The Engaging Brand

Leaders find lessons in the strangest places!

Allan Leighton the current Royal Mail chairman gave a rousing speech at Leaders in London last week. He told a story of waiting in a library and finding a book which was about 100 years old and shared with us the lessons he learned from spending a few minutes reading it.

1. "Miss the tunnel at the end of the light" - Every great failure was once a success..companies don't die, people kill them with cmplacency, complexity, arrogance and faulty radar for future problems....keep looking for the traps to keep yourself successful.
2. "Listen to the river" - Operators know best....go to the front-line for the solutions to the problems and to understand what the problems are in the first place.
3. "Find a jewel in the head of toad's head" - There are good people in bad companies...find the talent and use them to help change your fortunes. Talent is so important don't be put off by outside influences...take the blinkers off to find that talent.
4. "The will and the rhythm" - Remember the success wheel - make good decisions that brings quick wins, which creates confidence and creates momentum.
5. "Avoid the funeral of a living corpse" - You can be born and get ready to die or live until you have to! Create a cult in your business for the values and the ideas.....have fun and don't be afraid to stand for what you believe in.

Here is a leader with a strong track record.....and yet he found inspiration in a library. You have to keep your eyes wide open so that you never miss those inspiring thoughts, inspirational ideas that are all around us.

Day 3 of Leaders in London

This morning at the Leaders in London conference, I heard an interesting look at the world from Sir Martin Sorrell who gave 7 areas that leaders should be looking at as part of the future strategy

1. Globalisation. America used to dominate but the economic power is shifting to Asia,Latin America and Africa.
2. Overcapacity. All industries are producing more than the consumption needs. That means differentiation is key and even more importantly intangible differentiation - which means that talent will become a central driver to growth.
3. Web. Yes the web, yes the technology but also the human side as well. Talent is being given more choice....and the web is drawing them rather than monolithic organisations.
4. Distribution. Retailers have the power, which means that margins will increasingly come under pressure. The only way to grow is through innovation and branding. Innovation can do without branding but branding cannot live without innovation.
5. CSR. Now on each companies agenda - Branson, Gates, Gore are putting CSR on the agenda.
6. Structure. There should be 2 focuses for business - globalisation and country. Regional management will lesson in importance.
7. Internal Communications. People are the most important resource and becoming a limited resource. The ability to communicate vision, mergers, structure will increase in importance. We need to reduce the waste on time from people's inability to work together.

Day 2 Leaders in London - Sharing My Learnings

Carrying on from my recent posts here are some more titbits from the Leaders in London conference (They also have a blog about the learnings here)

Stephen Covey

• "What air is to the body, to be understood is to the heart"
• " We manage things that don't have the power to choose, we lead people who do have the power to choose"
• You can buy the body but not the mind, heart and spirit
• Forgiveness is an important skill to learn, if you don't it is the equivalence of drinking your own poison.
• When faced with a conflict, ask....Would you be willing to search for a solution that is better than what either of us have proposed?
• Leadership is a choice not a position

Nick Wheeler - Founder of Charles Tyrwhitt

• 3 important business principles - make your suppliers love you, make your employees love you and make your customers love you.
• Keep focused exclusively on your goal don't let anything distract you

A Creative Future

Wow, what a day - here are some more learnings/quotes from today's Leaders in London conference

Firstly from Andrew Zolli

• We live saturated in data...we need to look for great moments in communication to break free of the crowd.
• 3 Important trends:- Demographic Transformation, Thinking in Network Terms and the Rise of the Right Brained Economy
• Ebay seller feedback is now being used on CV's!
• Design and technology are the new differentiators to humanize capitalism
• 3 new jobs will come into the business world - Someone who understands demographics, one who understands networks and someone who understands the fusion of tech and design.

Secondly from David Cameron, his 3 lessons on leadership

• Be clear and bold about what you want to achieve from the start
• Be clear about yourself and honest about your strengths and weaknesses
• Understand what is happening at the macro level, understand the forces of change and develop plans that tap into that change

Thirdly from Edward De Bono

• You cannot move from certainty to certainty...you must look at the possibilities
• Data is still important but more important is the skills of interpretation and the skill of thinking how to use it
• Teaching thinking as a skill in schools improves results in the other subjects by between 30-100%
• Spend more time on possibilities than finding the truth

Leaders in London - Benjamin Zander

I am privileged this week to be at the Leaders in London conference, to hear some wonderful speakers - and hopefully grab a couple of guests for the podcast, so make sure you subscribe!
This morning I witnessed a masterclass in inspiring people from Benjamin Zander, the World Renowned Conductor. Here are some thoughts to share with you

• The secret of life is that...it is all still to be invented...
• My job as a leader is to awaken the possibility in others...
• Zander gives all his students an A when they arrive...why? ...."If you "invent" them as "A" students they quickly assume the mantle"
• The new leader's job is to create a powerful vision that allows room for things to occur that are as yet undreamed of..."
• Never say anything that you don't want to stand as your last words spoken...a lesson he learned from an Auschwitz survivor who never got to apologise to her brother for being short with him the last time she saw him.

I will make notes and share as many insights as possible throughout the 3 days - Why, because if these are the last words I ever get to type......I want them to help others.