Connection

Not surprisingly, Joseph Badaracco has written an essential read for leaders of all kinds. The Good Struggle addresses the question of how to lead successfully and responsibly in our uncertain, high pressure, turbulent world. 

Badaracco says that the inescapable pressures of leadership are intensified today because of the market-driven world in which we live. 

“Almost everything—how we manage our organizations and our lives, how we make decisions at work and at home, and even how we think about ourselves—is deeply shaped by markets and market-based thinking.” 

This creates greater uncertainty, obscures right choices, and puts pressure on us to abandon principles that we used to rely on. Responsible leaders find themselves engaged in the good struggle: “a long effort, demanding perseverance and courage, to make good on serious but profoundly fallible commitments in an uncertain and often unforgiving world.” He adds, “Struggle has always been central to accomplishing anything worthwhile, and this is especially true today.” 

He offers five enduring—inescapable—questions. Responsible leadership consists of thoughtful and lived answers to them. 

Am I Really Grappling with the Fundamentals? “The first responsibility of leaders is intellectual. It is the struggle to develop—to the extent possible—a deep, careful, analytical, data-driven understanding of the driving forces in the markets and society around them and to keep this understanding loose, flexible, and revisable.” Grasping the fundamentals can “reduce the chance of being blindsided, by encouraging the mental habit of looking for emerging patterns and odd developments with larger implications. it also promotes modesty, a healthy, low-level paranoia, and vigilance rather than hubris.” 

He notes that everything now is modular—constantly being recombined. “Recombination also makes it much harder for leaders to inculcate values when people in their organizations know they and their leaders are basically modules in a plug-and-play world and could be moving on soon. The natural instinct is to take care of yourself, here and now.” 

What Am I Really Accountable For? “Without clarity about accountability, leaders and their organization can drift or zigzag aimlessly.” Of course, many leaders do not want to be accountable to anyone or anything. “Accountability originates in an obligation to make good on the spirit of some jointly designed, provisional, and evolving objectives.” Here’s the question for any leader: “What pressures, scrutiny, and risks do we want o create or invite in order to build a strong, resilient, responsible organization?” 

How Do I Make Critical Decisions? We need a broader view of critical decisions. Instead of viewing them as deep, abiding pledges that we must make good on, we need to see them more as evolving commitments. That is, “a pledge, by a leader and an organization, to move in particular direction, but to do so in a flexible, open-ended way.” Decision making has to be as fluid as the markets around them. “Execution as learning.” “Instead of periodic big decisions, responsible leaders make or orchestrate an unending series of smaller ones—all aimed at some larger, broad, flexible objective.” 

Do We Have the Right Core Values? Values are important because “they may be the only force that can counter the power of markets and market-based thinking….Today’s ever-present markets have their own implicit values, and they can easily overwhelm whatever values leaders want to instill in their organizations.” To lead responsibly, leaders must commit to “clarity, meaningful projects, and bright ethical lines. In different ways, each of these helps leaders and organizations respond to the risks and opportunities created by pervasive market forces.” 

Why Have I Chosen This Life? People seek positions of leadership not despite the struggles involved, but because of them. “Responsible leadership is a challenge that—despite its inevitable risks, frustrations, and failures—demands and merits the best efforts of talented men and women, tests their competence and their characters fully, gives purpose and intensity to their lives, and helps them lead the kind of lives they really value.” The purpose of our struggle matters. 

Badaracco writes, “If the purpose of life we ease and comfort, no sensible person would take on the demands of leadership.” Perhaps in developing leaders at all levels we need to change that very prevalent mindset. Without it we can’t discover what we are and the person we are meant to be. 

Badaracco doesn’t offer hard answers because they are evolving answers and should be individual answers created from introspection and reflection. But the insights and provocative concepts are enough to get you thinking in new ways. 

How do people become truly influential in the social age?

If you, like me have been raised with the notion that celebrities, sports stars and politicians were influential because of what they do and not who they are – we’re on the same page. But when you actually examine today’s influential people and how they became influential – the picture has changed dramatically.

Influence is both a natural and learned quality that is developed over time. It can still be inherited, received by winning an election, or conveyed by a new job title – but that’s becoming less prevalent now. I’ve seen influencers in the social age drive tremendous awareness for social causes, leads for companies and votes for presidential elections.

Many of these influencers have mastered the art of communicating what everyone else is thinking or what they should be thinking. They are curious and always ask, “What’s important here?”

So after studying, hiring and working with some of the most influential people on the planet, my team and I have identified 25 things these influencers do better than anyone else.

1.     They are Fantastic Public Speakers.

Influence is about communicating ideas and making them stick. For most influential people, public speaking is the best way to do that. Brian Solis is a well-known digital analyst and author – and part of why he is so well known is his unique ability to motivate his audience at keynote speaking engagements.

Kare Anderson has told me, “Brian is one of those rare presenters that can deliver quality content and enchantment at the same time, in the same sentence.”

2.     The Ability to Make the Mundane – Interesting.

Matt Cutts is head of Google’s Webspam team, and he’s sort of the unofficial face for Google’s fight against spam. He accumulated his nearly 300,000 Twitter followers because of his ability to educate people on web spam while entertaining them in the process. And he’s well known for his sense of fairness. When Cutts found out that Google had violated its own quality guidelines, he downgraded Google Chrome’s homepage. That takes a lot of courage.

3.     They have exceptional interpersonal skills.

Most influencers have a unique ability to make the person they’re talking with feel special. It’s the ability to chat with anyone, about anything. Influencers are great at chatting up people at conferences, events, meetings – even on social channels. Social media branding pro Mandy Edwards is a great example of someone who not only shares great info on her Twitter account, but also engages in back-and-forth discussions with the people who share her content.

4.     They have more passion about their interests.

As Steve Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world.” The influencers we know all have passion about their interests. If you read Michael Carney’s articles on pandodaily, you’ll see that his passion for early-stage technology companies ensures that he puts in the time and effort to get to know the companies he writes about, and he happily shares these details with his readers.

5.     They find the positive in things

When Facebook started to alter their algorithms around EdgeRank many people were upset and started slamming the company. Mari Smith on the other hand, took everything in stride and trained her followers on how to maximize opportunity with the new system. This Facebook marketing coach has done more than her fair share of speaking events, webinars, guest blogging, book writing and more, but she never appears anywhere without a huge, welcoming smile on her face. This friendliness makes her more approachable, and is a good lesson to aspiring influencers who find themselves a little on the sour side.

6.     They have superior powers of persuasion.

Influential people If they couldn’t persuade you – to like them, to buy their book, to read their blog, to work with them – influencers really wouldn’t have much power. Visit Jay Baer’s website, for instance, and you’ll notice one thing right away: it’s called “Convince & Convert.” Jay’s philosophy is to help businesses use social media to persuade their audience of a core message, and with clients like Wal-Mart and Petco under his belt, it’s clearly working.

7.     They have the confidence to act.

They believe in themselves, no matter what, and will often take huge risks because of this confidence. Benjamin Robbins, principal at Palador, is one confident guy. He is a top 50 mobile influencer on Twitter, writer of a top 50 IT blog, and believes in his ability to use mobile tech so much that he’s spending an entire year working solely from a single mobile device.

8.     The accelerate prospects through the sales funnel.

Influencers move clients through sales funnel from prospect to client with unsurpassed quickness. Whether it’s self professed “geek culture cultivator” Chris Pirillo recommending the latest tech, or Robert Scoble evangelizing Rackspace, they’re able to make sales that don’t seem like sales because of their genuine passion for what they’re selling.

9.     They maintain an intense focus.

Being a known quantity is beneficial for influencers, since they won’t have to bother with those tiresome “introductions” the rest of us have to go through. Take a look at Bob Egan, Forbes columnist and self-described “mobile industry veteran.” He’s not writing about his Harley or his kids. He’s writing about mobile. He is mobile. And whether you read his column, or connect with him on Twitter, he always embodies mobile business.

10.  They can instantly energize a room.

An influencer knows how to work a room and her energy is contagious. Lauren Hockenson is a tech reporter for GigaOM, and, while she’s definitely on top of the latest tech trends, she also knows how to get other people excited about them, too. Just check out her highly-energized Twitter feed @lhockenson.

11.  They have more charisma.

We’re all influenced by charisma, and we all fall for it. Influential people have a natural charisma that helps them make a point, persuade us or get us to listen. As Achim Nowak, author of the new book “Infectious: How to Connect Deeply and Unleash the Energetic Leader Within, has said, “charisma is inside and that ‘je ne sais quoi’ is what enables certain people to draw you in. When we talk about charisma, it’s the quality people who light up the stage have. They’re like an energy magnet—and we want to engage.”

Chrissy Farr, was named by MediaPost as one of the top ten most influential people on Madison Avenue, and Refinery29 as one of "eight women making moves in tech." Farr’s charisma has certainly helped.

12.  They have remarkable networks.

Being plugged in to an active, engaged network is part of what influencers do best. They’re able to connect to and build relationships with people who they can help and who can help them. Sensei Marketing partner Sam Fiorella is the founder and moderator of Twitter’s first weekly debate, #bizforum, a forum for him to network, connect others, and learn about the latest business trends. The connections he’s made through this chat have no doubt had an impact on his success.

13.  They are talented multi-taskers.

They may be talking to you, but know that at least 25% of their brain is somewhere else. Don’t worry, you have their attention – 75% is all anyone can get! Influencers are busy people. Just take Danny Brown for example: he has the #1 marketing blog in the world (as chosen by HubSpot), is the co-author of a recent book on influence marketing, a speaker at TEDx, New Media Expo and more, VP Marketing & Technology at ArCompany, and he has two kids and two dogs to boot! If he wasn’t multitasking, he’d never be able to juggle so many balls at once.

14.  They are flexible and adaptable.

Being able to change mid-action, adapt to challenges and develop high quality content for an audience are important characteristics of successful influencers. It’s better to bend than to break, and influencers know this intuitively.

Haydn Shaughnessy is one such influencer – not only is he an expert at spotting trends, he is quick to adapt to them. His excellent coverage of Apple and Samsung demonstrate how quickly he recognized what his followers wanted.

15.  They have excellent timing.

When do you jump ship? When do you give it your all? Influencers are able to time their moves to make the most positive impact on their lives and the lives around them. Guy Kawasaki has jumped from being an Apple evangelist, to writing books, to (most recently) working for Google+: all moves that have extended his career and his influence.

16.  They freely give out compliments.

Give and ye shall receive. The more compliments influencers dole out, the more accolades they tend to get in return. Many turn to Twitter or other social networks to pump up those around them. Take a look at how enthusiastically Cheryl Burgess (@ckburgess) takes to Twitter to compliment her followers.

17.  They leverage technology to improve their reach.

The best influencers always seem to use the latest social tools, platforms, mobile apps and other tech to extend their reach. They make a point to stay on top of trends and they use the latest technology solutions to optimize their time. TechCrunch’s Alex Williams (@alexwilliams) is an example of someone that understands the power of technology, media and reach.

18.  They are more prepared.

The big difference between highly influential people and those that want to be are the amount of preparation that the former puts into their work. Influencers don’t jump into anything blind if they can be prepared for it. They’ll pour over websites, documents, emails, notes and anything they can get their hands on before they head into a client meeting or big event.

Steve Faktor doesn’t just show up to a client meeting with a few notes, he brings a well-researched playbook for discussion. Faktor is every client’s dream consultant.

19.  They are equally productive when they travel.

They’re often on the go, so they’ve mastered the art of being productive while traveling. eTickets, online check-in, conference calls from the security line… influencers know how to use their time and technology to make travel easier and more productive. They seem to be on the go all the time but they don’t miss a beat.

Social business strategist Bryan Kramer is a master at staying productive while on the road. He will be a speaker, host or panelists at 10 conferences across San Francisco, Portland, Lake Tahoe, Dallas, Virginia, Atlanta, Colorado, San Jose, New Orleans, and Los Angeles between July 30th and October 10th of this year – and he’ll still be as productive as you and I.

20.  They understand the power of reciprocation.

Anyone with influence understands the importance of reciprocity. Just like they give and get compliments, influencers live in a world of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” They’ll happily do favors for those in their network, and they expect those favors to be returned sometime in the future.

If you’re looking to build a business, look no further than the master reciprocator- Ted Rubin. He’ll quickly build a community around your business – just keep some vests at hand.

21.  They are Kinder.

Don’t confuse kindness with weakness. Princess Diana was one; Imelda Marcos is the other. The former understands that malice doesn’t pay in the long run. They also know that being helpful can go a long way in winning fans and influence. Take a look at Kristi Hines, who blogs at Kikolani. She offers plenty of free content for optimizing personal and business blogs, a free ebook, free guides – and yet she’s still able to bring business in to her content development services. She’s helpful and kind, and that’s a big part of how she’s become a regular contributor to several Power 150 blogs.

22.  They are ethical.

It’s tempting to work with a company merely for the money. But the influencers we work with go out of their way to avoid those situations. And when they do work with a company they like, they disclose the relationship. It’s not just the law; it’s the right thing to do.

23.  They don’t have an off switch.

Lori Ruff is known as the “LinkedIn Diva”, and she lives up to that name in everything she does. As you’d expect, her LinkedIn profile is pretty close to perfect, and she’s always using LinkedIn to share business news and ideas with her colleagues. But if you follow her on Twitter or check out her Facebook page, she’s “on” there, too – posting and engaging about LinkedIn and social business.

Ruff always seems to be helping people, making connections and expanding her network. She isn’t someone that slows down.

24.  They build trust.

You can’t build something great without a little criticism every now and then, and influencers tend to take this in stride. Rather than being derailed by critiques of their product, service or brand, they use this feedback to make themselves better, stronger, and more trustworthy. Influential people understand why they need to stand for what they believe in – and in the end, people will respect and trust them more.

Ekaterina Walters doesn’t need to think like Zuckerberg to build trust; she has become one of the most trusted sources of information for influencers precisely because she is open, transparent and honest about her opinions.

25.  They spot trends.

Most influential people can accurately predict new short-term trends and shifting tastes in their sphere of influence. They’re at the hub of activity, conversation and sentiment about their focus area. It can be anything from fashion to automobiles to technology, keeping an eye on these influencers can help your business’s decision making.

Whether it’s the evolution of work or new skills every modern employee must have, Jacob Morgan has an acute ability to spot new work related trends and convey them to his followers.

Based on interviews and original research from Schawbel’s Gen Y research firm Millennial Branding, he reveals the new rules of the modern workplace that young people must learn to get ahead. The following is adapted from the introduction of “Promote Yourself.”

1. Your job description is just the beginning.

If you want to succeed in today’s workplace and make a name for yourself, you’ll have to do a lot more than what you got hired to do. In fact, your job description is just a scratch on the surface of what you should be doing. Always be on the lookout for new projects and collaborations with other groups, and do as much training and development as possible.

2. Your job is temporary.

As the world changes, so does the workplace. Companies are acquiring or being acquired, merging with other companies, or crumbling. Your team could be eliminated, your position outsourced, or you might lose interest in your job altogether.

3. You’re going to need a lot of skills you probably don’t have right now.

A recent U.S. Department of Education study shows that companies are having trouble finding and retaining the right talent. Soft (interpersonal) skills have become more important than hard (technical) skills. It’s never been easier to acquire hard skills — and those skills will only get you so far. Companies are looking for leadership, organizational, teamwork, listening, and coaching skills.

4. Your reputation is the single greatest asset you have.

Titles might be good for your ego, but in the grand scheme of things what really matters is what you’re known for, the projects you’re part of, how much people trust you, whom you know, who knows about you, and the aura you give off to people around you. Sure, what you do is important. But what others think you do can be just as important if not more so. If you build a strong reputation, the money and opportunities will find you.

5. Your personal life is now public.

The 15 seconds it takes you to tweet about how much you hate your boss or to post a pic of you passed out with a drink in your hand could ruin your career forever. Even the littlest things — how you behave, dress, your online presence, body language, and whom you associate with can help build your brand or tear it to the ground.

6. You need to build a positive presence in new media.

There are plenty of benefits to new media and the convergence between your personal and private lives. Your online social networks enable you to connect with people who have interests similar to yours. Your online presence can help you build your reputation, and the educational opportunities available online can help you dig deeper into the things you’re passionate about and want to become an expert in.

7. You’ll need to work with people from different generations.

There are now four distinct generations in the workforce: Gen Z (interns), Gen Y (employees), Gen X (managers), and Baby Boomers (executives). Each of these generations was raised in a different period of time, has a different view of the workplace, and communicates differently. By learning how to manage relationships with those in other generations, you will be more successful.

8. Your boss’s career comes first.

If your manager is unsuccessful, his frustrations will undoubtedly rub off on you, and the chances you’ll ever get a promotion are pretty slim. But if you support your manager’s career, make his life easier, and earn his trust, he’ll take you with him as he climbs the corporate ladder — even if that means going to another company.

9. The one with the most connections wins.

We have moved from an information economy to a social one. It’s less about what you know (you can find out just about anything within seconds with a simple Google search), and more about whether you can work with other people to solve problems.

10. Remember the rule of one.

When it comes to getting a job, starting a business, finding someone to marry, or just about anything else, all it takes is one person to change your life for the better. People may be saying no all around you. But as long as one person says yes, you’re on your way.

11. You are the future.

By 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be Gen Y. That means that even though you may be early in your career, in the not too distant future you’ll be at the forefront. Right now, you have to position yourself to take one of these major leadership roles when the workforce shifts and older generations retire.

12. Entrepreneurship is for everyone, not just business owners.

A lot of people define “entrepreneurship” as starting a business, but in recent years the meaning has broadened to include someone who’s accountable, who’s willing to take risks, and who sells him- or herself. If you want to get ahead, start looking at your company’s management as a venture capital firm. Be persistent, sell your ideas to them, and come up with innovative solutions no one else has thought of.

13. Hours are out, accomplishments are in.

If you want to keep your job and move up, stop thinking that you have to put in a ridiculous numbers of hours per week. Instead, realize your value, deliver on it, measure your successes, and then promote yourself.

14. Your career is in your hands, not your employer’s.

No matter what they say, companies are looking out for themselves. And while you should definitely try to make your company successful, you need to make sure that you’re getting something out of the deal, too. If you aren’t learning and growing, you aren’t benefiting anymore, and that’s an issue that you will have to resolve. Don’t rely on anything or anyone: Be accountable for your own career, and take charge of your own life.

The speech is called As I Began To Love Myself:

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is AUTHENTICITY.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody as I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it RESPECT.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it MATURITY.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment, so I could be calm. Today I call it SELF-CONFIDENCE.

As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call itSIMPLICITY.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.Today I know it is LOVE OF ONESELF.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is MODESTY.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where everything is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it FULFILLMENT.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection WISDOM OF THE HEART.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS LIFE!

1. Good Communication Skills
The business world is much more than putting ideas on the table. You have to know how to discuss the ideas in an understandable manner to your juniors during meetings. You must be able to stand confidently in front of everyone and speak coherently whenever you are addressing important issues. Always maintain eye contact to make sure everyone is listening when you are talking to them. Most importantly, you should always listen to your juniors or customers when they have something to say and act accordingly.

2. Commitment and Passion
Being a committed and passionate executive will help you promote and maintain a driven workforce. Commitment and passion require honesty, hard work, and excitement. You have to develop the habit of reporting to work early and leaving the office only after making sure that everything is in order. By doing this on a regular basis, you will always be able to project a sense of teamwork among your juniors and promote collaboration for the betterment of your organisation.

3. High Self-Esteem
As an executive, you have no choice but to have a strong sense of self-worth at all times. This means that you must have the ability to accept failures and criticisms without being egotistical. Accepting your failures and learning from them will enable you to make the right decisions and be a great leader. Note that as a leader, you cannot please everyone no matter what you do. So, be yourself and lead your juniors according to your wishes and principles, as long as you are doing the right thing.

4. Quick Thinker
You should always be able to identify and solve issues in a timely and effective manner. Markets, buyer behaviour, challenges, and opportunities change unpredictably all the time and hence, quick action is very essential for a good executive. You should always anticipate upcoming work and serve your organisation to the best of your ability.

5. Ability to Multi-Task
Due to the fact that you will inevitably have many tasks to do from time to time, you have to learn how to work under pressure and juggle deadlines in a responsible and organised way, either at home or at the workplace. This means that you have to be realistic about what to handle and always understand the timing of all documents and projects.

6. Flexibility
Being an executive requires a flexible attitude and being able to adjust to the fast-changing business environment. Apart from working during the normal hours, you should also be able handle emergency situations during weekends and late nights. You will sometimes be forced to cancel some plans to deal with critical situations.

7. Humility
To stand out from the rest, you have to be a humble and approachable person. This will make communication between you and your colleagues better, enabling you to understand everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and how to deal with them. This will also pave the way for people to chip in valuable suggestions to help you lead effectively.

8. Good Sense of Humour
The working environment can sometimes be tense and hectic. This is why you should always try to be friendly with your colleagues and share light moments with them once in a while to make them feel more comfortable and to be more productive while working.

9. Motivator
Do not be the kind of person who only looks for faults in order to rebuke others. Try as much as possible to motivate your juniors by appreciating their efforts, giving them promotions, and increasing their salaries. By doing this, you will be nurturing happy and dedicated employees who will be ready to do anything for your organisation to stay at the top.

10. Risk Taker
A frightened and apprehensive executive can easily lead an organisation to a downfall. So, you must always be courageous enough to take risks and go beyond the expected levels of influence and responsibility.

My method of Redden Mit h’arzTM, translated from Yiddish, means “speak from the heart.” It can help you keep things positive and productive when entering a difficult conversation with a difficult person.

Speaking from the heart is not about the right time or place but about doing the right thing. It does not need to be role-played or practiced, because it comes straight from the heart.

Here are the fundamentals:

Be available: listen without having an agenda or assumptions.

Don’t think Here we go again—I will never get a chance to speak.

Be attentive: listen deeply to everything that is being said. Don’t be dismissive.

Don’t think Same as always—he always has to be right .

Be articulate: Repeat what was said, with vivid and great articulation.
Make it so vivid and expressive that your partner says, “Wow, you get me. I wish I had put it that way.”

Don’t think I’ve heard this a thousand times before.

Next, Acquiesce: Let your partner know you understand his side completely.

Don’t think I can never have a say because he won’t let me state my point.

Acquire: Tell your partner all the things that you’ve just learned from listening to him. Sincerely let him know what you have learned from the conversation.

Don’t think He always thinks he knows everything.

By now, you have placed your difficult conversation with a difficult person in a different context.

You have made room for acknowledgment, appreciation, and approval.

Speak from the heart. Open the space for being heard.

When you speak from the heart the communication is about the other, not so much about you.

When you speak from the heart it is not about reacting but about being interactive.

When you speak from the heart it’s not about frustration but about staying engaged and connected.

When you speak from the heart there are no assumptions or judgment. You are just relating on a deeper level.

When in a bind, allow the heart to lead and let the mind follow.

Sales is where the rubber hits the road – you have to get the product right, you have to message it to the right audience, you have to build relationships and get the business models right, but assuming that all is in order, the sales numbers are the most direct indicators of success, and driving those numbers up will benefit all.

In our January marketing post on ‘Ten Truths about the New Sales Professionals’, we noted that the new sales professionals are more customer-oriented, more tech-savvy, more community-oriented, more collaborative, and more proactive. Given the above, below are some tips for enabling sales for the organization.

Be Customer Oriented

1. The customer dictates whether a product or service will succeed, not the product, not the market, so work with your sales team to better understand the needs of your current and anticipated customers. Reward customer-oriented behavior, and making serving-the-customer job #1, regardless of level and role within an organization.
2. Understanding the ‘job’ of your customers and prospects, the ‘pain and obstacles’ to doing the job well and efficiently, and the potential ‘gain’ when it’s done well is key to the success of a company.

Be Collaborative

3. Build engagement and connections between engineering, marketing, sales, and management. Partnerships between sales, marketing, engineering, finance, management, etc will best lead to that understanding as we all have a piece of the puzzle, and it’s everyone’s job to build a customer-oriented culture.
4. Hire and retain only those who are collaborative, customer-focused and team-oriented. There’s no room for Marketing professionals who snub sales people, Sales professionals who focus only on their own numbers, or Engineering professionals who think that it’s all about the solution.

Be Tech-Savvy

5. Technology is key to understanding and even anticipating the needs of the customer and how your company and efficiently and collaboratively deliver to meet that need. Empower finance, technology and marketing professionals to support sales professionals in understanding why customers are buying, how to close deals, and what anticipated buying trends are.
6. Social media, mobile apps and tools, data analytics and cloud solutions will help connect and empower the stakeholders within and outside the organization to deliver quality products and services to customers. Across omni-channel communications become the norm, it’s essential to leverage the technologies and tools to empower, connect, serve, and leverage within and across stakeholders across the value chain.

Be Community-Oriented

7. Identify stakeholders throughout the ecosystem and their motivations for participating and engaging. Knowing the types of stakeholders involved with your organization as well as individual top-performers and partners will help you more strategically serve that niche market overall, build a tighter community, as well as a larger network.
8. Create layers of participation, from member to partner, from ambassador to SuperFan, and proactively engage with the community. Provide resources and education to empower and connect within, between and across these layers.

Be Proactive

9. Proactively creating and serving communities of stakeholders will engage them at a deeper level, empower them to proactively share their needs and successes, and invite them to become SuperFans – those who will promote you to their trusted friends. Proactively and strategically rewarding all internal players for their efforts in building sales will build relationships within the company while directly impacting the bottom line.
10. Proactively managing toward a customer-oriented, community-oriented, collaborative approach leveraging technology will strategically set your company apart.

In conclusion, remember that your plans for the company are just a dream without a paying customer, your technology may be nice, but it’s not a business without a customer. Collaborating to generate those sales is key to the success for any organization.

Engaged leaders add value

People are engaged and drawn into conversations where interesting insights are shared, value is added, creativity is nurtured and empowerment occurs. There is a sense of a positive vibe within the community. People are engaged through meaningful conversations about their leadership experiences whether it’s a new book they just finished reading or meeting interesting people that can add value to the group. When you have a remarkable diversity with enriching experiences of people from different backgrounds, you truly have an opportunity to create a masterpiece together.

Engaged leaders build communities with people

Great leaders have a clear vision and a sense of mission to build something meaningful with other people. The never get caught about their own self-serving agenda. They understand that people are willing to pool their talents and energy together for one common goal. The engaged leader is willing and able to develop more leaders to create a sense of a shared platform. Everyone can contribute. Everyone can make a difference.

Engaged leaders build a shared platform

Great leaders provide the vehicle and resources for people to perform together on “stage.” Leadership is about the collective capacity and the fullness of each member. The essence of any engaged community is to connect people to each other and put that collective energy toward a meaningful task or experience. When you widen the circle of involvement, you make room for everyone, their talents and areas they can develop even more.