The long established brand emphasis on raising business-to-consumer awareness (B2C) has lead to neglect of the as-important opportunities in developing business-to-business (B2B) thought leadership. In a world where value-sharing and trust-building have become so crucial to communications, this oversight has left a hole of epic proportions. And, while the legal department may still have to [...]
How often do you hear a leader described in the media as a "good listener?" Not often. That may be because, both in theory and by tradition, descriptions of leadership still tend to focus more on the output (decisive! charismatic!) than the input. But, the best leadership in practice today gets noted for its calibration [...]
What drives you? This question emerges at key transition points in most career journeys. When that gets nailed down, the world opens up - and a person’s potential impact as a change agent is likely to explode. So, what has made the difference and brought an ever-increasing sense of purpose to my own work? The [...]
“All things being equal” is quite an overused phrase, but there can still be gold in what follows it. Whether it’s a consumer’s evaluation of cleaning products or a way to differentiate potential business consultants, the reasons why one option is chosen over another is especially key in a world of choice gone wild. As [...]
The building conversation about introverts in the business world strikes a chord. Though few who have met me in person would guess it, I am one, with a capital "I." Interestingly (and fortunately), using social media has been key for finding the balance that lets me think, work and connect most productively. Thanks to this [...]
Women may be leaning in, or at least talking a lot about what that means as business leaders, but they are not doing the greatest job getting their voices heard. Instead, men are still perceived to be narrating business. It follows that men have also taken the lead in using social media to build their [...]
Communications has a bad rap. Long (and wrongly) suffering a “soft skill” or lower priority taint, it – at the same time - is considered a key leadership strength. What? The disconnect has harmed the practice, and even seeing it as a “practice” or separate role has harmed the integration of communication into EVERYONE’s job. [...]
Who are the leaders in corporate sustainability? When you hear that question, do you think of an individual or a brand name? The average business-aware person would likely spout brand names like Unilever or Coca Cola, given the coverage they get for various sustainability related practices. But, does knowing that these corporations “lead” mean they [...]
The following article, which originally published March 21, 2013 in Puget Sound Business Journal has been updated a bit. Conversations and articles abound on the power of social media. Many of those newer to the practice marvel about how something tweeted with a hashtag specific to an industry, for example, could have the potential to [...]
The definition of business leadership has changed, a lot, since the 1950s. The fact that there are many more women in leadership positions these days is rightly getting plenty of coverage now. But, beyond celebrating that women are bringing "it" to the table, what "it" is has yet to be been given its full due. [...]
Knowing that social media integration is crucial for your company and knowing how much can be gained when individual leaders learn to comfortably engage with it are two different things. I’ve only recently come to understand the distinction, and particularly in relation to business-to-business (B2B) purposes. Social media engagement - as professional development - [...]
I survey the business-to-business (B2B) social engagement landscape on a daily basis and tips, guidelines and “musts” abound. It makes me worry that overly expert expectations could be keeping a lot of smart people from engaging with social media. Is that what we want? Does turning social engagement into a realm of experts, gurus and [...]
