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2012, according to the Chinese calendar, is the Year of the Dragon.  In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal and predictions for 2012 are for a dragon-like year of excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration, and intensity. With this expectation in mind, I’ve selected several brands to keep my eye on.  They’re likely to […]

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Culture is quite the hot topic in business these days.  The adage “Culture eats strategy for lunch” has been acknowledged for ages, but it seems the importance of culture is being emphasized now more than ever. […]

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Jason Fried, CEO of 37signals, knows a thing or two about small business.  His company has been developing apps for small businesses for seven years.  But it’s how he runs his own company that reveals his keen insight for how to be a successful small business. […]

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In a recent post, I described a meeting I led for one of my clients that needed to engage its senior leadership with its brand. And I mentioned that I had started the meeting with a cheeky “What Can Brands Learn from Lady Gaga?” video. Although I can’t show the video here, I did want […]

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Last week one of my clients kicked off the journey to operationalize its brand with a fantastic Leadership Meeting! I thought I’d share what the meeting entailed in an effort to pull back the curtain on how I help companies operationalize their brands to grow their businesses. […]

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I may be dating myself with this headline, but I’m hoping at least a few of my readers remember those Silkience hair care commercials from the 70’s because it helps make an important point about targeting. […]

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How do you develop leaders who are committed to the purpose of their work, support the foundations of their organization’s brand and culture, and understand that everything they do matters?  That’s the topic of today’s interview. My guest is Mark Tomaszewicz, Director of The Sharp Experience at Sharp Healthcare. Sharp is one of San Diego’s […]

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This is the last post in a mini-series about the F word – failure, that is. (Previous posts relayed insights about managing yourself through awareness and assessment and managing others with clear expectations and empathy.) People may not like to fail but according last month’s Harvard Business Review, they should. Most of the 140 pages […]

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It might seem ironic that the venerable Harvard Business Review, a publication from an institution that has produced many successful leaders, would devote an entire issue to failure as it did last month. But given how much research and work has been done on the subject, it turned out to be one of the best […]