The Corner Office

I heard it twice last week: “Well, next week’s Thanksgiving, and then comes Christmas and all those holiday parties so nothing’s really going to happen until January.”

Bah! Humbug! Okay, I’m not much of an Ebenezer Scrooge. But let’s face it; if your business is party planning, the holidays are a boom time. Otherwise, you may as well roll up the carpet and hang a “Gone Fishing” sign on the door, right? Wrong.

If you’re resigned to lost productivity and plummeting effectiveness during the holidays, it’s just like handing market share to your competitor. Why? Because, if they’re smart - and I’m sure they are - they’ll be planning new programs for the new year. That’s right, the holidays are actually the best time to initiate change programs, strategic planning, or brainstorm innovative ideas. Anything out of the ordinary.

Why? Well, I’m not entirely sure. This is empirical observation - it just works. Still, I can take a stab at it.
First, this time of year the days are cold, the nights are long, and people don’t hibernate, so they become bored and antsy. Second, the holidays are inspiring - people tend to become animated and optimistic. Third, folks start getting into a freewheeling party spirit, so if you can get them out of their daily doldrums and into a brainstorm or planning session, they’ll be up for it.

Anyway, trust me; it works. In fact, whether you’re looking for a new career, a small business owner, department manager, division VP, or CEO of a Fortune 100 company, here are …

5 Ways to Make the Holidays Work For You:

1. Initiate your annual strategic planning process or just an annual review of your company’s or group’s overarching mission, objectives, strategies, whatever. If you hold weekly meetings starting in November, you should be able to finish and be ready to hit the ground running the first week of January.
2. Initiate development on a new program or SOP. Maybe the timing’s not right for your strategic plan. Instead, review your company’s SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and plan to upgrade or fill in the gaps. Or initiate development of a new website, CRM program, whatever you need.
3. Brainstorm new business ideas or opportunities with your staff. Kick it off with a motivational pitch, team-building exercise, or just dinner and drinks. Then assign each person to bring an idea to the table, analyze a competitor, whatever. Coalesce on one or two changes and you’re there. 
4. Conduct a 360 review. Sure, the holidays are a great time for reflection. But don’t reflect on your own subjective and tainted memories; get an objective perspective from your employees, peers, and boss. Conduct a 360 review of your management style and ability and have your staff to do the same.
5. Initiate a 5-Step Career Turnaround. Conduct your own personal SWOT analysis, develop your value proposition, or brainstorm ideas for starting your own business or making changes to your existing one. Hey, that’s what I’ll be doing.

In any case, doing this stuff during the holidays means you’re not doing some other time of the year when you and your folks should be hitting the streets working, right? Right.

When I was a fulltime executive, I never would have found time for social media and all the communications gadgets everyone’s eyes, ears, and thumbs seem to be glued to these days. I used to work like 50-60 hour weeks, not to mention all the travel. The rare times I was home and not working or sleeping, I had things to do, fun to have, and relationships to maintain … like my marriage.

Now I work a lot less but my time is still somehow consumed - with what, I don’t know - and the lure of social media and communications gadgets loom like an ever-growing mountain of unmet expectations. So I wonder: how the heck does anyone have time for all this stuff and is your business life “more” or “less” fulfilling and productive now than it was pre-social media?

For me, the answers are “I don’t” and “less” and “less.” Bigtime. (more…)

Some executive staff meetings can get pretty heated. I’ll never forget one where we fought over a multimillion dollar promotional budget centered on the prelaunch of a major product line. In the middle of the mayhem, one executive asked a very good question.

“Why do we even need all this PR stuff? Why not just deliver the goods?”

“Because,” I replied, “The only thing more powerful than delivering a great product is saying you’re going to deliver a great product and then doing it.”

That was 12 years ago and I don’t mind admitting that today, my answer would be different. Indeed, telegraphing the introduction of a potentially breakthrough product in advance is a powerful PR strategy I’ve employed many times before and since. But the risk of overpromising and under-delivering can, at times, dwarf the potential reward. (more…)

The first time I was considered for a CEO position I actually got the job, which surprised the heck out of me. When I asked the executive recruiter why I was chosen over what I thought were more experienced candidates, one of the things he said was that I had “CEO presence.”

Admittedly, I’m not 100 percent sure what that means. But I have worked with hundreds of CEOs and other executives, so I thought I’d take a stab at what constitutes “executive presence.” Whenever I attempt this sort of thing, the results are often counterintuitive, if not downright surprising. This is no exception.

One conclusion is that executive presence has nothing to do with polish, poise, sophistication, or even use of body language and gestures. In my opinion, executives with presence are just as likely to not posses those qualities. In this day and age, executive presence comes in lots of shapes and sizes, including some you wouldn’t intuitively recognize. 30 years ago, who would have thought a nerd like Bill Gates could have executive presence? But he does.

Another conclusion some may have a tough time swallowing: I don’t think any of these qualities are easy to learn or practice. I’m sure you can cognitively develop and improve some of them, but not by much. Not that anyone’s born with them; they develop over time with experience and maturity. (more…)

It’s a hot trend and it’s here to stay. Retail marketers at Starbucks, Kraft, and Campbell have discovered that “simple” sells. Products that stress fewer ingredients - food, drinks, cosmetics, even pet food - are outselling rivals, as this USA Today story explains.

But is simple really better, or is this just another fad for health-conscious consumers, not to mention the ever-growing number of people looking for a quick fix so they can continue to gouge themselves on high-fat and sugary foods without feeling guilty? Sure, fewer additives and processing is a good thing, but three simple ingredients - butter, sugar, and flour - will kill you faster than you can say “cardiac arrest.”  

More to the point, tricking consumers with creative marketing is one thing. But will the trend extend beyond consumable products? Is ’simple’ something we should all be watching and considering in our marketing, branding, and positioning? The simple answer to that is yes. Here are …

Five reasons why you should Keep It Simple: (more…)

Language is a relatively effective communication tool. I say relatively effective because, well, let’s face it, it’s highly subjective and open to interpretation. And you know what? We make a bad situation worse by using labels.

Sure, labels are great shortcuts, but they have a big downside. They’re more subject to misinterpretation than if you were to describe what you’re talking about in detail.

For example, telling somebody you’re a “marketing guy” narrows their interpretation of your capabilities to oh, about 500 possibilities. Steve Jobs is a “marketing guy.” He’s also a CEO of one of America’s top companies. My phone just rang a few minutes ago. It was a “marketing guy” offering a special credit card rate. Big difference.   

Politics? Don’t even get me started.

When you’re being interviewed for a job, negotiating with a customer, or speaking with a potential client, do you really want to leave their impressions up to subjective interpretation? Of course not. And make no mistake: people base a lot - even big decisions - on first impressions. Don’t you? (more…)