The Engaging Brand

How I Share My Vision

We often talk about how to share strategy - I am a visual person and therefore in my office I have a road map up on my wall

• My journey

I have a "route map" from starting The Engaging Brand to my vision for The Engaging Brand. Along the route are little towns names 'Podcast City', 'Blogchester', 'Seminarville', 'Facebook Town' - towns named after the tools I will use to build the company. They don't go in a straight line, illustrating that the journey will be difficult, will have diversions (and I put them up their too when they happen!)

• My Rest Points

I like to ensure that I take a rest, that I recharge the batteries so I have service station stops to celebrate, to recharge, to create ideas. These are dotted across the map to keep reminding me that you cannot just keep driving full out, all the time. They are called  - Ideas Walk, Celebrate Cinema etc

• My Seat Belt

This covers what my back up plan will be if for instance I am ill for a while. You don't wear a seat belt to have an accident, you wear one as a precaution. So I know what I will do in certain circumstances that could happen. One of my seat belts is achieving several sources of revenue so that I am not reliant on one income bucket.

• My Pack Up

This is my list of mind food to keep me nourished! My development is key to the growth so I need a plan of how to keep feeding myself ideas, new thinking etc It includes Google Reader, Podcasts, Books, Mentors.

I often get asked how I create my strategy, people expect it to be budgets and words with my background of being a Chartered Accountant. But I like it to be more visual, to be more fun....find your way and your teams way of bringing it to life.

The Strategic Jigsaw

I like to think about strategy as a jigsaw

1. You need a mental picture of what you are trying to achieve and a picture to show other people who you want to help you build the picture.
2. You needs cornerstones. I build a jigsaw from the 4 corners....I build a strategy based on core values.
3. A jigsaw can only be complete with all the pieces. You need to find all the pieces of your team in terms of diversity of thought and skills.
4. A jigsaw has boundaries, a strategy should have boundaries. Boundaries are there as a guide to ensure that you don't stray....that you stay focused on the picture you are trying to create.

A Company should stay in beta

Software is getting better, the speed of innovation is quicker...why? Because of the launch of the initial idea and then working with users during the beta stage. People are desiring that ability to co create the future, present ideas and be part of a success.

Too often companies set a strategy and then think they are there.....they may even be a market leader, great they have succeeded. But success can be fleeting. Maybe what we need to passionately encourage is BETA Corporations! i.e. The initial idea is there but we need to work together to improve it day by day, minute by minute.

B =  Be a risk taker - try out new ideas on a small scale, learn and roll out.
E = Expand the teams view from today to tomorrow...what do you need to work towards.
T = Talent loves to be stretched so ask talented people for a review of how they see the future, what needs to improve, what needs actions do we need to do now to create success tomorrow. Let them have some thinking time to develop their ideas. If the ideas are good let them fly with them.
A = Allow ideas, encourage ideas....get people involved in continous improvement groups. Ask questions instead of delivering answers.

Compromise is not an option

I was reading about when Pret a Manger entered the US market. When they opened a store in New York they couldn't find fresh, sliced granary bread. They could import it but quality would be an issue and their values compromised. They could use a different bread - again not perfect for their brand. So instead of compromising they found a local bakery and developed a relationship by which they baked it to their standards. Business is not easy and it is soooo easy to compromise rather than stick to your brand values or strategy.

Compromise is defined as "settle a dispute by making a concession"

Look at that word settle - does it make you shiver, it does me! Why settle? This made me think how many times a day do you end up being a slave to time, to pressure, to workload and "compromise or settle for something that is not quite right but will do"

When it comes to building a brand - be it product, service or an employment brand I believe that values cannot be compromised otherwise you dilute the promise. So what have you compromised on today that you need to address tomorrow?

A talent bleed is a Profit Bleed for Business

When you lose talent you lose value from the business. You lose past value - experience but you also lose future values via their ideas and talents. Too many companies allow talented people to leave without taking a long hard look at the leaders/managers that they are leaving....talent leaves managers so you need to understand which managers are causing talent to leave.

When we invest in advertising, in technology, in machinery, in buildings we look at what we call Discounted Cash flow - if we invest this money now, what cash do we expect to receive in the future.

Talent is both an asset, and a future revenue stream so what initial investment do you need to make NOW to both protect the asset and ensure that the revenue comes in?

CARS Leadership and Strategy for Great Business

Last week I asked whether managers needed speed limits? I have been thinking further about this, especially as I had a conversation with one manager who believes that keeping your foot on the gas is the only way...maybe there are a few aspects that we can learn from car drivers for leadership!

C = Consider the way we cope with journeys. There are 3 lanes on motorways to allow people to choose their speed. Within your team you will have different motivations, different talent levels and it is important that you recognise this diversity, people develop at different rates, ideas develop at different rates but they are still moving forward.

A = All long journeys will suffer some congestion, roadworks accidents etc....it doesn't stop you getting to your destination you just have to either be patient or find a new route. You even have your own TomTom - your people, a mentor, a coach....all can help you find a new route quickly! The key is to review and keep your destination in mind not the problem.

R = Recognise that on long journeys you need to pull over and take a break at a cafe, to maintain concentration. Tiredness kills motorists, tiredness can kill ideas! Every car needs to refuel and teams are the same....keep celebrating progress to refuel the enthusiasm.

S = Speed helps to get to your destination quicker, but it must be controlled and also safer with an experienced driver. Physical speed will not help at congestion - but speed of thought will! This is absolutely true for business...you are looking for controlled speed, with an understanding for the risks and also knowing that at times you need to quicken to overtake the opposition, or slow down when there are potential dangers.

The Future of Work

Today, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Peter Thomson from the Future of Work Forum. I will be posting it tomorrow to stimulate your thinking about how the world of work is changing and how management needs to adapt. If you want to subscribe then here is the RSS feed - http://www.podcastfm.co.uk/podcast.rss?id=54  or check it out on Blubrry

One of the things that it stimulated in my mind was the future of leadership. 5 years ago it would have been unthinkable the move of services to Asia, the move of medical services, legal etc So are we being naive on the next 5 years? Asia will want to move up the value chain, and invest heavily in development.

For me unless we invest in development in the western world we may find ourselves outsourcing leadership. The world is flatter, workforces are getting used to being dispersed so what is to stop leadership being outsourced unless we can add value to the art of leadership? In a sense, we already see UK companies with foreign leaders, vice versa or with European connections so we are used to looking at the best talent rather than developing our own.

You will have to listen to the podcast for Peter's views! But what are yours, could this happen?

Have you got the right kind of glasses!!

I remember sitting down with Dad and talking to him about some manufacturing problems that we were suffering - he turned to me and said, "You need new glasses?" I looked at him and naively said " I don't wear glasses?"

Dad looked and said "The trouble is you are leading with a magnifying glass, put it away and get out your binoculars"

That advice was 15 years ago and I still remember it, especially when I coach in business. Many issues revolve around leaders micro managing leaving the managers with a confused role. The best leaders leave managers to manage giving them the magnifying glass and then they reach for the binoculars....

HR needs to step up to the table

Gosh I get quite worried when I see headlines like this one HR's failure to measure the impact of Employer Branding could lead to marketing taking over talent management not because I don't believe that marketing can't add to the idea but what does that leave HR with?

HR people - remember I was a Group HR Director - always feel as though they are not taken seriously or that they do not have a big say at the boardroom table. Well, I never had that issue because I saw HR as an important facet in helping the business in achieving high performance. Yes there are day to day roles which must be undertaken - data integrity, paying people etc but for the leaders of HR to make a difference I believe they need to see talent management as a business tool for improving business performance. That means understanding the business, understanding how to drive value added, how to create an Employer Brand. If the HR folks do not widen their horizons then they will be sidelined to a personnel function and that is not good for the business. Widen your reading, understand marketing, explore the blogosphere, use technology to reach out to people.... Also look at your structure...have you got people who are good HR generalists but lack the visionery expertise to develop an Employer Brand..if so act now before your place at the Boardroom disappears!

India sees People as the Heart of Future Success

India with the huge growth that it is achieving, also understand how important it is to keep their people engaged. In the Economic Times there is an interesting post this is a snippet:

In the knowledge Industry where people are the biggest assets for the company, HR has a direct bearing on the results as it is the single biggest recurring cost. Companies increasingly want to bring in a sharp business focus to control their operating margins.

“A line guy will understand more of what a business demands of HR, and then he can implement the business discipline better,” says R Suresh, MD, Stanton Chase.Today, companies differentiate between HR operations and HR strategy. While the transactional aspect of HR is being handled by the traditional HR guys, the strategic part is being given a business dimension by introduction of people from non-HR streams.

Fantastic! Transactional HR is different to strategic and yet in the UK/US we often combine the two areas. I love he fact that they understand that to win in a knowledge economy they need to be led differently and the strategic side must be closer to the business. More to learn from India?