a distinctive leadership culture

A Worldclass P&G Strategy ... or -in other words- Pure Bullshit Bingo

Bob McDonald, the P&G CEO, in a press release:

"We are continuing to focus on executing our growth and productivity strategy – maintaining momentum in developing markets, strengthening our core developed market business, building a strong innovation pipeline, and aggressively driving cost savings and productivity improvements. We’re confident that this strategy will enable (our company) to generate superior levels of shareholder return in both the short- and long-term."

Via brandchannel.

If I were a wise investor I would challenge the above to the core. How may anybody think this is a strategy? This is just a naked emperor.

Of course, this is what investors, investment banks, and traders want to hear. But: Do they? Or is that just a lost opportunity to demonstrate you are leap-frogging ahead - in a unique way?

Corporations must not just become more ASPIRING to reach their goals, but much more INSPIRING while setting them in the first place.

And CEOs must become more inspiring while talking about them.

10Rules for Students, Teacher, And Life

"Posted in the hallway of the Merce Cunningham Studio Dec. 8, 1998. Via Daniel Edward Roberts" - Via patrill. See brainpickings, too.

Livestreaming @thethirdclub: Round Table "Endet der Hype um Social Media?"

Wir, Thomas und ralf, freuen uns, den 1. The Third Club Round Table in Düsseldorf zu präsentieren. Besonders freuen wir uns über das Engagement Sascha Hüsings, ohne das dieser Round Table nicht stattfinden würde. Er hatte die Idee, wählte die Gäste, machte Termine und kümmerte sich um Streaming und Einladung.
Vielen Dank Sascha.

Für alle, die bei unserem Düsseldorfer Round Table nicht vor Ort sein können, bieten wir unten Livestream und Chat:
(Vielen Dank an dieser Stelle nocheinmal, Guido, dass Du Dich ums Streaming kümmerst).

The Good Men Project: 25 Rules For Dads Raising Daughters

As a (designated) leader and business wo/man you should know some things about life. One of the most basic and important ones is about raising your kids.

And: "... dads need to be just as attentive and loving as moms if they want to grow healthy, well-adjusted adults. When it comes to fathers with daughters, there are unique challenges associated with this endeavor." - HuffPo

So please read, reflect, and inhale the below rules by The Good Men Project (in case you have questions, and you will, click through to more detailed explanations at the source):

1. Tell her she’s pretty, but tell her other good things about herself more.
2. Teach her that handymen don’t have to be men.
3. Let her play in the mud.
4. Remember that the way you talk about and treat women will have a lasting impact.
5. Teach her the correct names for her genitals, and use them matter-of-factly.
6. Indulge her imagination.
7. Cry when the family pet dies.
8. Teach her honesty and integrity in relationships by demonstrating them in yours.
9. Read her books with great heroes — both boy and girl heroes.
10. Teach her that she has power over her own body and sexuality.
11. Teach her about male sexuality without fear-mongering.
12. Share music with each other.
13. Dress like a princess if she asks you to … And let her dress like a Power Ranger if she wants.
14. Go with her to the nail salon and each of you get a pedicure.
15. Include her in your favorite hobbies.
16. Let her put on shows for you. Then put on a silly show for her.
17. Let her choose any color she wants for one wall in her room.
18. Roughhouse with her.
19. Inspire her with women role models who excel in traditionally male-dominated fields or activities.
20. Don’t shame her for what she wants to wear — but exercise the power to modify.
21. Look her in the eyes and have a real conversation at least once every single day that you’re together.
22. As she gets older, tell her the truth about drugs. Don’t use scare tactics, be honest.
23. Teach her that “No” means “No”, for both herself and others.
24. Allow her to be girly if that’s her thing, but don’t force her to be if she’s not.
25. If she’s still little enough, hold her until she falls asleep sometimes.

- Via psychology notes.

Enjoy your kids!

On how to have great Meetings like Steve Jobs

Driving home from our The Third Club Lunch Düsseldorf where we - among others - spoke about the advantage of a qualitative vs a quantitative business approach, I remembered a post from Ken Segall I read a few days ago.

This is the essence, but please do read his full post:

"Apple co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, actively resisted any behavior he believed representative of the way big companies think -- even though Apple had been a big company for many years. When he called a meeting or reported to a meeting, his expectation was that everyone in the room would be an essential participant. Spectators were not welcome.

This was based on the somewhat obvious idea that a smaller group would be more focused and motivated than a large group, and smarter people will do higher quality work.

...

How many overpopulated meetings do you sit through during the course of a year? How many of those meetings get sidetracked or lose focus in a way that would never occur if the group were half the size?

...

How to Have a Great Meeting

1. Throw out the least necessary person at the table.
2. Walk out of this meeting if it lasts more than 30 minutes.
3. Do something productive today to make up for the time you spent here."

Via entrepreneur.

This will be a great way to start your own quality-instead-of-quantity approach to business tomorrow.

The Third Club Kolumne: "Social CEOs sind Outperformer - vice versa"

Für meine Kolumne @thethirdclub:

"IBM Study: If You Don't Have a Social CEO, You're Going to be Less Competitive"

Forbes schreibt über die Studie:

"The big takeaway: That using social technologies to engage with customers, suppliers and employees will enable the organization to be more adaptive and agile".

Aus der entsprechenden IBM-Pressemitteilung: 

"A new IBM study of more than 1,700 Chief Executive Officers from 64 countries and 18 industries worldwide reveals that CEOs are changing the nature of work by adding a powerful dose of openness, transparency and employee empowerment to the command-and-control ethos that has characterized the modern corporation for more than a century."

Gut, schwer vorstellbar, wenn man an den typischen, deutschen CEO denkt. Aber die Studie macht ja auch eine Einschränkung - sogenannte Outperformer sind ihren Kollegen wie immer um eine Nasenläge voraus:

"The advantages of the fast-moving trend are clear. According to the IBM CEO study, companies that outperform their peers are 30 percent more likely to identify openness - often characterized by a greater use of social media as a key enabler of collaboration and innovation - as a key influence on their organization.

Outperformers are embracing new models of working that tap into the collective intelligence of an organization and its networks to devise new ideas and solutions for increased profitability and growth."

Outperformer!

Nein, damit sind wohl Telecoms nicht gemeint:

"However, Telecommunications CEOs told us their use of social media is very low today, with only 11 percent engaging customers through this medium.

They feel their customers pulling away.

As a result, 73 percent said they plan to have social media as the key channel to interact with their customers over the next three to five years, enabling two-way communication as well as the ability to proactively respond to negative chatter." - Via (pdf).

Den Teil mit  'in den nächsten 3-5 Jahren' muss man sich natürlich auf der Zunge zergehen lassen.

"Today, only 16 percent of CEOs are using social business platforms to connect with customers, but that number is poised to spike to 57 percent within the next three to five years.

While social media is the least utilized of all customer interaction methods today, it stands to become the number two organizational engagement method within the next five years, a close second to face-to-face interactions."

Da könnte es einigen CEOs bestimmt nicht schaden, auch dies zu lesen ...

1. Dein CEO wird Deine Agentur nicht retten
2. Ist Dein CEO schon überflüssig?
3. Mutige CEOs gesucht

... oder ihren Marketern zu erklären, sie sollten wie ein Start-Up denken, denn Dem Marketing fehlt das Start-Up Gen!

TEDX: Nancy Duarte "The secret structure of great talks"

Via TEDX. 

Code should be the Second Language You Teach Your Kids!

"And we morph again, from a manufacturing economy to a service economy to a software economy.

Again, not everyone will be writing code.

But many more people will be ordering it, writing it, managing it, and interacting with it.
It makes sense to understand it and to be able to create at least a little." - Dan Frommer 

Via dpstyles, founder of foursquare.

Macho-'Kommunikationstrainer' oder Wo sind die Feministinnen, wenn man sie braucht?

"Weibliche Körpersprache im Job: Schluss mit Lächeln!", ist der Artikel in der Süddeutschen überschrieben.

Hoffentlich liest das keine/r, dachte ich. Und ich las es nur, da ich nun neugierig war, wie abstrus der Artikel nach dieser Headline noch werden konnte.

@TheThirdClub - or: To All the Brave Entrepreneurial Wo/Men: Creativity & Innovation Desperately Need You!

(Note: This is a cross post with my lead/marke blog.)

We just founded The Third Club!
Get to know more about it here (ya, it's German).

(Polaroid by Douglas Wilson > available here) 

At the moment we are 12 brave wo/men - but want to allure all brave wo/men out there! Just to give you a very small hint on what we are talking about please inhale the following list.

(Yeah, I know, some 20.000+ great people are not on that list.
But you do know: there is no definitive list of great people.)

This is not about names. The personalities beyond them will give you a pretty good picture what I am talking about. They are the wild-card characters of entrepreneurial personalities and spirit, of motivation, engagement, and dedication I would love to see @TheThirdClub:

FDP: Leadership-, Politik- und Marken-Kompetenz? Fehlanzeige!

Beim werbeblogger schrieb ich gestern über die Kompetenzen der FDP: Die FDP versteht von Politik ebensowenig wie von Markentechnik:

"Auch in der FDP müßte man die Spreu … hm … also wohl grundsätzlich neu anfangen: das öffentliche Vertrauen gewinnt man mit einem überlegenen Produkt, einer einzigartigen Mischung, einer Innovation, einer Problemlösung, mit einem Nutzen, mit Werten, mit Zielen, mit Taten statt Worten, mit Sinn, Bedeutung, Relevanz.

Das öffentliche Vertrauen gewinnt man mit Ehrlichkeit, mit Geradlinigkeit, mit Ecken und Kanten, mit Rückgrat und Mut, mit Zukunftsfähigkeit.

Das öffentliche Vertrauen gewinnt man als heutige FDP nicht mit Authentizität. Das Thema ist durch. Die FDP wird ihr Personal komplett auswechseln müssen. Wird sich selbst komplett auswechseln müssen. Dieses aktuelle Personal steht für die falschen Werte, für die falsche Zielgruppe.

Denn die FDP hat ua. die falschen Testimonials zu ihren Helden erklärt. Zuviele Silvanas, zuviele Doktortitel, zuviele Vorteile für zuwenige auf dem Rücken zuvieler Menschen.

Politik ist eine Berufung – des Dienens, nicht der Selbstbedienung. Politik ist Lebenswerk, nicht Lebensabschnittsgefährte bis einem die Industrie den Vorstandsposten andient, da man ihr wohlgedient hat, Herr Rösler."

Was die FDP - und damit jede Partei, jedes Unternehmen - braucht:

Einen Menschen, der vorangeht, dem die Menschen gerne folgen. Einen Mensch, der handelt, wie er predigt. Einen Mensch, der Vorbild sein kann, auf Augenhöhe, der die Menschen mitreißt. Einen Mensch, der nicht sich feiert, sondern die Menschen um ihn herum. Einen bescheidenen Mensch mit Gesundem Menschenverstand, kein größenwahnsinniger Träumer oder gar Spinner. Ein Vorbild, kein Führer, kein Diktator oder Spalter, im Großen nicht und nicht im Kleinen. Ein pragmatischer, hemdsärmeliger Macher. Eine neue Politikergeneration, fernab von Selbstdarstellern, Kommunikatoren und Karrieretechnikern.

Weitere Posts zur FDP und ihrem Führungspersonal.

It's Lonely at the Top of the Ivory Tower!

It's lonely at the top? It's the price you have to pay? NO.

It's just lonely at the top, if you do something wrong. If you do not care, if you don't trust people, if you don't embrace people.

If you don't love people. If you don't want to be a role model, inspire people, and enthuse them.

If you don't want to learm from people, don't want to talk with them, don't want to grow together with them.

How the hell did you reach the top?

Distinctive Leadership: Craft & Vision R/Evolutionsberatung für Agenturen

In diesen Tagen haben wir (@ufomedia, aka Thomas Koch, und meine Wenigkeit) ein spannendes Joint Venture an den Start gebracht: Craft & Vision R/Evolutionsberatung für Agenturen.

Wir haben uns ...

"... die Beratung von Agenturchefs auf die Fahnen geschrieben.

Stärken und Potenziale der jeweiligen Agentur sollen konkreter erkannt und genutzt werden.

Damit soll eine Platzierung auf dem eigenen Markt erfolgreicher sein und die Aufmerksamkeit der richtigen Kunden steigen." ...

"Oft sieht man seine Stärken sogar falsch und könnte sich ein erfolgsversprechenderes, glaubwürdigeres Profil geben". [Thomas Koch]

"Ohne Wandel, ohne Entwicklung, ohne ein mehr (Revolution) oder weniger (Evolution) starkes Über-sich-selbst-Hinauswachsen wird die Agentur nicht mehr lange im Wettbewerb bestehen können". [Ralf Schwartz]

Via Horizont.
Mehr auf unserer Website, im Blog oder via @CraftnVision.

Wir möchten damit dem Agentur-Leadership helfen, sich und die Agentur auf die eigenen Stärken zu besinnen, sich auf diese zu konzentrieren und neue Talente zu entwickeln.

Denn jede Agentur ist mehr als nur eine unter 12.000, mehr als nur 'kreativ', 'flexibel', 'inhaber-geführt', 'Agentur kurzer Wege'.

JFK: "Those Who Make Peaceful Revolution Impossible, ..."

Via nuclearmedicine.

... in every country, every society, every school, and university.
In every corporation, every department, and every office.

Steven Pinker: Language as a Window into Human Nature [Video]

Funny, and quite useful RSA video: people sometimes say what they don't mean, and are angry if we do not understand them!

Helpful for managers and their daily business / talk.

Great @weddady-Tweets Addressing our Western Leaders and People

This morning from 05:36-05:47hrs I retweeted (via @mediaclinique, deviations due to 140chr limitation) some tweets of @weddady (link to the original via resp. '@weddady')
- because they together form a great speech addressing our western governments, leaders, and people:

RT @weddady
Western leaders spoke for yrs about Liberty, yet they're unheard of when massacres r ongong

RT @weddady
Before #Libya #Tunisia #Egypt #Yemen why would youth trust anything Western leaders say if they abandon them @ their darkest hour?

RT @weddady
Example gov of #France REFUSED to even condemn Ben Ali's massacre, now that he's gone,they're all over #Tunisia. who's to trust em?

RT @weddady
the incrimination game works both ways. these times offer historical opp. to build healthy ppl 2 ppl relations

RT @weddady
What's @ stake isn't whether Kaddafi will stay or leave,or any dictator,but relations the west will have with #MENA AFTER

RT @weddady
Western governments (no exceptions) have been less than enthusiastic in supp. this new generation in #MENA, monumental mistake

RT @weddady
My advice to Western governments is that this is a HISTORICAL opp. to build healthy relations w ppl's of #MENA, don't waste it.

RT @weddady
A common view..RT @bassamj western governments are considering which side to be on, barrel of oil or humanity.. #Libya

RT @weddady
instead of getting stuck in the ways of the past, the West will gain a lot more by embracing the change

We all must think about these few words.
Finally it is about time for some action now, my dear leaders and people of the (so called) free world!

(In case you want to learn more about the revolutions, please follow @weddady, @monaeltahawy, @nolanjazeera, @Ghonim, @Dima_Khatib.)

Addendum

15:42hrs > Notruf aus Libyen (German) about: Mapping Violence Against Pro-Democracy Protests in Libya, kulturkampf.

Come on leaders of the free world, seize the day: All said! Unite! Save the world!

Dear Leaders of the oh so free World,

Please, tell me, what did wiki leak? Something you didn't already know about the government? About your fellow politicians? Other parties in your desperate run for power? Anything you secretely thought about other countries? Nobody was supposed to know?

Everybody knew! Wake up! Leave your ivory towers.

wikileads just proved what everybody knew - nothing else. Because it is the truth everybody ever seeing a diplomat or politician can tell. It is the truth about diplomats knowing to read people. It is the truth about politics, politicians, and parties. It is the truth about the struggle for power.

It is the truth about people bending the truth. We live with it - because their is no alternative available. Power itself lives in another world. Diplomats drive faster as allowed, they park where they want to, they do not pay tickets. They behave like they own the world - in every single country of that world, like politicians.

Seize the day, dear Leaders of the free World!

Seize the day and do not restrict people from reading and publishing those documents on the web. Open up, what is the problem? Nobody get's hurt, everybody just will be proven in their opinion about you all. A great opportunity to start anew.

Admit that only if you yourselves become better people first, you will change the world to become a better place. Use that historic opportunity to change the world forever - starting with yourself!

Use your backbone, stand up to the truth!

Become role models for every single living human on earth. Become honest, talk straight, and act on it. The truth is faster, more efficient & effective than this pseudo polite diplomacy stuff
- everybody already knowing it is just an empty jacket.

If you are truly as strong as you want us to believe in your speeches every day, not one of you Leaders of the free world would call the cables a scandal. You would be strong enough to stand in for every single one of your words, or?
And you should, because they are nothing but the truth.

Everything said now: Get along! Unite! Save the world!

Get your act together. Talk to each other. At eye level. Make peace. Not crossing your fingers behind your back. Work on real problems, not your egos. Unite. Find real solutions. No distractions. Make progress. Save us. Save the world!

Addendum

12:30hrs > Sturmgeschütz der Verlogenheit, cjakubetz.

16:11hrs > Wishful thinking? ... der Anfang von einer neuen, transparenteren, ehrlicheren Demokratie. (Engl: the beginning of a new, more transparent, more honest democracy), last sentence of 'So what?', taz.

Dec, 3rd

15:23hrs > Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Profound Hatred for Democracy on the Part of Our Political Leadership", alternet.

Bosses Don't Know How Bossy They Are!?

These results of a late study are of course for the US. Germans are of course much more in sync with their bosses. OR? Of course! Or - after all - off course?

"When asked to report on leadership style, bosses and employees disagreed in certain categories.

Only 15% of bosses described their own management style as commanding. About 23% of employees, on the other hand, reported their boss's style to be commanding, and just 11% said being commanding was the desired style. 'Bosses may not recognize how bossy they actually are,' the report says."

"Similarly, bosses believe they are visionary leaders and good coaches; their employees disagree. 'Nearly one in three bosses may think they are using a coaching style, but only one in five employees agrees,' concludes Adecco. Only 17% of bosses are self-styled visionaries, whereas close to 23% of employees view this as the preferred leadership style."

"More than one out of three employees think they are smarter than their bosses, even if they are more educated. Younger generations tend to think this way more: 41% of Millennials and Gen-X'ers believe they are smarter than their bosses, compared with just 30% of Baby Boomers."

Think about it. Talk with your bosses and your co-workers about it. Change that!

What a Smart Porsche Leadership Decision: No More Private Facebook, Ebay, Google Mail or Xing for Porsche Employees

Industrial espionage threatens Porsche at his secret heart: "Foreign intelligence approaches Porsche employees via their Facebook accounts", states Rainer Benne, Porsche's Head of Security.

That's why Porsche decided to ban all private Facebook, Ebay, Google Mail, Xing or social network activities of their employees from now on.

Hm, but what will be next? How to stop people from talking about Porsche secrets? Kill the business-wise connections right after the private ones? Confiscate their employee's private laptops, smartphones, telephones? Because they are means of communication, too? Because they carry photographic devices?

Whatever Porsche does there still will be a private life. People will talk to others, about stuff they shouldn't. You cannot stop that by taking away communication devices. You cannot stop that by monitoring their work life.

And: how many of those 13,000 employees would trade a secret? And everybody's horizons get limited for that? What's next? Collect their brains at the front desk?

Leadership - not only at Porsche's, but everywhere - has just one choice: the organization needs a different culture, a culture of openness, of trust and loyalty.

You won't stop people from doing wrong by prohibition! And the negative side-effects of those bans will outweigh the desired results by far. You start to install a culture of interdiction and surveillance. That won't work.

Individuals need to be trusted to do a better job. They need to be valued and cherished. They do not need to be limited and punished.

Individuals must feel responsible and respected to be truly creative and innovative, productive and effective.

Porsche - and all other corporations - should think twice whether to really limit communication or even open their drawbridges and chinese walls and create a culture of respect and value in these great times where human's individuality, independence, and impatience are increasing with unprecedented power - due to, ah, digitalization, the web, and mobility!

The times have changed - so should leadership.

Leadership ist kein Trojanisches Pferd

Im werbeblogger schrieb ich vor wenigen Tagen über die Service-Mentalität von Mercedes und Smart - und über die Mentalität der Menschen, die diesen Service überwachen und garantieren sollen (und schon früher über den neuen Slogan).

Wie man in vielen Kommentaren erkennen kann, bin ich nicht der einzige, dem Ähnliches im Service widerfahren ist - und ist Mercedes bzw. Smart mitnichten die einzige Automarke, bei der es Markenprobleme durch die Diskrepanz von kommuniziertem Image und tatsächlich gelebtem Selbstverständnis gibt.

Wie ich in meinen lead/marke-Beratungsgesprächen nie müde werde zu predigen, muß die Marke zuerst das Unternehmen durchdringen. Vor allem aber - so meine Talent- Change-Management-Philosophie - muß jegliches Verhalten, das man von seinen Mitarbeitern, Markenbotschaftern oder Unternehmensrepräsentanten im weitesten Sinne erwartet, vom Management explizit vorgelebt werden. Vorgelebt durch Tun und Lassen, durch ganzheitliches Handeln, durch Golden Rules, Prinzipien, Grund- und Leitsätze, die erlebbar - und nicht erlesbar sind.

Ein Vorstand kann nicht eine nach außen gerichtete Kommunikation lancieren und von den Menschen intern erwarten, diese automatisch und auf Knopfdruck zu leben. Das muß geübt, einstudiert, trainiert werden.

250.000 Menschen müssen im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes inspiriert werden, die neue Wertewelt an ihrem speziellen Arbeitsplatz mit den speziellen Prioritäten dieses Arbeitsplatzes zu leben, selbst individuell mit Leben zu füllen. Sie müssen lernen, die neuen Werte zu verstehen, zu repräsentieren und auch wieder an andere weiterzugeben, selbst vorbildlich vorzuleben.

Will man es richtig machen, trainiert man all dies zuallererst eine Weile, übt die Ecken, Frei- und Strafstöße, schult die Theorie und stärkt die Kondition - und wagt sich dann erst in die Bundesliga, um dort Meister aller Klassen zu werden. Da reicht ein knackiger Slogan einer ebenso knackigen Agentur nicht. Das sind Lippenbekenntnisse, die weder dem Unternehmen noch der Marke noch der Unternehmenskultur helfen können. Jeder Einzelne muß Zeit und Gelegenheit bekommen, über sich hinauszuwachsen.

Die übereilte Einführung eines neuen Slogans wie "Das Beste oder nichts" ist kontraproduktiv für alle Beteiligten, und zeigt nur die Verzweiflung, in der sich das Management zu befinden scheint, das Ruder schnellstmöglich herumreißen zu wollen.

Hyperaktivität, Impulsivität und Konzentrationsschwäche sind kein guter Ratgeber in einer Situation, in der es auf Besonnenheit von Entscheidung und Handlung ankommt, auf eine ruhige Hand, denn nur diese kann wieder "das Beste" liefern.

Das Management muß diese ruhige Hand vorbildlich vorleben. "Das Beste" kann nur durch Vertrauen, Teamarbeit, eine klare Vision und klare Ziele bis hinunter zum Besen der letzten Werkstatt realisiert werden.