The Engaging Brand

Engaging the Brains of Business

I have been reading Brain Rules which is a fascinating insight into how the brain works and how we can engage brains within the business world. (I am interviewing John for the podcast later this month) Here are some insights that I have learned about for the business world

• The brain on average is 2% of body weight but takes 20% of the energy that we consume.
• The learning performance is deeply affected by the emotional environment in which the learning takes place.
• We lose attention every 10 minutes.
• Emotional arousal focuses attention on the gist of an experience at the expense of the details.
• We need to derive meaning from the words to recall the details
• Interruptions cause a 50% increase in how long it takes to complete a task and will lead to 50% more errors
• People usually forget 90% of what they learn within 30 days
• When presenting, the audience needs to be hooked in the first 3 minutes.
• The brain can hold 7 pieces of information for less than 30 seconds.
• A 26 minute nap can increase performance by 34%
• People learn better from a combination of words and pictures
• Vision takes up half of the brains resources

10 Random Blogger Social Thoughts

1. It is not blogging - as a platform - that is powerful, it is the connections between the ideas, between the people.
2. Socializing is not networking, it is learning, it is about seeing the 3 dimensional personality. Networker's were avoided, socialiser's were valued.
3. Strong conversations need different perspectives, different viewpoints and yet similarity over the need to learn from each other.
4. Friendships develop quickly when the "real world" person mirrors the online brand.
5. There is no one truth. The truth does not exist, only an array of truths from individual experiences.
6. Passion for wanting to change the world even in a small way, shines through a voice.
7. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel..... never a truer word spoken.
8. It is so important to live the breadth as well as the length of life. By living the breadth, each moment seems longer and richer.
9. You never know anyone really, until you share a bathroom with them...thx Heather!
10. If you want to arrange a party ask Drew, CK and Lori

Why the Web is my Queen Mary!

This next week I am going over to New York to speak at BlogHer and also attend the Blogger Social. Today I was thinking of Dad, who told me how he saved up his money when he first started in business and went to the USA on the Queen Mary.
This was a huge investment for someone from a poor background and who was trying to build a business with no financial resources. I asked him why he risked his money and he told me
"Anna, if you want to innovate you have to look beyond your own reality, your own world. You have to look for inspiration from places that you may believe have no connection. The art of innovation lay not in thinking but in connecting different ideas"

We are so used to having the web that I think as leaders we can be guilty of complacency. Do you use the web like maybe Dad would have done to...

• Virtually travel into different topics and look for ideas?
• Invest your time in developing not only the depth of your thinking but also the breadth of your thinking?
• Virtually travel into different cultures, different parts of the world and look for global trends.
• Virtually travel into different market sectors in the search of connecting ideas

Dad came back from the USA with a groundbreaking idea that saw him recognized as a pioneer in his area....he got his idea - that was translated into the farming world - from seeing how retailers were packaging their goods.
Would he have thought of it at home...probably not. We are lucky we do not have to invest our life savings into trips on the Queen Mary...we "just" have to invest our time, truly surfing the diversity of the web.

Does Your Mind Grow as Fast As Your Waistline?

Am I in the minority, or as you grow older do you struggle to keep that weight at bay? You look in the mirror and see that middle age spread looming at you, laughing at your inability to control it... at least I try..I control my eating, I even podcast about my diet, I go to the gym...

What is more worrying is when I see people look in the mirror with sadness, with regret, with no passion for what they want to achieve in this world. As fast as the belly is growing, the mind is shrinking....shrinking because of the lack of development, lack of reflection, lack of meaning in their lives.

The brain needs feeding, needs stimulating, needs exercising. Do you act as your brains personal trainer, do you act as a personal trainer for those brains around you?

The irony now is that I use the gym to control my weight and inspire my mind - through podcasts. Two for the price of one!
It is so important to keep that brain alive - alive to dream, alive to possibility, alive to that sense of exploration. We may be getting older, we may have moved to getting wider than taller but our personal growth is something that should never stop, never be neglected so that we can avoid that rut of stagnation.

A Very Different Xmas

Last Sunday I was rushed into hospital and I won't be going home before the end of this week at the earliest. This has taught me a few things
1) no matter how bad the tv is it is better than being by yourself in hospital!
2) never take anything for granted
3) how lost I am without the internet!

I hope your xmas is going a little better than mine and apologies that I cannot get out the age of conversation podcast. It will be up once I get home.

Learning, the Roosevelt Way

As many of you know, I love the sayings of Eleanor Roosevelt. I have just been reading You Learn by Living and here are some quotes to inspire the week ahead

• A leader must not get too far ahead or he will outdistance his followers; but he must move at least a step ahead.
• There is no human being from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep.
• We can grow only as long as we are interested
• We cannot say "Nothing has changed," or "The old ways are best." The point is that the old conditions are gone and we are left confronting the new.
• Human relationships, like life itself, can never remain static. They grow or they diminish.
• Since everybody is an individual, nobody can be you. You are unique. No one can tell you how to use your time.It is yours.Your life is your own.You mold it.You make it.

As I always say, for everything that changes...such a lot stays the same...these quotes are from 1960, almost 50 years ago..but as relevant now as they were then.

10 Things That I Will Take Away From LA

1. Several extra pounds in weight!
2. Several extra pounds to take home due to the exchange rate..lovely :~)
3. Don't go on a bucking bronco when your friend has a video phone.
4. Starbucks is no different in the US than in the UK :(
5. Beaches can be clean, white and gorgeous (unlike UK)
6. Modern cities are wonderful but I miss UK architecture.
7. The thought of how on earth are you supposed to leave a clean plate (like mum always told me) when the portions are THAT size!
8. How inspiring the sun is, for thoughts.
9. That there is no such thing as coming to the US to shop for different clothes, brands are now truly global.
10. Memories of a wonderful Podcast Expo, great friends and a huge desire to come back VERY soon.

Developing Talent

I remember once being told that I "had to change" by a boss. Soon afterwards I said that I had taken his advice....I did need to change ....my boss.

You see I don't believe you can demand someone to change, to "make" them change. It is up to them, it depends if they want to.
My boss said that I had to change my collaborative style, my walkabout style...he wanted an FD who was in their office the whole time - toilet breaks ONLY allowed. That was not me, that was not my strength - I actually don't believe it is the best way to improve financial results but that's another post!

Humans do not easily embrace change. Remember when our parents told us to be tidier, when our teachers told us to do homework, etc etc.... Telling does not work...people need a compelling case for change.
So instead of saying "CHANGE!" give them a "Choice". Choice is a word that is less threatening and it gives the person the power. When faced with a choice you are more willing to think objectively about it, and then accept the reason for change. To do this ensure that you don't confuse....provide a clarity around the choices. the implications of both choices, so they understand the full implications of their decision.

I prefer  "Here are the choices open to you, over to you...."

If they choose not to develop then that is when A CHANGE must happen for you both

Learning and Evolving

I often present sessions on the future - of work, of the internet, of business. The important part is finding a way of linking the learnings from the past, with your present and then think about what that means for the future. The future is not yet defined, that is what I love about thinking about how to create success in the future.

F= Friends are a great resource for development. Look at what your friends are talking about, working upon, thinking about....and see whether it provides inspiration for you in your life.
U= Understand from the past your strengths and think of how to use your strengths more in the future.
T= Trends. I look for trends rather than facts. Often trends give you a greater insight. So making connections easier is more powerful than one successful tool like Facebook. That way you can come up with what makes sense for you and your business rather than jumping with the popular tool of the moment.
U= Understand where you are at the moment, be honest with your self appraisal. If you can be honest about your development needs, then you can create a more successful personal brand in the future.
R= Review progress. Both from the past and also think about how you can measure progress  against your goals.  Measuring is not about figures, it is about giving  you a mechanism that  allows you to celebrate  your success.
E= Evolution. Life, the web, business is all about evolution. Small steps over time that create progress. We can often look for large leaps, when small steps can be as effective.

Lessons from a stressful week

OK I admit it, I have felt stressed this week and stress is normally something that I refuse to do. Stress can be soul destroying, however I have learned a lot from the week -learning from experiences is a powerful way of turning a negative to a positive.

1. Customer loyalty is built or destroyed not necessarily when things are going right but how you react to the customer when things go wrong. If you reach out to the customer when they need your help most, you have the chance of capturing the soul of that customer.
2. There is no point in wasting energy on problems that you cannot solve or that are in the past - much better to use your energy on the solutions and the future.
3. I felt stressed because I am passionate about my podcast - it is part of my desire to help people, to create content that improves the lives of others - when faced with losing it, it felt like losing the chance of creating my legacy. Stress is often a sign that you care, that it is important to you. Listen to your stress - work out what is causing it, you learn more about yourself.
4. When you don't know which way to turn - STOP. Take time out, chill! Then set yourself 3 actions that will take yourself forward.
5. Life happens - it is not what problems you face, it is how you face the problems!
6. When you are faced with problems you find out who your friends really are - I know an obvious point but I don't think I would have got through this week without Krishna - thanks chuck, owe you a guinness!

As I don't like stress, think I will ditch it now....much better to enjoy life and carry on creating a positive future for those around you.