The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Four Big Ideas to Help You Cultivate Influence in a Sharp-Elbowed Environment
I'm on record in my programs and various writings suggesting a "clean power" approach to cultivating influence in the workplace. There are ample opportunities to engage in the political environment in your organization without compromising your values. In my recent...
Four Big Ideas to Help You Cultivate Influence in a Sharp-Elbowed Environment
I love the “clean power” approach to cultivating influence because it’s how I choose to conduct myself. Many others have adopted their version of it for similar reasoning. However, not everyone plays by rules you deem fair, and not everyone has your interests at heart. Here are four ideas to help you survive and thrive when you find yourself working in a sharp-elbowed environment.
Is it time to expect more from your Marketing function?
Too many top executives in B2B organizations still equate the function and value of marketing with marketing communications. While the field of marketing has advanced considerably in the last two decades, the view that marketing equals leads, tradeshows, press releases and a web site is still fairly commonplace in the B2B world. This narrow view of marketing leaves money on the table in terms of what organizations should be deriving from a properly conceived approach to marketing. It all starts with setting the right expectations.
Our future leaders are at your kitchen table.
We all probably remember our teachers telling us at some point early in grade school that we are the future leaders of our country. I remember hearing those words and thinking of what it would be like to hold national office or serve as a judge on a high court. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the teachers held a broad view of leadership, knowing full well that most of their students may never hold national office, but that they will almost all have a leadership role to play in their communities, churches, charitable organizations, and of course with their families.
Great leadership habits are formed in youth through observation and participation. The next time you sit down to dinner with your family, take the time to offer encouragement to your future leaders. You might just have a prospective President or Supreme Court Justice asking you to pass the mashed potatoes.
Leading the Generations-An Example of What Not to Do!
I attended the family holiday party this weekend and while munching on too many cheesy ryes and catching up on the lives of the out-of-town relatives, I was stopped in my tracks by the story of the job change that my Gen X second cousin described. It was a stark description of the gross mismanagement of the generations at a unique time in history when we have four very distinct generations in the work force.
Leadership in Marketing Communications-In Search of the Relentless Promoter
There are many good B2B Marketing Communications professionals and teams, but a few individuals and teams stand-apart from the crowd as great. The truly great communications professionals are what I describe as Relentless Promoters. These rare and gifted professionals are the lifeblood a strong marketing communications team, and are visible by their singular focus on developing and refining programs and strategies that drive action or create visibility with their target audience. Here are a few suggestions for marketing leaders on finding and developing these valuable professionals.
Leader, are you the problem with your team’s performance?
As a leader looking for ways to improve the performance of your team, it is important to spend some time examining the impact that you have on the working environment and productivity of your associates. Effective self-examination might just help identify some opportunities for your own development that will spur the performance of those around you.
Sales and Marketing-It’s time to improve your performance on the trade show floor
Hey, sales and marketing manager(s), have you evaluated your team’s trade show performance recently? If not, it’s time to get out and walk the floor, work the booth and listen and learn. In my own B2B experience, trade shows were important components of an overall program to build thought-leadership, strengthen industry and influencer relations, and […]
Is it time to rethink your strategy chessboard through lateral thinking?
"You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper." Edward De Bono I was preparing for a strategy program with a client recently and came across some notes on one of the more invigorating topics on creativity: lateral thinking. The term and concept of "lateral thinking" was coined and […]
Marketing Leadership-An Oxymoron?
This is a return to one of my favorite rants-marketers giving marketing a bad name. In my 2007 article, Marketing Misunderstood, I described the struggle that many top B2B executives have in trying to understand the value that marketing contributes to their business. While there is ample blame to go around for why the nature, […]
First-time leaders and the wonderful world of ambiguity
I had just finished reading a great article in the December 4, 2007 Wall Street Journal, entitled: Welcome the Millennials, when I sat down to check e-mail and was excited to see a note from a long-time associate (and great person) describing her latest career step. After a number of years as a superstar soloist […]