Sunday 30 January 2011

Small talk that can be significant

My most viewed slideshare, describe your strategy in six words, tells the story of how I began to help my clients develop unique strategies, get buy-in to them, and significantly increase the likelihood of execution.

Since producing the slideshare I have discovered perhaps the originator of the six word concept, Larry Smith.

Larry Smith's Six Word Project from PopTech on Vimeo.


And recently one of my favourite authors, Dan Pink has had an incredible response to asking his readers, What’s your sentence?

The amazing growth of Twitter, TED talks and Pechakucha are further examples that small talk can be significant.

Still, my favourite significant small talk occurs when authentically I say and hear, please, thank you, and I love you.

What is your favourite small talk that you would regard as significant?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

Thursday 27 January 2011

The law of attraction is not a secret

I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday about the law of the attraction made popular by the extraordinary sales success of The Secret DVD and book, and the so-called channelings of Esther Hicks.

We concluded that the law of attraction has become another thing people grasp at to be successful when the point is become a better person and success follows.

We reflected on the Jim Rohn line:

Success is not something we attain, it is something we attract by the person we become.

and this from Harold Whitman

Do not worry about what the world needs, but find out what makes you come alive. Because what the world needs, is people who have come alive.

I would be very interested in your thoughts. Please email me or get in touch.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

Sign-up here for a least one free resource per month and to get your complimentary copy of my ebook Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business

Monday 24 January 2011

Global Financial Crisis (GFC) - what crisis?

As far as I can tell not one person has been held to account for the GFC. I am surprised that many executives haven’t been jailed.

And from what I can tell from my research the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. The salaries some CEO’s receive tells the story vividly.

Many CEOs receive a salary package that is more than 300 times their lowest paid employee. In my view no one person is worth this.

Even JP Morgan, one of the most successful bankers in history, and not someone whose actions I would regard as a heroic, believed that no CEO should earn any more than 20 times the wage of the lowest paid employee.

What’s going on?

Perhaps Warren Buffett, whose actions as a CEO I would regard as a heroic, has the right perspective. His salary is $100,000 pa and has been for 30 years!

I recommend you read the Why Sky-High CEO Pay is Bad Business article by John Mackey the Chairman and CEO of Whole Foods Market one of the worlds best organisations by any measurement.

I would be very interested in your thoughts. Please email or get in touch with me.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

Looking for inspiration to change what’s normal in your life and work?
I can help you via a tailored talk, meaningful and measurable mentoring, a changing what’s normal program or your participation in a Master-class.

Friday 21 January 2011

Real leaders are readers regardless of reading formats

ebooks outsell hardcover books on Amazon. See July 2010 press release here. for some very interesting statistics.
They are significant considering Amazon has been selling books for 15 years and Kindle ebooks for 3 years!

I have read at least one book a week for more than 35 years and while I have helped Amazon increase their ebook sales!, I still prefer to have a hardcover book in my hands!

I also enjoy reading book summaries. My favourites are those produced by The Book Rapper, Geoff McDonald.

So my reading habits are:
1. hardcover books
2. ebooks
3. Geoff’s book raps

I would be interested to learn about your reading habits.

Writing and publishing ebooks myself and with other people has been a significant business building tool for me. Some examples are here.

Please download my recommended reading lists by clicking here, and putting ceo in the password box.

Sign-up here for a least one free resource per month and to get your complimentary copy of my ebook Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

Thursday 20 January 2011

What is stopping you from achieving your aspirations?

All human beings have aspirations. Most people do not achieve them. In my view this is because most of us do not feel we are worthy of achieving what we aspire to.

A key to being able to feel worthy is our willingness to be vulnerable.

I gained much from this TEDx talk by Brene Brown about being vulnerable.

I would be very interested in your thoughts about vulnerability as a key characteristic of real leadership.



Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

If you need inspiration to change what’s normal in your life and work then please call me without delay. I can help you via a tailored talk, meaningful and measurable mentoring, a changing what’s normal program or your participation in a Master-class.

Monday 17 January 2011

Peace may not be what you think it is

This 10 minute 52 seconds TED talk by Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams will inspire you to find ways to collaborate to change what’s normal.



Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

Sign-up here for a least one free resource per month and to get your complimentary copy of my ebook Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Will CSV supersede CSR?

I am celebrating 20 years in business for myself this year. And since the beginning I have been helping my clients to build and grow businesses that are good for people, our planet, and for profit.

A key to my modis operandi has been helping my clients to discover a shared view about now, where, why, how, who, what, and when, and the creation of shared value for all stakeholders of their businesses.

In my 20 years I have come across many operators who have wanted to embrace CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) for all the wrong reasons or have taken the view that CSR is a must do in order to maintain a good reputation or that CSR is a nice thing to do because it can be a way of giving back or doing good.

A few enlightened leaders have taken a different view. They see responsibility as integral to their growth strategies. These folk are my kind of people and it is working with such people that brings me joy because creating shared value is at the top of their agendas.

So you can imagine my delight when I read a Harvard Business Review article recently about creating shared value and referring to it as The Big Idea! The article is written by none other than highly regarded strategy guru Michael E. Porter and a colleague Mark R. Kramer. You can read the article here.

Here is an excerpt:

Companies must take the lead in bringing business and society back together. The recognition is there among sophisticated business and thought leaders, and promising elements of a new model are emerging. Yet we still lack an overall framework for guiding these efforts, and most companies remain stuck in a “social responsibility” mind-set in which societal issues are at the periphery, not the core.

The solution lies in the principle of shared value, which involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Businesses must reconnect company success with social progress. Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success. It is not on the margin of what companies do but at the center. We believe that it can give rise to the next major transformation of business thinking.

A growing number of companies known for their hard-nosed approach to business—such as GE, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, NestlĂ©, Unilever, and Wal-Mart—have already embarked on important efforts to create shared value by reconceiving the intersection between society and corporate performance. Yet our recognition of the transformative power of shared value is still in its genesis.

Realizing it will require leaders and managers to develop new skills and knowledge—such as a far deeper appreciation of societal needs, a greater understanding of the true bases of company productivity, and the ability to collaborate across profit/nonprofit boundaries. And government must learn how to regulate in ways that enable shared value rather than work against it.

Capitalism is an unparalleled vehicle for meeting human needs, improving efficiency, creating jobs, and building wealth. But a narrow conception of capitalism has prevented business from harnessing its full potential to meet society’s broader challenges. The opportunities have been there all along but have been overlooked. Businesses acting as businesses, not as charitable donors, are the most powerful force for addressing the pressing issues we face.

The moment for a new conception of capitalism is now; society’s needs are large and growing, while customers, employees, and a new generation of young people are asking business to step up.

The purpose of the corporation must be redefined as creating shared value, not just profit per se. This will drive the next wave of innovation and productivity growth in the global economy. It will also reshape capitalism and its relationship to society. Perhaps most important of all, learning how to create shared value is our best chance to legitimize business again.


If these words delight you as much as they do me then I suggest you are going to have a great year in 2011 and beyond.

Will CSV (Creating Shared Value) supersede CSR? I expect it will and along with it a changing of what’s normal for the betterment of the world.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian

Monday 10 January 2011

Is your slogan authenticated by your story?

Australia’s big 4 banks have interesting slogans.

The Commonwealth Bank’s slogan is Determined to be different and every day their slogan features in numerous TV advertisements.

I find the slogan odd. I don’t want to do business with people determined to be different; I want to do business with people who are different. And my personal experience of this bank is that they are not different, rather they are the same as every other bank!

Is your slogan authenticated by your story, or is it aspirational rather than actual?

When stories don’t match slogans brand value suffers. It is all very well to be aspirational, as determined to be different is, however being aspirational when it comes to our slogans, tag lines, or value propositions, is for me a dangerous practice. Of course when our one line positioning statement is actual and present tense, and we don’t deliver, we are in even more trouble!

Think very carefully about what you say about yourself and your organisation. Only say what you will deliver.

The ANZ Bank has the slogan is We live in your world. I have no idea what this means so they are unlikely to attract me as a customer.

Westpac Bank says We’re a bank you can bank on. I have no idea what this means either. I bank with them more because I have for many years rather being attracted by anything they say.

Do the people who you want to be your customers/clients get your slogan?

The National Australia Bank has the slogan more give, less take. I find this also an odd slogan for a bank when most people think of banks as more take, less give! Of course if National Australia Bank is delivering, then they would be standing out from the crowd. I can’t comment, I am not one of their customers.

Is your slogan authenticated by your story?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master - catalyst for changing what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit

If you need inspiration to change what’s normal in your life and work then please call me without delay. I can help you via a tailored talk, meaningful and measurable mentoring, a changing what’s normal program or your participation in a Master-class.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Are you doing what you must to ensure your first quarter result in 2011 matches your dreams?

By the end of March every year normal people are wondering what happened because results dreamed of at the end of last year have not materialised.

This is because appropriate actions haven’t been taken in September, October, November, and December, and even before that!

No need for despair however. Act now and you can ensure your results on the 31st March 2011 exceed your dreams.

Meet with your team in the next 48 hours and do the following.

1. Agree on what the best possible 31st March 2011 team result looks like

2. Break down team goal into individual goals. This is easy of course if there is only you in your business!

3. Help each person complete a personal performance plan. A template is here.

4. Have appreciation conversations with people when they do well and accountability conversations when they don’t perform according to their plan. You need do nothing more than ask the questions outlined here and then keep your mouth shut. If there is just you in your business then get a family member, friend, or colleague to become your performance partner today and have them ask you the questions.

5. Celebrate achievements with individuals at the end of February and help them complete their personal performance plan for 1st April through 30th June 2011. A template for celebrating and upgrading plans is here. If there is just you in your business complete this process with your performance partner.

Some people tell me the above is too simple and won’t work.

Let me tell you that simple rarely means easy. And let me tell you something else. The people I know who take these 5 simple steps each quarter, regardless of country or culture, or industry, are outperforming the people who don’t by a staggering margin.

Normal people don’t do the above which is why they achieve normal results. Normal doesn’t cut it anymore.

Normal is why the world still hasn’t solved our biggest problems even though solutions to every single one are possible.

I have declared 2011 as the year of changing what’s normal for the good of yourself, other people, our planet, and for profit.

I hope you will join me in changing what’s normal.

All change is personal first and it begins with making an oath to never ever again be stupid or idiotic.

Someone said that the definition of stupidity is:
Expecting a different result by continuing to do the same old thing.

Someone else said that the definition of idiocy is:
Doing something different and still getting the same result.

If you need inspiration to change what’s normal in your life and work then please call me without delay. I can help you via a tailored talk, meaningful and measurable mentoring, a changing what’s normal program or your participation in a Master-class.

I work with passionate people who want to truly make a difference and not die wondering.

Together we can achieve results that will take your breath away.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian