People Matters

Horse Whispering in the Workplace?

Posted on December 9, 2013 at 5:19 pm

Just as horses read intentions, so do people — and kindness is good for any relationship. As Bob advises, “Don’t put your purpose before your connection.”

TARA BENNETT-GOLEMAN is the author of “Mind Whispering: A New Map to Freedom From Self-Defeating Emotional Habits.”

Read more>>>

Onboarding 101

Posted on November 5, 2013 at 8:23 pm

When you join a new organization and meet new people—onboarding, in the parlance of our times—you can’t help but form a new social identity. Can such an experience be made less anxiety-inducing? In a new paper, Harvard Business School prof Francesca Gino and two coauthors say yes. Here’s how.

Read More>>>

In a Word: The Power of The Word

Posted on January 7, 2013 at 3:45 pm

No, this is not gospel.

But, for 2013 companies can think about meeting their goals through the focus and power of one word.

And, no, we do not know your word.

But, we just read a Fast Company post by Wall Street Journal reporter, Jon Gordon.

He noted the following: “My friends Dan Britton and Jimmy Page told me how each year for the past 15 years they chose a word that would be a driving force in their lives and work. No goals. No Resolutions. Just One Word.”

Perhaps that is why we see entire football teams in their pre-game huddle chanting one word together:  For example: “Team.”  It reminds all the players they are part of something bigger.

Gordon noted that The Atlanta Falcons’ word was “finish,” because head coach, Mike Smith wanted the team to finish strong in everything they did.  The Falcons ended the season with the NFL’s best record.

Also, think of the power of single words: hope, peace, love, win – each evokes images, memories and perhaps is motivational.

The single word also reminds us of the power of simplicity.  We can all rally around simple terms, simple goals, and simple ideas.

So, in the coming year, in thinking about your goals for you and your company, consider finding the word that will help empower you to your dreams for 2013.

With that, you and your organization will have “purpose:” a word worth considering.  Now, go ahead, find your right word.

Social Media Manager’s Social Gap

Posted on December 5, 2012 at 8:46 pm

In our world of media and entertainment, we might be abuzz about Lisa Hsai or theAudience – BUT

The dichotomy of social media executives is based on one fact: what makes you a great social media person does not make you a great socializer in person. Tweeting from behind the wall of an electronic device is not the same as standing in the boardroom and selling an idea.

In hundreds of interviews with hundreds of executives, only 2% of social media managers know how to socialize their ideas to the top.

Clearly Lisa Hsai knows how to socialize her ideas inside the company – sell them into the C-Suite and make a bottom line difference.

Yet, getting social media to make a difference is a two-way street. First someone needs to know how to present ideas on new social platforms to the top – then management needs to tear down the walls.

Closing the social media gap is not easy and is the timeworn generation-gap problem in business. We all know which media and entertainment companies right now are resistant to change and those that are cashing in on change.

So, what can companies do? For starters, create venues for social media ideas to be presented in person – not on a device.

It is a start to devise a new way to get ideas to the top.

DIGG.com Underscores That Content is King

Posted on July 30, 2012 at 3:01 pm

In a recent post entitled, Not Enough People Dug Diggwe are reminded that content is king.

In the end, why does having reader’s vote on what news goes on the front page not work? Simple-they are not qualified.

Oddly enough this is apparent when we watch shows like “American Idol.”  Voting for contestants by the public does not begin until the final 12.  Before that, the judges make the call.

The same is true with news.  The editor makes the call.  Is he/she always right? – absolutely not.  But the editor, the producer and the director all arrive on the scene with a sixth sense more powerful than a computer.  That sense: judgment.

So, as tech companies become content providers, remember that the latest technology does not get you eyeballs or sales.  Great content wins the day.

I have been talking to many technology execs that are misjudging the power of judgment. 

People get bored with a high tech, sci-fi filled story with cool eye candy and no plot.

Pyrotechnics on Broadway are a fleeting moment; the musical’s book lasts a lifetime.

Cool technical functionality without consumer engagement does not capture long-term market share.

Yet great content that cannot be accessed when, where, and how the viewer dictates will fail.

It is a new yin-yang world of digital content.  As the yin needs the yang, the technology needs the content – which is still king.

 

 

Microsoft Goes Apple-Microsoft After Nancy Tellem

Posted on June 27, 2012 at 9:43 pm

I just read two articles, one from CNET and the other from Deadline.com – both on Microsoft. 

The Deadline.com story, Microsoft In Talks With Nancy Tellem For Top Entertainment Post,   is related to the CNET story, As Microsoft retools, Ballmer has chance to rewrite his CEO legacy.  In fact, Microsoft is racing to become an entertainment company.  And Ballmer is showing that with Microsoft’s new Surface tablet and Xbox, it is going to connect directly with consumers.

While Microsoft is supposedly in talks with Tellum, the CBS TV executive and now CBS consultant to lead Microsoft’s expanded efforts in entertainment; Ballmer may be forging ahead to make the company look and feel more like Apple — an end-to-end entertainment and information experience.

Ballmer is turning Microsoft upside down, but the migration of entertainment execs to the leading tech companies is turning NYC and Hollywood upside down.

It is a new talent war for eyeballs on new platforms.  By the way, has anyone scratched the surface on the new Microsoft Surface tablet?

 

Long-Term Thinking In Our World of 13-Week Cycles

Posted on June 22, 2012 at 7:52 pm

This week I was struck by content that matters.  It was a Wall Street Journal article entitled: What Makes Jeff Bezos Tick? A $42 Million Clock, for Starters.”  In it, Mr. Bezos is quoted about his clock: “The reason I’m doing it is that it is a symbol of long-term thinking, and the idea of long-term responsibility.”  This huge clock, being designed and built deep inside a mountain on Bezos’s West Texas property, will last longer than Timex, which can “take a licking and keep on ticking.”  Bezos’s clock is a “The 10,000 Year Clock.”

Separately, Ann Curry is reportedly on her way out as a co-host of The Today Show in less than a year.  She is the casualty of more than a ratings dip – The Today Show finished number two in the ratings recently to Good Morning America.

In the broadcast world, 13 weeks is a lifetime.  In the real world, a lifetime is a fleeting moment.

Andy Warhol said in 1968, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

Bezos has the right idea for a lasting impression.

By the way, who reading has heard of John Cameron Swayze?  How about Albert Einstein.  Also, interesting that Warhol’s 15-minute quote lasted way beyond his lifetime – not to mention his art.

Bezos reminds us to reset our priorities – I mean clocks.