The Engaging Brand

8 Truths about truth

1. Truth is multi-dimensional
2. Truth doesn't always exist objectively - it is often depends on your perception, assumptions and values
3. Truth is not always easy in the short term but you win in the medium/long term
4. Truth telling saves time in not wasting time trying to remember what you think you said.
5. Truth avoidance may mean you can run, but you will never be able to hide in the long run
6. Truth is not always what you want it to be
7. Truth allows us to grow
8. Truth can encourage responsibility

Success is Yours to Define, look...

We often spend most of our life searching for the ultimate success and yet success in so many ways is intangible as it depends on how you view success. Leadership is not about lying but it is about creating the feeling of success, the feeling that success is at our fingertips if we move forward together....

It always reminds me of the business anecdote

"A company always holds a summer picnic and plays an annual softball game between two rival departments. They play it and the winner retains bragging rights for the rest of the year.

On this occasion Dept A won however Dept B announced on the company bulletin board "Dept B is proud to announce that following this year's softball game, we finished in second place, having lost only one game all year. We also offer our condolences to Dept A, which finished next to last in the standings, having won only one game the entire season"

It reminds me

• Success is often defined by perception than reality.
• Success is better defined by you, rather than your competitiors!
• Success often depends on the angle you are looking from...

It is often not who comes first but the one who makes the most of the opportunity in the medium term!

3 Thought on Human Connection

Humans are natural connectors. I have spent the last 7 days changing trains, buses, using the phone, the internet, meeting new people, attempting to connect ideas for clients etc

We live by connection whether we realise it or not. It is not whether we are connectors it is whether we can add value through our human connections.

I ran a online social media session last week with someone who said "I am not a connector" and yet when we went through his life...he spent virtually every minute of the day connecting.

What he meant was, he didn't know how to make the most of his connections.

3 sentences which will help you

1. Ask not they can do for you but what you can do for them.
2. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Dr Maya Angleou's great phrase which I end The Engaging Brand podcast with each episode)
3. People will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care (Zig Ziglar)

8 Steps to Create a President Obama Speech!

I love learning and recently I have been listening to President Obama's weekly address podcast. Not because I want to hear about what he is doing but to understand how to construct a message, how to improve your speech making ability. Obama has that ability to hit the right note in terms of great speech making. This is what I have learned

1. Start with a personal story which outlines the problem
2. Explain his feelings on the situation - use personal, emotive language.
3. Then look at the general problem using facts, figures etc
4. Give practical example of what the future COULD look like
5. Ask for people's comments, give them a place to contribute.
6. Face the opposition head on and answer the critics.
7. Then see off the opposition by relating back to those personal stories. Which makes the opposition look hard and unfeeling.
8. Inspire change. Use emotive language like 'we owe it to...' to make people feel they must change.

It is not about whether you are republican or democrat, from the US or like me the UK, it is about listening and learning about how to craft a message which is personal and emotive. Fascinating listening each week....

The Inn, The Isolated Blogger and The Connection Story

Iggy Pintado has just written a book called Connection Generation (watch out for a great conversation about how connection is changing on the next couple of The Engaging Brand podcasts).

Anyway I was reading his book whilst staying in an inn in South Wales. The irony really struck me....I was the only "stranger" in the local pub, everyone knew everybody and I felt completed isolated. I also felt silly that I was reading a book on how we are connecting and yet sat solo in a group of people??

What struck me was that whilst a few years ago I would have started talking naturally to the "locals", I felt uncomfortable...I felt shy. My immediate reaction was to rush upstairs to get online and feel part of my virtual community - how weird, how my comfort has changed.

The story continues as I used Twitter on my Blackberry to connect with my real life friends...and then a quiz started and seeing someone struggle with a question, I offered an answer or two :) I then joined the team and continued along quite happily.

The irony of reading a book about how the world is connecting through human needs, the irony of suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the real world as compared to the virtual world, shows me how quickly my attitude to social media has changed.

It also showed me that

Many Happy Engaging Brand Returns

Yesterday was my birthday and it really was a wonderful day. Why? Of course because of my friends and family but also because of all the well wishes that I received via social media. Often people talk about 'real' friends and virtual friends and yes in a way there is a difference but yesterday taught me

1. The power of reaching out and saying that you care
2. The power of the web in connecting people
3. The power of community and the feeling of belonging
4. The power of words  - words can light up even the darkest hour.
5. The power of ensuring that each person never feels alone
6. The power of people. The web is powerful because of the people not because of the technology.
7. It can take a second out of your day, to 'make the day' of someone else

Thank you to one and all for showing me that power and I hope that if there is a lesson in having YET another birthday - gosh they are coming fast now! - it is this...don't wait for birthday's to make someone's day, every day is special, every person is special....and in our words we can make that connection.

Jennifer Beals Lessons on Telling The "Brand" Story

I was watching a speech given by the Flashdance actress Jennifer Beals (Is that really 25 years ago!) and was really interested in how she chooses her films. Here are some snippets from the speech which I think are as relevant for finding talent, growing talent, finding consumers and developing a brand as for budding actors !

• She said she had to believe in the story, without that belief she couldn't do the role.
• She talked about the importance of the narrative, what is the story, do the words take you on a journey?
• She also talked about connecting with the role. Does she believe in the role and how she can bring it to life? The role may be a good role, but she needs to connect with it and know how she can bring energy to it, before accepting it.
• She talked about emotions. It wasn't the scripted lines that were important, it was what the words were trying to convey...what was the emotion that the words were trying to convey. People hear the words, but feel the emotion....
• The ability of a good actor/actress to go with the "moment". Sometimes, things happen on stage or another actor acts away from the script...don't stop, go with it and see where the journey takes you.

I wish I could get one of these successful actors or actresses on The Engaging Brand podcast...I would so love to talk to them about the above...(Not too confident that Jennifer Beals has a Google alert on her name though!)...... I find it so fascinating how they can turn words into stories, words into emotion, an external audience into a participating player....maybe one day!

In the meantime, I think there are real lessons for leadership and branding....I think you can learn a lot about communication and leadership by watching a film!

The Parent Brand That Lives On

5 years ago today, we lost Dad.....so in his honor here is the one phrase that always made me smile

Never catch the corporate bug Anna, the one which gives you corporate diarrhoea on what you are GOING to do, and corporate constipation on DOING it.

I forget how many times that phrase came back to me in Board Meetings over the years......

Miss you Dad, but thanks for the wonderful memories....and of course inspiration for blog posts!

"It is not what you say that is important"

I was watching an interview with Richard Wilson, a well known actor in the UK. I was fascinated by a couple of his acting tips, which I believe are so true for business, brands and leadership. He said the secrets to acting were

1. Less is more. Great actors "act" less! (He also said never underestimate the power of silence)
2. It is not the words on the script that are important, it is what you are thinking, what you are feeling as you say them.

Wow, imagine if each person in the business took on those two points, imagine the impact on your consumers, on your customers. For me the second point is the most relevant. If you do not believe what you say then no one else will - and if you don' t believe the scripts your leaders are saying then in my opinion, you have 2 choices

• Leave and find the "business script" that suit your values and personality
• Stay and work on your acting skills. Don't just play the role though, act the part.....imagine yourself on that stage like Olivier and win the audience over both  hearts and minds

When I ask you to listen to me......

One of the key skills that is often lost with the pressure of time is listening, I was reminded of that tonight during a wonderful one-way, one sided "conversation" that I soooo enjoyed!

I have a poem that I always keep close at hand by Ralph Roughton which I always keep close to me as it helps me focus:

When I ask you to listen to me and you start by giving me advice, you have not done what I asked,
When I ask you to listen to me and you begin by telling me why I shouldn't feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to solve my problems, you have failed me.
Listen ! All I ask is that you listen, not talk or do...just hear me.
When you do something for me that I can do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
When you accept as simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and get about the business of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling.

Listening helps you to understand and listening is one of the most motivational aspects of management and also brand engagement. Imagine how many consumers could have written this passage! In this day and age of the credit crunch, the great news for brands and leaders alike is that there is no cost to listening....and yet the return on investment is huge :)