Empathize

It’s a holiday weekend. But more than most years, the mood will probably be mixed. Gone for now are the carefree days when the biggest decision is whether to go to the parade and when to get to the fireworks show.  This situation could just depress us and lead us to...

The Most Important Promise

We’re all in the promise business. If you’re a marketing leader, your brand makes a promise that the rest of the organization must keep.  If you’re an executive, you’re making promises to your people that your fellow leaders and your HR team...

What if you just reduced irritants?

I had coffee with a seasoned and bright marketing executive last week.  He said something that stuck out to me: Most of the time, you can differentiate your company/product/service/brand by just figuring out what irritates customers about companies in your industry...

Getting (and keeping) your stars on board

HBR’s May 2010 cover article touts a provocative finding: 1 in 4 “high potential” leaders intend to leave their companies within a year. When I saw that finding, I both raised my eyebrows and nodded my head.  In some ways, it’s surprising that...

What are you building?

March Madness wrapped up a week ago.  I was torn while watching the final.  As the youngest of five boys and life-long fan of teams like the Red Sox, I love underdogs. (Remember, before 2004 the Red Sox were perennial underdogs fighting the Evil Empire. I know...

Real values

Anytime organizations are charting their futures, the topic of values comes up.  And when you bring it up, I can guarantee one thing: at least 40% of the room will give you that cynical look. Really? Another values exercise? Why is that? Here’s my...