long term
7. Investing in people
8. Innovating for the future
9. Measuring success
10. Making decisions rather than holding meeting

You see business needs real leaders who are leading today for brand leadership tomorrow....

How Familiarity Can Hinder Personal Development

Fact: In a psychological experiment a person shown a photograph of him/herself and then one of a reversed image of the same picture consistently preferred the reversed picture.

Why ? Simply because that was the one they were used to seeing in the mirror !

Familiarity is great but is it hindering your development? - some questions for you and your leadership

1. Do you tend to like similar people with similar opinions ?
2. Do you tend to go to lunch with similar people ?
3. Do you like to stick to routine tasks?
4. Do you like the way you have always done it ?

If so STOP think about it....that is hindering your development. You are in a comfort zone - comfortable Yes....but stretching...NO...

10 Combinations to Create Engagement

Engaging people with your brand needs you to think about combinations, not to dilute the experience to please people but to bring out the best of all branding worlds

1. Combining traditional marketing techniques with social media tools
2. Combining old timers experience with the ideas of the new generation
3. Combining the communication for internal and external consumers of the brand
4. Combining of short term tactics to achieve the long term goals
5. Combining of messages that will appeal to all the senses
6. Combining the art of listening, art of filtering information with decision making based on feedback
7. Combining on line and real world experiences. Bringing real world customers online and on line customers together in the real world.
8. Combining what we know now, with what we want to create in the future
9. Combining opposite data to create innovation.
10. Combining people with shared beliefs, shared interest, shared values...to create community.

Often we combine and dilute the offering...that is not what I mean. I mean finding a combination that brings the best out of all worlds to create an even better solution.

Often people see social media as the only answer...not at all....it is part of the marketing combination, part of the leadership tools available. When you find succeed it is when you get a combination that is stronger than the individual parts

Show #160 - The Pyschology of Conversations

Show 160 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - it is all explained at the end of the post.

Today we are talking to Alison Hardingham who is a business psychologist and also an Associate Professor at Henley Management College. Alison runs Yellow Dog Consulting and has published 7 books on her field. I met Alison and found her insights into the art of conversations fascinating, in fact so fascinating that the telephone interview overran, so the second part will be published as Show 161! We discuss in this first part

What is a conversation?

How our conversational skills change through our childhood

Has socialisation affected our way of communicating

How to turn a 'bad' conversation round

What personal development do you need to be good at conversations?

Watch out for the second part when we discuss how to hold an effective conversation

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand.

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 blubrry 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

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A Thin Line Between Madness and Creativity

I remember as a child being in the car when Dad picked up a colleague from the airport. On the way home they were talking about droplet formations and having a lively discussion about how water acts under certain conditions. They couldn't agree so Dad pulled into a car wash, bought his token and then both of them got out to see the water in action. I can remember thinking "My Dad IS completely mad!" as he got back in and drove away soaking wet through... I asked him later and he said

• Anna, never be afraid of seeming mad, be afraid of not seeming anything
• You don't find every answer in a book, sometimes you have to find the answer in life
• Neither of us were right....never assume, test out your theory before making a plonker of yourself (Somehow the plonker was a little ironic after seeing him in a car wash!)

Oh and always remember to get back into the car to finish the discussion before the soap starts :)

Dad was in many ways Mr Average in the way he lived his life, what made him different was the way he never let go of the child inside his mind.  Adults don't walk into a car wash, but a child would have found it exciting! What Dad found out that day he used in building a new machine that became a best selling brand in the farming world...My lesson - There is a thin line between madness and creativity

When is a Conversation not a Conversation?

Just had an interesting conversation with 2 people who have just had what they call "a conversation". Interesting because both believe they are right, both believe the other "didn't get it", and both believe the other is an idiot! Not sure that is what I would call a conversation because

• Conversations do not happen when you are consumed with emotion.
• Conversations are based on the art of listening not the art of talking
• Conversations are about both of you learning from the other, not one teaching the other.
• Conversations do not occur when interruptions are happening....that is just confirmation there is hearing but not listening...
• Conversations are never about getting to one truth, they are about understanding each others truth

We often confuse discussions, shouting matches, debates .... with conversations. Business thrives with conversations - leaders to followers, brand to consumers, suppliers to company etc Conversational marketing follows the same principles

Want to add money to your bottom line? Here is a secret recipe - profit comes through people communicating....communicating to create value in each others lives, whether inside or outside of the organisation.