I was recently asked two great questions What is your greatest strength as a leader? First and foremost I am always myself. I am the same with one person as I am with any other. I am straight with people, authentic and I do what I say I’m going to do. Who I am every day is, coach, visionary, strategist, front man – all of these things are elements of leadership. A key element to leadership is knowing your purpose….
Monthly Archives: August 2006
Out of the mouths of Babes.
I took my daughter to hear me speak yesterday at the Networks Leadership event. I had a good time, I’m not sure if she did. I was there to speak on Leadership and ‘the growth story’. I asked her what she thought – and she said ‘it was just a bunch of old stories you told them’. There was great business questions, about brand differentiation in a competitive market, one about competitive strategies another about supplier relations. One guy asked…
Always looking for great people.
We did a small count this morning and realised that we are currently recruiting for Four Great People Marketing Assistant Junior ColdFusion developer Account Executive Pleasure Relations Consultant I’m very much a part of the recruitment process. And I love it, meeting people, seeking out whether they fit. What I really look for in candidates is do they innately demonstrate the same values as RedBallooners. Needless to say if you know anyone who might suit one of these roles please…
Online Experience vs dealing with real people
Yesterday I was asked at an Interactive Marketing event about the online vs offline selling experience. I read Neil Rackham’s “Rethinking the Sales Force” recently. And I also had the privilege of having a half day session with him as part of the Advanced Business Program I’m doing at MIT in the US. His book really clarified this question for me. So this is what I learned in Boston: Do you understand how customers want to do business with you?…
When Small is Big.
When you’re in small business…you often pretend to be bigger than you really are. (Giving people big titles is an example –see separate entry). But when you’re in big business you often pretend to be small, agile, innovative and entrepreneurial. I have just got my hands on a copy of Seth Godin’s new book “Small is the New Big” I read “All Marketers are Liars” some months ago and thought it was the best marketing book ever written…but I like…
Telstra Business Awards 2006 NSW winner announced.
Congratulations to the Telstra Business Awards NSW winner – the white agency. We were really pleased to be placed as a finalist. It was pointed out on the evening – there are 510,000 small businesses in NSW, 1100 entries to the awards and we were part of a select group of 6 finalists in the Panasonic Medium business section. We had a fantastic night as you can tell from the photo…and no we were not bobbing for apples. We are…
Letter to the Editor – Marketing Magazine Aug 2006
Sam, I read with interest ‘The gift that keeps giving’ article by William Kestin. Well that is one mans opinion based on how he sees the world (given he is the CEO of the Australasian Promotional Products Association of course promotional products would be the hero in the story). Whilst I agree with much of his sentiment regarding retail gift vouchers having little lasting value towards the brand that gave it, one cannot lump experiential vouchers into the same lot….
The ten things I do to be productive.
These are my set of rules that I use to keep myself productive? 1. Create the day ? even before I get to work (I walk to work which gives me half an hour to think through how the day is going to go) I work out what I want to achieve. 2. I have a morning huddle (10 minutes) with my direct reports ? to see if they are stopped anywhere ? this really sets up the day. This…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
The gift of fantasy
“The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” Albert Einstein I remember hearing Steve Jobs say many years ago ‘The way to predict the future is to invent it’. These speak to me really loudly. It’s up to me to invent the future!