I heard Liz Wiseman speak recently (co-author of Multipliers)… on leadership styles. She asked the participants to think of a boss who had made them feel great and as a result how did we ‘perform’ for that boss. Then to think about a boss who made us feel smaller. Liz outlined that leaders who make people feel smarter (multiply) as opposed to leaders who make people feel smaller (diminish) – will get more than double the capability from those people….
Have you ever felt that there are just not enough hours in the day? We all got issued the same number (24) I believe it is… how we choose to use those hours is what makes the difference. I’m regularly asked the question, “How do you do it all?” My response is: “Who said I fit it all in?” My kids probably think I’m a lousy mother, and my dog definitely claims he is neglected! Even if I don’t have…
With natural disasters in every corner of the country – one can’t help but think of the impact to all those 1000s of businesses… Those who toiled for years – building their enterprise – to have it dashed from them… or maybe not completely but impacted none the less. Some years ago RedBalloon invested in a business continuity plan. The leadership team posed the question ‘what if this building was not here – could we still operate?’ We are an…
In the run-up to Christmas one of the free-to-air channels ran a series of station idents with various presenters saying what the festive season meant to them. Being grateful for friends and family featured highly. In November I also caught a radio vox pop asking Americans what Thanksgiving meant. In the US, historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year. However, listening to the responses, it became clear that the meaning has been lost in…
‘I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks’. William Shakespeare. As I just complete my tenth Christmas at RedBalloon – I experience a sense of overwhelming gratitude. I have been truly humbled to see how RedBalloon has captured the imagination of so very many people. In my wildest dreams ten years ago I never thought that we would make such a profound difference in all sorts of ways. I thank the businesses and organizations that believe in what…
It is the festive season – so obviously at this time of year you think ‘who has helped me this year?’ Clearly no business can operate without it’s supply community. Our fabulous suppliers who deliver on our brand promise everyday are critical to our success. Great supplier relationships can make the strategic difference to a business. I remember when I was at Ansett Airlines – many suppliers had to wait for months to be paid, yet were asked to perform…
iStrategy is all about getting marketing ideas into a melting pot and learning from others. Here’s some food for thought based on this slide from Cliff Rosenberg at Linkedin: ‘Even if you don’t understand the concept of social media, you need to fully understand that you, as a company are no longer in control of what’s being said about you.’ (In fact you never were in control– it’s just that these conversations about your brand used to happen late at…
Interesting that according to researcher Thomas Gilovich - it is not that wealth that causes happiness, but what and how money is used that contributes to our sense of well being. The more aligned a purchase is to ‘shared experience’ the greater the sense of happiness. I found this research fascinating. RedBalloon is changing gifting in Australia and NZ forever because we believe that the most important gift is the gift of shared experience…which deepens relationships. Interesting that the research…
I just heard from a friend of mine who lives in NYC – that he has resigned from his GM role because the owner of the business said, “I don’t want happy people I want factory workers”. My friend was completely disheartened – he thought business owners were enlightened – and understood that happy people = happy profits I guess I question if this entrepreneur is reading or learning anything. One thing that Verne Harnish is noted as saying ‘the…
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...
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Take note!
The New Economic Forum tells us that one of the five steps to well being is simply to take notice. To be truly present, to see, smell, experience life around us moment by moment; to truly listen, to really focus and be aware. In essence to smell the roses and appreciated what life presents us. I was sent this email last night – and it made me feel sad (see below). Why would we condition ourselves to not hear or…