Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
February 16, 2012
Corporate entities understand the importance of branding. Surprisingly, most people do not recognize the importance of branding themselves. In today’s competitive environment, it is important to create your own brand. It is a critical component to your success. If done well, it will open doors for you and create lasting impressions on those you come into contact with.
Always remember: If you don’t brand yourself, someone else will brand you… and the outcome might not be what you would like it to be.
You can be sure that not everyone knows who you are or what you do. Worse, it is highly likely that people may have already formed their own perceptions of who you are without your direct input. By developing your own specific brand, you establish that you are unique in your own right, as well as gaining control over alternate perceptions.
Take a lesson from the big brands – Apple, Nike, Starbucks (you get the picture…) – a lesson that’s true and relevant for anyone who is interested in standing above and prospering in today’s ever-evolving business environment: It doesn’t matter how old you are, what your position is, or which business you happen to be in – you need to understand the importance of branding. Without branding, there is nothing to set you apart from the rest – perceptions of mediocrity are likely to infiltrate. Appropriate branding ensures you are perceived as an important asset.
YOU are the product. Everything you do affects your brand. Defining yourself as a valuable asset will add value to your position. It will ensure your business revolves around you – making you irreplaceable. You will be recognized for who you are, but more importantly, what you do.
Through personal branding, you define who you want to be, grow in the direction you want to grow and have the opportunity to improve your overall standings in the rankings. To be successful in business today, your most important job is to be the CMO for the brand called YOU. Are you a brand worthy of comment?
So, what does building your brand look like? This may seem simple, but it is not always easy…
First of all – start thinking differently! You do not belong to any company and your main affiliation is not to any function. You are not defined by your job title or confined by your position description – You are Brand YOU! In order to start thinking of yourself as your own CMO, ask yourself the same question that top brand managers at major corporations ask themselves:
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Posted in Communication, Development, Global Leadership, Innovation, Leadership, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged business results, expert, Personal Branding, self promotion, Strategy | 1 Comment »
January 26, 2012
The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one’s opportunities and make the most of one’s resources.
~ Marquis de Vauvenargues
Wherever your most desired destination may be, one thing is for sure – if you don’t get on the road, you will never arrive. Once you decide to embark on the less traveled path of pursuing your personal goals, it it important that you set achievable milestones in order to successfully enter the narrow gate of your desired destination. It may feel like a long journey, but with perseverance and dedication to fulfilling your potential, you will arrive…
When you have achieved that goal you have steadily been working toward, ensure you take the time to congratulate yourself and enjoy the satisfaction of having achieved what you set out to do. Absorb the implications of the achievement, and observe the progress that you’ve made towards other goals. At the very least, achieving your milestones will fuel your motivation to propel you toward your next goal – ultimately guiding you to where you want to be. Achieving even small goals (milestones) along the way will give you the self-confidence to pursue new and exciting destinations.
Whether the goal was small or large, STOP and take a little time to enjoy the moment and reward yourself appropriately. Recognize your success for what it is…SUCCESS!
Now, with the positive experience of having achieved a goal, and taking the time to properly acknowledge your accomplishment, review the journey to date and determine:
- Was the goal too easily attained? If so, make sure your remaining goals (or your next goals) stretch your capacity so that you continue to grow and arrive at new and exciting destinations.
- Did the goal take a daunting length of time to achieve? Ensure your next goals are a little more time-bound, and check the distance between your milestones.
- Did you learn something from your journey? If so, leverage your learning and use it to facilitate the journey toward future destinations.
- Did you perceive a deficit in your skills, despite achieving the goal? Think about incorporating some of the more challenging aspects of the journey onto future roadmaps in order to allow you to hone that particular skill for future journeys.
- Have you derived as much pleasure from the journey as you have in arriving at the destination? I hope so – life is all about the journey after all…
Now that you have arrived at your desired destination, it is time for you to reset your navigation system and set that next big, audacious goal that will take you on yet another exciting journey toward the fulfillment of all of your most “desired destinations”…
Where will you go next?
I hope this series has provided some useful guidelines toward helping you to manage your journey toward your ultimate destination. Please engage the discussion and let us know how you will travel toward your next personal goal. Always feel free to contact me atSheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next week for the next installment of Leadership Across Boundaries and Borders.
Posted in Development, Goal Setting, Leadership, Personal Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation, Winning | Tagged Change Management, Execution, Goal Setting, Leadership, winning results | Leave a Comment »
November 20, 2011
The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable…
~Denis Waitley
Have you ever stopped to think about what you want your life to mean? What it is you really want to accomplish? Have you thought about what you want to be doing in ten years… or even five years’ time? Are you clear about what your main objective is at the moment? How does it contribute to your vision for your life? Do you even know what you want to achieve by the end of today?
Many people lose sight of what is important to them and fail to keep a direct line of sight to the why of what they do. It’s easy to lose sight of. From experience, I would say that most people do a whole lot in a day (a month…a year) that adds very little value to their overall life, however they just get lost in the demands of the moment…
By setting aligned goals that are based upon managed timelines, you can add purpose and direction to your life, while at the same time understanding and focusing on the overall why of what you do from day to day… and year to year.
Here is a basic process:
Setting Lifetime Goals
The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you an overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your life, and hence, your decision-making process.
To provide a multi-lane highway for you to travel through life on, it is important to bring broad, balanced coverage to all-important areas in your life. Establish goals in some of the following categories that may be important to you:
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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Development, Goal Setting, Innovation, Leadership, Milestones, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, Execution, Goal Setting, Potential, Strategic Planning | Leave a Comment »
November 10, 2011
If you want to succeed, you need to set goals. Without goals, you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life’s direction; it also provides a benchmark to determine if you are actually succeeding. After all, having money in the bank is only proof of success if your goal is to create wealth and all that comes with it. However, if your real goal is make a difference in this world, the money may only be a milestone on the way to your final destination – or may not play into your life goals at all.
As mentioned earlier in the week, goal setting is a process. While it is both necessary and critical to set SMART goals, it is particularly useless if you cannot operationalize the process and incorporate it into something you will leverage for your own success. Having established the meaning and specifics behind SMART goals, let’s look at a way to operationalize the process:
1. Take the most efficient route: State each goal in one sentence – make it SMART.
The single sentence guideline forces you to be focused – stating clearly and plainly what you intend to accomplish. This clarity, right at the beginning of the goal setting process, makes it incredibly powerful. It also makes it straight-forward to check that you are meeting ALL SMART criteria within the context of the guideline.
2. Appreciate the journey: Understand WHY you have chosen specific goals
Goals, as important as they are, need to have a deeper why or they are not sustainable. There must be an engine that drives them – a commitment to something that matters. Failure to address this challenge will almost certainly result in lack of motivation and failure to attain the milestones necessary to achieve your goals. Answer this question thoroughly in your own mind and you will be motivated to follow the route to your ultimate destination.
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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Development, Education, Establishing Your Route, Goal Setting, Leadership, Planning, Potential, Strategic Planning, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, Execution, Goal Setting, Leadership, Potential, winning results | Leave a Comment »
November 8, 2011
If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
~Lawrence J. Peter
Just as when you are traveling to a destination it is helpful to know the best route, in driving toward your goals it is useful to know how to get there in the most expedient way. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends after a lot of tenacity and commitment to accomplish what you set out to do. In between there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Following these road signs will allow you to realize your desired destination without taking too many detours.
We have, over the past couple of weeks, focused on why goals are important and preparing for the journey of personal goal setting. Now that we have prepared, it is time to embark on our journey of personal goal setting. Most of us are familiar with the SMART mnemonic for setting goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Unfortunately, few actually give much time and attention to the model. It is, however, a key difference between goals that are achieved and goals that are not.
S: Be Specific
First and foremost, goals need to be specific, clear and well defined. They should state exactly what you want to do in concrete terms. Vague or ambiguous goals are unhelpful because they won’t provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. This is the fundamental difference between a dream and a goal. Dreams get you nowhere if they do not become actionable, yet you would be surprised at how many leaders fail at this first, critical step. In order to succeed you should:
- Ask yourself exactly what it is you want to do
- Understand why you want to do it
- Ask yourself how you plan to do it
- Ask yourself who you will need to help you
- Ask yourself when you would like to achieve the goal
Being specific has a tremendous impact on your mind. Vague, generalized goals are likely to leave you bored and disinterested over time… specific, detailed goals should fuel your mind and energize your actions.
Being specific also means writing your goals down. Writing your goals out in complete detail provides the subconscious mind with a detailed set of instructions to work on – a roadmap for success. The more information you give it, the clearer the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the mind can become. The simple mechanical act of writing makes your goals visible and tangible. Now they are no longer just thoughts – they are commitments!
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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Goal Setting, Leadership, Planning, Planning Your Route, Potential, Strategic Planning, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, communication, Leadership, Potential, results | 1 Comment »
October 17, 2011
All successful people men and women are big dreamers.
They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect,
and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
- Brian Tracy
Personal goal setting is the single most important thing you can do to ensure you reach your potential – as a leader and as a person. You need well-defined targets that give you direction and motivation – they are your road map to success, your life’s plan, and your personal guide to the future. Think about it, without setting both personal and professional goals you are following a road with no destination.
In reality, would you set out for an unfamiliar destination with no real idea of how to get there? Probably not! Despite this fact, statistics show that while most leaders have substantial goals in place for their organizations, very few actually have goals in place for their lives.
If you’re one of the 95% of people on this planet who don’t know what their personal goals are (or life’s ambition is) – and as a result still have no idea where your final destination will be – then you should consider creating explicit goals that will drive you to achieve everything you want in life. Goal setting is just a process, but it is a very important and personal process that helps you get what you really want out of life. Many people never take the time to think about what they ultimately want from life… or next week, for that matter. Others dream about where they want to go,
but never develop a map to guide them as to how to get there in an effective, efficient way. Odds are, you fall into one of these two categories…
Throughout history, there is a clear link between people that set goals and people that succeed. This is because personal goals provide a way to define a clear path toward a chosen destination. The old saying that,” people who succeed have goals and people who have goals succeed” is absolutely relevant and true in every society around the world. Establishing personal goals will significantly increase your chance of life happening the way you want it to happen.
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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Development, Leadership, Personal Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged Leadership, Potential, results, success, winning results | 4 Comments »
September 22, 2011
As those of you who read my posts frequently know, I travel internationally a lot! This past summer I had the opportunity to return to Turkey to speak at a conference and meet with clients in Istanbul. I returned to a city with an ever-evolving modern character that is still, at its core, bound by tradition. As I was observing the frenzy of activity going on around me in the only city in the world that resides on two continents, I began to think (once again) about how there are unique leadership lessons inherent in every environment. If we pay close attention, there is also learning inherent in each of these environments. It is easy to overlook the reminders that abound and think to yourself, “what can I learn from a country that has been riddled with unrest, struggles with human rights issues and is in a constant state of flux?” Yes, these things are true… but it does not negate the fact that there are some important reminders (lessons) that impact how we interact with people as leaders and how our views, as leaders, affect those around us. I have found that often, a change in scenery offers a valuable change in perspective. Here are just a few of the things that came to my mind as I experienced one of the most amazing cities in the world:
- Business and personal relationships do not have to be mutually exclusive…
Living and visiting countries all over the world on a regular basis throughout most of my life, I remain very aware of how unique one location is from another. However, it also reminds me that despite the differences, there are some core foundations that we could all stand to remember. In our western culture, we tend to believe that work and life are separate. However in Istanbul, where East meets West, business and personal relationships are heavily intertwined. The diversity and complexity of individuals is shaped not only by their culture, but through relationships that are consistently valued and continually evolve throughout a lifetime. As I attended client meetings that were focused solely on getting know one another, I was reminded how Turkish people usually only do business with people they know, like and respect. In Turkey, business will only materialize if effective personal relationships are built. This is not only important in the moment, but throughout a lifetime. Later, as I made a visit to the world famous Spice Bazaar, I was reminded once again how relationships can thread through our lives- as both people and leaders – as I stopped to chat with a shopkeeper and was invited in not just for a sale, but to build a relationship. We chatted for twenty minutes, shared some delicious apple tea (a hospitality must in Turkey), and exchanged contact information. On my next visit will I stop in and purchase from Iskandar? Of course, but I will also recommend this particular shopkeeper to anyone I know visiting Istanbul! As leaders, it seems to me that we could be infinitely more effective if we slowed down (both in our personal and professional lives), borrowed a card from the Turkish playbook, and took the time to get to know our colleagues on a more personal level – facilitating an extensive and priceless network of not only colleagues, but friends, that will benefit us for a lifetime.
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Posted in Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Education, Global, International, Leadership, Leadership Lessons From Istanbul, Lessons From Abroad Series, Mentoring, Networking, Value Creation | Tagged communication, Global Leadership, Potential, synergy, transformational management | 1 Comment »
September 16, 2011
Both the ancient Romans and Greeks called all foreigners “Barbarians”. The North Africans call their mountain people “Berbers”, Arabic for Barbar. The Europeans, until the late 19th century, called everything in North Africa “Barbaria”. The word “barbarian” refers to the uncultured, or those with unrefined communication skills – both explicit and implicit. The way we express ourselves is predetermined by our differing cultures (even if we often do speak the same language). How we communicate ultimately determines how we are viewed as global leaders. Damaging miscommunications can (and do) happen frequently when working across cultures, but they can be avoided if we apply some cultural intelligence to our diverse interactions – in particular, understanding the differences between high and low context communications and leveraging both for personal and organizational gain.
High Context cultures communicate meaning not only with words, but with voice, tone, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, speech patterns, and the use of silence. Words play a relatively small part in the overall meaning of the communication, and the context conveys the bulk of the information. People in high-context cultures, such as Asia and South America, tend to take time getting to know one another, providing for an understanding of the broader context of a conversation. This results in knowledge of what to expect, what signals to look for, and how to interpret subtle signs or expressions – fewer words need to be said.
Low Context cultures are expecting explicit communications. People want detailed background information before making a decision, however they are generally unaware of subtle nonverbal signals going on around them. Documents and contracts are not taken seriously unless written or signed – details must be provided. For example, in the United States and Germany (both low-context cultures), contracts with numerous explicit clauses are a normal way to conduct business and the written word is taken quite literally. In low-context cultures, expect detailed documentation – thorough job descriptions, detailed accounting, and lengthy business planning documents. The devil is in the detail.
When communications become challenging, it can be tempting to access your “barbarian-reflex”, especially when messaging becomes unclear. But, as you can imagine, it is completely ineffective to view your colleagues, staff, or even clients as “foreign” or “unrefined” simply because they do not communicate as you do. If you are motivated to communicate effectively on a global, multi-cultural level, you will need to invest in building trust – the more you come to know someone, the less you tend to look upon him or her as a “barbarian”.
If your purpose is to ensure your colleagues and staff reliably implement to your specifications across the globe, the strategy you choose will vary depending on the cultural orientations you are working across. In those high-context cultures, your strategy will need to be relationship and trust based and may not be explicit – more soft-skills based and time intensive. In low-context cultures the purpose of communication is to transfer information and your strategy will need to be explicit, efficient, and detailed in order to ensure the correct implementation. A sound strategic approach that is rooted in cultural orientation will be imperative to your overall success in the global organization.
As a global leader, everything you do conveys a message. Leveraging high-context and low-context cultures means relying on both implicit and explicit communication – carefully ensuring that what you say (low-context) is always mirrored by what you do (high-context). When there is alignment, you automatically build trust across all cultures and your strategic approach becomes less diverse by nature – your message becomes stronger, and you can more readily achieve your global organizational goals, exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Please feel free to contact me at Sheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website atwww.LuminosityGlobal.com. Be sure and check in next Thursday as we begin a series on Leadership Lessons From Around The World!
Posted in alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Global, Global Culture Series, Global Leadership, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Multinational, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation, Who's The Barbarian? | Tagged communication, Cultural Orientation, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, Global teams, influence, intercultural teams, winning results | Leave a Comment »
September 1, 2011
Globalization and rapidly changing technology continue to sweep the world. Organizations working across international and cultural boundaries face significant challenges as they seek to reach and maintain market leadership – however, inherent in those challenges are often unrealized opportunities. One such opportunity, Multicultural teams, offers a wealth of leverage to the discerning global leader. Our research repeatedly identifies the following advantages when multicultural teams are leveraged effectively:
- Global economies of scale and scope are realized
- Effective global learning & knowledge transfer takes place
- Global strategic capabilities are enhanced
- More innovative products and services are developed
- Better understanding of customers across multiple geographies is achieved
- Strong cultural intelligence fostering competitive advantage is accomplished
In today’s complex global marketplace, success depends on a company’s ability to work effectively across different geographical locations and cultures in order to drive innovation and capture market share. Leaders must go beyond motivating people from very different cultural backgrounds, experiences and leadership styles – they must create an environment that facilitates multicultural teams to collaborate effectively across boundaries and borders. There is simply no better better way to understand and strategically exploit the global marketplace.
The truth is that most organizations under-utilize their multicultural teams as strategic assets. When properly developed, such teams contribute significantly to the growth and success of the organization and to its bottom line. In fact, multicultural teams are one of the most consistent sources of competitive advantage for any organization who deploys them – they are effectively the bridge between the workplace and the marketplace.
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Posted in alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Development, Global, Global Culture Series, Global Leadership, Innovation, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Multinational, Planning, Potential, Resources, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Uncategorized, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, communication, complexity, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, global organizations, Global teams, intercultural teams, Leadership, Potential, Strategic Planning, success, synergy, transformational management, winning results | Leave a Comment »
August 26, 2011
“Think Global/Act Local” was based on acculturation: Customizing products and services for regional consumption in accordance with the local language, currency, culture and regulatory climate. Not surprisingly, localization encouraged each country of operation to develop its own customized solutions and operational procedures. This has resulted in data silos around the world and companies operating with huge information blind spots across the spectrum. It can take weeks, even months, to collect, reconcile, translate and analyze regional performance – much less consolidate a global view of the corporate picture.
In addition to the above issues, business today is facing new challenges, and I do not believe the statement “Think Global, Act Local” actually holds true anymore. There is an under-acknowledged reality in global organizations today: easier access to international markets is creating limitless sales opportunities on a worldwide basis, but is also creating numerous challenges in how those products and services are presented in local markets. Escalating costs and increased competition are also placing companies under increasing pressure to improve innovation and raise shareholder value – on both the global and local levels. The new reality is that companies must think and act both global and local simultaneously.
Globalization requires common business practices and processes across the enterprise. The challenge is to reengineer processes to be globally efficient, yet locally accountable. A multinational company may have global processes, policies, and procedures, however they must still adhere to in-country requirements set by foreign governments, as well as honor the business traditions, etiquette and customs which are the underpinning of successful and long-term relationships in the local markets. The goal, therefore, is to establish shared services and global practices, which simultaneously have the flexibility and robustness to meet local market criteria, while leveraging the power of the global market.
However stringently a global corporate culture is imposed, to gain a true competitive edge it is critical to be able to implement effective global solutions with the flexibility of a local interpretation. However, determining the local subset of required functionality is not for the faint-hearted. In-country offices will defend every aspect of their local operation as essential. In reality, it will be a mix of real and manufactured needs that the discerning global leader will be required to effectively evaluate and strategically calculate in order to determine the method of change to be employed.
If put into perspective, global is about the size and strength of a business. Local is about the people the business touches – where they live and work, how they think, what they value, and what moves them to action. Acting local demonstrates a respect for local perspectives, priorities and traditions and demonstrates an understanding of how to compromise to bridge the gap and create an environment where both global and local thinking are simultaneously integrated into the fabric of the global organization.
Locally effective global businesses take into consideration how local attitudes and behaviors differ from those of the company’s home country and other local markets and create a puzzle that fits nicely together – all the pieces are different, but interconnected. Something as simple as observing local seasonal or religious holidays when timing the launch of a new global product can have a direct impact on the success or failure of the campaign.
If global is seeing the forest, then local is tending the trees. With only a view of the forest as a whole, it is possible to overlook the trees that need attention. Up close, it is easy to focus on the detailed care of each tree, but lose sight of its place in the overall forest. Balancing both viewpoints is critical to keeping both the trees and forest healthy. Global Corporations are like a forest – a sum of its parts – consistent, meaningful and effective local practices must contribute to the success of the whole.
You can contact me at Sheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next Thursday for the next installation on Global Leadership Across Boundaries & Borders.
Posted in alignment, Cross-cultural, Culture, Global, Global Culture Series, Innovation, International, Leadership, Planning, Potential, Resources, Strategy, Uncategorized, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, competitive advantage, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, global organizations, intercultural teams, Lead Creatively, Leadership, Potential, Strategic Planning, transformational management, winning results | Leave a Comment »
