For me, Tiffany Shlain is a source of great insight and hope on culture, communication, technology, and life, so I’m pleased to share my recent interview with her:

Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Tiffany is a filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and co-founder of The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.   Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology, her feature documentary about the good, bad, hope of connectedness, launched last year.  This year, she is working on a new film series which is paving the way for a new kind of collaborative filmmaking she calls “cloud filmmaking.”

She talks with me about:

• why this is the most exciting time of our lives
• how it’s a human desire to be a part of something
• how companies can join in the participatory revolution

So take a listen.  Also check out Tiffany’s website, Twitter feed, and Facebook and YouTube pages — and be prepared to be challenged and inspired!

other interviews:

• Peter Fader on Customer Centricity
• Martin Lindstrom on Marketing Manipulation
• John Gerzema on Connecting with Today’s Consumer

brand as business bit:  I got a response to my last “brand as business brief“, Value and Values, that I just have to share with you.  It’s from Kevin Knight, who along with his wife Heather, run Anjou Bakery, a “a thriving incubator of good taste in food” in Cashmere, WA (about 2 hours East of Seattle.)  Kevin writes:

“I am currently re-reading “Setting the Table” by Danny Meyer and at the end of the introduction he says ‘Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.’  He defines Great Service as delivering on your promise, steps 1 – x, a monologue, what your company sets out to do, etc. Great Hospitality on the other hand is a human dialog that makes people feel good. It’s thoughtful and creative, customized and intelligent.

To achieve all you can be (in life and business) you must be good at both…In our business I try to tell everyone to think of each customer as if they were their grandmother. A bit corny perhaps, but for me that idea sets the stage for a positive interaction.”

It’s because of retailers like Kevin and the hundreds of thousands of others out there who “get it,” that I believe retail is far from dead.  Long live retail!

P.S. (My next “brand as business brief” on brand experiences is coming out next week — don’t miss out — subscribe here.)

brand as business bit:  I love how some of The New York Times’ best business stories aren’t found in the Business section.  Case in point:  The Sports section’s recent recap of the 76ers turnaround.   It retraces private equity titan Josh Harris’s moves to rejuvenate the august team – and in doing so, it provides helpful pointers for any business leader who’s taken up the charge to get a brand on track:

• authentically participate in the community – “…Fans prefer that owners have some allegiance to their city. [Harris] has attended nearly every home game,” and has also emphasized his family’s long ties to Philadelphia.
• use fans to create more fans – “[CEO Adam  Aron]  invited fans to apply for free seats behind the basket as long as they dress up in Philadelphia-themed outfits.”
• emphasize the brand history – “Aron even bought the court on which Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in Hershey, Pa., giving pieces away to fans on March 2, the 50th anniversary of Chamberlain’s feat.”
• personally engage with fans – “Aron regularly jousts with fans on Twitter, sending out dozens of posts a day from his account, @sixersceoadam. After a recent loss, Aron commiserated with a fan who said he had punched his wall. ‘I put a dent in my wall too,’ Aron wrote.”

brand as business bit:  In my contribution to OPEN Forum this month, Why Brand?, I lay out what strong brands do for small businesses.  Although I usually work with larger companies/brands, I believe a brand is any business leader’s most powerful tool for accelerating and sustaining growth.  And so, small businesses should invest in brand development from the start.

In the piece, I explain how a brand can help establish trust with risk-averse customers and how it can help build critical business relationships. Please let me know what you think.

When a B-school professor starts a talk by saying he doesn’t have answers, only opinions, that’s certain to raise a few eyebrows.

But then, Harry Kraemer is not your average B-school prof — and his approach isn’t standard B-school proclamations from on high nor are his teachings your average B-school material.

Harry was the Chairman and CEO of Baxter International Inc., a multi-billion-dollar global health care company, and is currently an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in the U.S., whose portfolio includes CDW, LA Fitness, and Bolthouse Farms.  And by his telling, he kind of fell into teaching at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he currently is one of the most popular and admired professors.

Harry’s “Q & O” approach (that’s Question & Opinion, in lieu of Question & Answer) is only one way he distinguishes himself. His real-world experience and his years of study on leadership give him a unique perspective on the role of values in an organization’s competitive advantage.   I had the pleasure of hearing Harry speak recently and perusing his book, From Values to Action:  The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership.

His ideas are extremely compelling to me because of my bias for action and execution.  Unlike others who simply promote values and culture, he directly links them to productivity and performance.  And his track record of success speaks for itself.  Here’s some of what I’ve learned from Harry:

- You can’t lead others if you’re not leading yourself first.

Self-reflection is the foundational principle of values-based leadership.  It’s “the key to identifying what you stand for, what your values are, and what matters most.”

Harry has made self-reflection a life-long practice, spending 15 minutes every evening asking himself and recording his answers to questions like, “What did I do today?  Did I do what I said I would?  What did I do that I’m proud of?  Not proud of?  If I had to live today over again, what would I do differently?”  And, the clincher:  “If I have tomorrow, what will I do differently based on what I learned today?”

Leaders must take the time to shut off the noise and take an honest assessment of their situation.  Not only does this yield clarity on your values, but it enables you to connect and communicate with others more effectively, helps you become more aware of the decisions you make and the likely outcomes and implications, and helps you look at things holistically.

As a math major, Harry tends to boil things down to equations. Here’s how he came value self-reflection:

A – If I’m not self-reflective, how can I know myself?

B – If I don’t know myself, how can I lead myself?

C – If I don’t lead myself, how can I lead others?

If A=B and B=C, then A=C.

- Prioritization requires rigor.

Leaders must face the harsh reality that there will always be more things to do than you are able to.  Prioritization, therefore, is key.  However, too often when companies set priorities, they identify multiple things as top priority. But, as Harry asserts, “Sorry, but it doesn’t really work that way.”

You must rigorously designate one thing as the first priority, one thing as second, one as third, and so on.  It’s a difficult process, but once you do it, making decisions based on your priorities becomes fairly easy.

This goes for people as well as organizations.  Everyone has 168 hours in a week to live, but most people don’t think about how they spend their time.   And many confuse activity with productivity.  To align your life with your values, you need to make explicit decisions, identify how you waste time, and decide what you are going to stop doing so you can do what matters.

- It’s as simple – and as hard – as doing the right thing.

Harry boils down values-based leadership to “doing the right thing.”  It’s a simple principle, but one that foils many leaders because they don’t take the time to know what the right thing is.

It’s inevitable that every leader will face change, controversy, and crisis (“the 3C’s,” in Harry’s lingo.)  And it’s in these challenging times, that a leader’s actions broadcast his or her values.  You need to be disciplined, focused, consistent, and credible.  So the time to prepare for the 3C’s is when things are going well.

That’s why leaders need to practice self-reflection – as well as the other principles of values-based leadership:  balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility.  Doing so is hard work, and it’s really a lifelong practice.  “They represent a lifelong discipline that will challenge you,” Harry admits, “but will always bring you back to what matters most.”

The objective of values-based leadership is to be able to do the right thing without agonizing over the issues.  When you know who you are and the values for which you stand, you can see choices more clearly and make decisions more easily.

There is plenty more to learn from Harry, but let me conclude with an inspiring quote from the conclusion of his book:

“Values-based leadership requires lifelong learning and a continuous process of self-reflection to discover those areas in which we need to grow and develop.  We are always traveling toward a forward-moving goal; we never arrive.”

related posts:

• Sam Palmisano’s Legacy:  Teaching a Giant to Run
• Thriving in Business
• How to Succeed in Small Business

brand as business bit:  Last week, my guest post “Once Upon a Company” ran on upMover, the blog of UpMo, an employee-centric career management company.  I wrote about the power of storytelling to engage employees.  I realize that some business leaders may want to leverage internal storytelling but may not know how to do so.  Here are a few best practices:

• Story listening – You don’t only want to take a top-down approach.  The most effective story-telling approach actually combines it with story-listening and story-triggering.  In story-listening, the process includes eliciting and collecting stories from all stakeholders, helping people to draw meaning from those stories, and then creating opportunities for the stories to inspire them to take positive, transformational action.  Story-triggering involves setting the stage (through experiences, statements, etc.) for great stories to arise and then actively collecting and sharing them.
• Evolution – Stories are like strategies in that they provide direction and a framework of meaning that explains the why behind the what of a business. But they’re also like chord progressions used by jazz musicians that allow people to improvise and adapt within the progression to suit the needs of the moment.  People should be empowered to evolve the meanings and applications of stories as the company itself evolves and grows.
• Individual ownership – Stories get the most traction when people make them their own.  So instead using PowerPoint presentations and scripts to convey stories, people should be encouraged to learn and tell a story in their own words, supported by their own anecdotes.  Each telling of the story should be an individual expression of a common narrative.

brand as business bit:  The folks at UpMo, an employee-centric career management company, asked me to contribute to their blog, the upMover.   I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share about something I’ve been thinking about for awhile now:  the power of storytelling to engage employees.

Companies often use advertising and social media to share rich and compelling stories with their customers and then revert to PowerPoint presentations and strategy documents for internal communications.  But employees need to be inspired as much as – if not more than – customers.

In my post, Once Upon a Company, I convey how business leaders can use stories to convey their company’s vision, reinforce its values, and inspire connections among its people. I’d be grateful if you would take a click over to my piece and let me know what you think.

Four successful leaders in the restaurant business shared wise advice and juicy tidbits at the California Restaurant Association Orange County Chapter‘s CEO/President’s Panel last week.  Panelists included:

• Skip Fox — President, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
• Doug Cavanaugh — Chairman, CEO & Founder, Ruby’s Diner
• Joe Manzella — Proprietor & Founder, TAPS Fish House & Brewery, and The Catch
• Howard Gordon — President & CEO, Gordon Restaurant Group LLC, former The Cheesecake Factory executive and current proprietor of Itriya Café

Although each represented a different type of restaurant company, the panelists agreed on three keys to success in the business:

1. agility — Things change so fast in restaurants, you have to be able to move quickly and smartly.  Howard talked about how he intended for his restaurant  to be fast casual concept (order at the counter, food is delivered to your table), but after a couple of weeks, he determined that service model didn’t suit his guests.  Despite the re-training and workflow changes needed, he knew he needed to make the switch right away. “I closed the business on a Friday night as a fast casual concept, and opened it for Saturday lunch with table service,” he recalled.
2. stamina — Yelp was clearly a challenge for the panelists, given the potential impact a single negative review.  But they all acknowledged it, and other review sites and social networks like it, are here to stay.  And they agreed you need to perservere and have patience.  Doug explained, “It’s an averages game.  You’ve got to look at it as a long haul.“
3. customer relationship building — Not one of the panelists has used daily deal promotions like Groupon, but every one of them cultivates their customer database.  Joe said that he favors database promotions over others because the customers in your database “like you, trust you, and want to hear from you.” Furthermore, Fox explained his staff keeps notes on their customers so they know what they like, if they need to stock up on a certain item in order to have what they want, and how to serve them best.

The folks at Deloitte recently released, The Next Evolution: Store 3.0,  a report on the readiness of retailers for the store of tomorrow.  Although the report offers a somewhat limited and biased perspective since it is based on a survey of only 39 current retail executives, it raises some important questions about the requirements of the future store.

One point caught my attention: the role of the sales associate.  “As customers’ purchasing behaviors evolve, the sales associate role must evolve with them,” the report rightly stated. It laid out primary salesperson tasks/skill sets:

• POS assistance
• Purchase selection assistance
• Specialized product knowledge
• Technology savvy
• Brand ambassadorship

“Today the top three most important responsibilities and skills of the sales associate are POS assistance, purchase selection assistance, and specialized product knowledge,” reported the survey respondents.  “As we look to the next three to five years, survey respondents pushed specialized product knowledge and brand ambassadorship to the top of the list, ahead of POS assistance, as a store employee’s most important roles.”  And the report predicted that, “Five or more years from now, the sales associate is expected to become a technologically-savvy brand ambassador with specialized product knowledge.”

While this direction is absolutely on-target, there are some key tasks/skills missing from the report’s list of qualifications of the sales associate of tomorrow:

salesmanship – Retail salespeople need to be skilled in the art of selling, i.e., establishing rapport, explaining value, overcoming objections, etc. This may seem like a no-brainer, but with the current trends like reductions in training and moves away from commissioned sales, salesmanship at retail is becoming a lost art (see another post of mine on this subject.)

customer relationship building – In retail, salespeople are a critical piece of a company’s customer relationship management program.   A robust customer database is only valuable when it’s used, and not only by corporate folks.  Salespeople on the floor need to understand who their customers are, what their specific needs/wants/preferences are, how to provide personalized service, how to foster continued loyalty, etc.

customer ambassadors – Salespeople glean valuable insights about customers since they’re interacting face-to-face with them every day.  As such, they can serve as customer ambassadors to the company.  Fast fashion retailers like Zara use input from salespeople to inform product design.  Store layout, service policies, product quality, and assortment are other areas where salespeople’s perspectives are invaluable.  Companies need to train salespeople so they know how to integrate customer insights with company priorities when giving input, and they need to develop processes for incorporating salespeople insights into the company’s strategies and plans.

Rising labor costs are squeezing already thin margins and so retailers may feel a need to scale back on sales floor coverage, salesperson training, and infrastructure enhancements that help salespeople do their jobs effectively.  And with shiny new objects like mobile devices, augmented reality, and social shopping apps, retailers may be tempted to favor technology investments over people ones.

But it would be shortsighted to discount the importance of sales associates in the store of tomorrow.  The Deloitte report closes with a strong exhortation for retailers to revive their talent management strategies:

“As customers increasingly demand a more personalized experience, your sales associates become even more critical in achieving that goal. That means investing in your employees by providing the necessary skills, training, education, compensation, and career-development options to increase product and technical knowledge, among other skills. It also means equipping them with the right technology so they can easily and conveniently provide customers with instant product information, purchase history, or customer preferences. The renewed investment in the sales associate as a brand ambassador will bring back the confidence in retail as a profession, and convert browsers to buyers.”

In other words, a skilled salesperson could quite possibly be the final bastion against the showrooming trend that looms large over brick-and-mortar retailers.

related posts:

• retail tensions
• 12 truths to guide retailing in 2012
• retail evolution

On the eve of a special Apple event, it seems the allure of the Apple brand is as strong as ever.  “We have something you really have to see. And touch,” declares the invitation to the March 7^th media event.  Quite a buzz has been building up!

I don’t know if tomorrow’s announcement will impress or disappoint – nor do I know how long Apple will continue to rock our world.  But I remain fascinated by what I can only describe as the magical appeal of the Apple brand.  To try to understand the magic, I looked for clues in Walter Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs, and put together this slide show of what the book teaches about brand-building: