From the Web - Open Source Activists
The surprising impact when leaders tap the power of a generation of influencers.
posted 10/01/2009A shift is occurring among the new generation of church leaders. We are thinking and leading differently than the generation that preceded us, but I didn't recognize the extent of this shift until a worship service one Sunday morning a few years ago.
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From the Web - Five reasons corporations are failing at social media
“It’s not rocket surgery.”
That malapropism became a bit of a mantra at last week’s Inbound Marketing Summit.
Social media isn’t complicated. When you boil it down it’s about listening to your customers, being helpful by offering your knowledge and giving them interesting content to share and thereby advocate for you. The IMS speakers shared several case studies (yes, too many of them mentioned Comcast and Zappos) on how organizations have embraced social media to connect with and built trust and affection among customers. None of the examples required hyper-specialized knowledge or technology for a company to connect with people.
So why is it so difficult for so many companies to successfully integrate social media? I dug through my (30 pages of) notes to try and find some themes in what the speakers shared and came up with a this list of why organizations might be getting hung up.
1. They can’t talk about anything broader than their own products
Chris Brogan shared how Citrix Online created the Workshifting community to address the rise of telecommuting and remote work. Sure, it ties in with Citrix’s GoToMeeting/Webinar/PC product line, but the blog isn’t a commercial for its products. The same holds true for Kodak’s photography blog that Chief Blogger Jenny Cisney talked about. It’s about photography and creativity in general, not about Kodak cameras. Greg Matthews shared how Humana developed the Freewheelin bicycle sharing communities with plenty of online and “real life” components to the program. Bicycles don’t have much to do with health insurance specifically, but they are about being healthy. If a company is only talking online about its specific products and not looking for ways to connect to the bigger picture, it’s pretty difficult for people to be engaged.
2. They listen to customers but don’t take any action
If you’re going to listen to your customers, you’d better be ready to do something about what you hear. Valeria Maltoni noted that if a company creates an online presence that’s open and allows customer feedback, it creates the expectation that the company is going to do something with that feedback. Worse than not being heard is being heard and then ignored. Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines shared how a simple blog post stating the airline was considering assigned seating amassed tons of customer comments showing a lack of support for the idea. This feedback changed the direction of their internal debate and led to a new boarding procedure that maintained the open seating arrangement.
3. They aren’t calibrated internally with the technology
Jason Falls chastised corporate Web sites for being little more than online brochures. Customers expect interaction. Content creation is key to social media success, and every company should have a Web site with a content management system that allows for quick, easy content creation without the IT department needing to recode a Web site. Anyone in the organization should be able to publish via a CMS. And companies can’t expect to have a strong social media presence when social sites are blocked internally to employees.
4. They’re not framing risk accurately
Dharmesh Shah reminded us all that a corporate blog has never been fatal to an organization. NBC cameraman Jim Long said the often a company’s entry into social media is a clumsy, shotgun blast and that there’s an equal chance of looking foolish by having a ham-fisted marketing department launch a social media presence as there is if a rogue employee “goes off” on Twitter. The risk of social media is not abated by not participating. And really, while there have certainly been some hiccups and miscues along the way, social media has yet to be the undoing of any company.
5. Their internal culture isn’t aligned for social media success
In Shiv Singh’s presentation, he discussed how the customer should be at the core of the brand. When policies, procedures, products and processes become more important than the customer, there’s no way social media efforts can be effective. When your employees are more concerned with what’s in or out of their job description than doing the right thing to help the customer, that’s not a culture that’s likely to build trust and advocacy for your brand. Yes, Zappos was cited time and again as a case study, but largely because it has a culture that makes social media work. All of its employees are focused on customer service at the core. The same holds true for Southwest Airlines.
I could go on and on. So many of the speakers at IMS shared great examples of simple, effective social media strategies that have humanized organizations and allowed them to build better relationships with customers. But time and again companies are either rejecting social media or participating in a way that defeats the purpose.
It’s not rocket surgery.
Image via Flickr user StephenHackett
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Why Are Creative Leaders So Rare? - Navi Radjou
Recently, our Centre for India & Global Business at Cambridge University was privileged to host a talk by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India. Like millions of Indians, I hold Dr Kalam in high esteem. Not only is he an accomplished scientist who fathered India's breakthrough space programs (including an unmanned moon mission), but he also embodies India's diversity and openness: he served as India's third Muslim president, and can recite by heart entire passages of the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita.
Dr Kalam's lecture at our School was titled "Creative Leadership in the Global Knowledge Economy." In his engaging talk, Dr Kalam overviewed the dramatic socio-economic and technological shifts occurring worldwide, as the geopolitical and economic gravity shifts from West to East, the pace of technological change accelerates, and the world grapples with the increasing scarcity of resources.
To thrive in this turbulent world, Dr Kalam argued that corporations as well as nations desperately need what he calls "creative leaders," a new breed of visionary and empathetic leaders who act less as commanders and more as coaches, less as managers and more as facilitators, and who foster self-respect rather that demanding respect.
Drawing from his experience, Dr Kalam articulated eight key tenets of creative leadership that are critical for driving innovation and growth in the emerging global knowledge economy:
The leader must have a vision for the organization
The leader must have the passion to transform that vision into action
The leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path
The leader must know how to manage both success and failure
The leader must have the courage to make decisions
The leader should have nobility in management
Every action of the leader should be transparent
The leader must work with integrity and succeed with integrity
To illustrate his point, Dr Kalam cited leaders he has personally encountered who are/were imbued with these eight wisdom qualities. For instance, when India's first satellite launch mission failed in 1979, the chairman of the Indian space agency Prof Satish Dhawan took full responsibility for the failure, even though Dr Kalam was actually the mission director. But the following year, when they successfully placed the first Indian-built satellite in orbit, Prof Dhawan didn't attend the ensuing press conference; rather, he asked Dr Kalam to share the success story with the media, thus giving him full credit for the mission's success.
As I was listening to Dr Kalam, I started counting with my fingers the leaders that I know — besides Dr Kalam — who actually embody these eight creative leadership attributes. I couldn't count more than two or three! I was baffled. I am sure others in the audience conducted the same exercise and came to the same conclusion.
Indeed, as the world economy sank deeper into a recession over the last ten months, we got exposed to the utter lack of creative leadership across the corporate and political spheres. As the recession worsened, rather than making bold decisions and courageously acting on them, CEOs of leading Fortune 500 firms behaved like the captain of the Titanic: they took no timely action to save their sinking companies, and refused to assume an iota of blame for their management failure. Lack of transparency — let alone nobility — was rampant among leading financial institutions, which eventually led to their downfall. And recent political scandals starkly remind us of the utter lack of integrity across the entire political spectrum.As we emerge from the economic recession (which I actually view as a 'value recession'), I sincerely hope that corporations and citizens will elect business and political leaders who practice creative leadership with nobility and integrity. In particular, I wish Indian corporate leaders follow Dr Kalam's recommendation to act less as commanders and more as facilitators; otherwise Indian CEOs will fail to ignite and harness the creative minds of the 550 million young Indians. Finally, I share Dr Kalam's dream that business schools around the world cultivate creative leaders endowed with a moral compass that allows them to work with integrity — and succeed with integrity.
I am eager to hear from you whom you consider as creative leaders, and what steps your organization is taking to produce such leaders.
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How to Run a Successful Business Facebook Account | Business Pundit
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Image: GeekologieLast month, social media network Facebook hit 300 million users. If you think a few of those people could use your company’s widget, then it’s time to fire up your business’s presence.
When used correctly, Facebook drives traffic to your website, gains you valuable customer input, and lets you market and advertise for free (via your profile). If you use your account to its full potential, even more is possible. This step-by-step guide will show you how to create a business Facebook account that really works.
1. Create an interesting profile
Include lots of photos in your profile. Photos help fans make an emotional connection to your company. The bare minimum would be a logo and a couple of executive profile pictures. Depending on your situation, you can also add pictures of your bestselling products, company events, ads, employees, company events, and even company pets.
Make your business descriptions compelling. For example, let’s say I run a strawberry jam company called Strawmelade. A dull description would be “Strawmelade, makers of strawberry jam.” True, but rather dull. Instead, I might want to spice it up: “Squished strawberries never tasted so good.” “So yummy, you’ll lick the jar clean.”
Add links, events, video, and notes pages as appropriate. Make sure that you give each page high-quality content. It’s better to start with fewer pages and make them good, then add as you go.
Start posting Wall comments and links while you proceed to Step 2.
2. Grow your fan baseStart by friending people you know. Because this is your business’s site, keep your friends professional. If they are your personal friends, make sure they’re clear on the fact that you’ll be posting business updates on the site—and that they should react accordingly. You don’t want your best buddy to reminisce about your weekend bender on your business site.
Use Facebook’s search engine to find more friends. Facebook can help you search your existing contacts through email, AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Contact, and college alumni, to name a few. Hit up old acquaintances. Then make new friends. Searches by keyword (eg. “strawberries” might be a good keyword for my strawberry jam company) will also generate potential friends. Find people you’re interested in. Approach and friend them.Join groups. Do a Facebook search by industry, location, or company name. Select “Groups” on the lefthand menu. For example, my strawberry company might want to conduct the following searches:
Industry: “fruit preserves,” “fruit spread,” “fruit jam,” “strawberries,” “food manufacturer”
Location: My hometown, my home state, my region (eg. Midwest)
Company name: “Smuckers,” “Knott’s,” any other competitors or people along my supply chain
If there’s no group in your industry, start one. Do this by selecting “Create a New Group,” a button located to the right of the Groups search field. Find people to invite.3. Cultivate your presence
Join Wall or forum discussions. They can help you establish a Facebook identity and visibility. Comment on others’ Walls when you have something to say.Make your own Wall interesting. Update frequently and regularly. Good things to post:
-Promotions. Eg. contests, gift cards, raffles, giveaways, season ticket raffles, etc.
-Events. Eg. weekly specials
-Polls and feedback. Link to online polls, or just ask people for feedback on a product, service, or idea.
-Customer service. Encourage people to contact you through Facebook. Resolve customer service issues through messages or on your Wall.Arrange discussion themes on your Wall. For example, you (or your moderator) can ask a question relevant to your industry or product. For example, a Denver-based sports bar moderator might ask who fans think will win the next Broncos game. Get people to talk.
Set up fan photo participation campaigns. For example, have fans send in their favorite photos, then you put them in a special album. Or announce a themed photo contest, such as “best Halloween costumes.” Have fans post images of themselves wearing their Halloween costumes on your Wall.Follow your competition through their status updates. Continue to friend people in your industry as you find them–then keep an eye on them.
4. Syndicate
Link to your website. Drive traffic back to your site wherever possible. Some companies find that their Facebook profiles receive more visitors than their websites. To avoid this trend, send fans back to where the action is–your website.
Link to Twitter. If you plan on sharing similar news through your Twitter account, then link your Facebook account to your Twitter account. You will see this option during the setup process.
Add a Facebook Fan Box to your website. When people click on the Fan Box, they’ll become your Facebook fans–without having to log into Facebook and find you.
Syndicate your Facebook feed with your blog–if appropriate.
5. Advertise
Run ads on Facebook. Many businesses have found this to be a successful way to drive traffic.
Open a “Shop” section in your profile. Populate it with company products. If you’re a service, sell branded T-shirts, caps, etc.
Allow fans to sign up for your online newslettervia Facebook. Open a signup page for online offers, your newsletter, or regular updates.
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