Zune going to be over...

Well, it's here.. Zune.. Microsoft's new toy.

Take a moment, go to ipod.com

Now, go to zune.com

I wonder how this is going to end up?

I feel warm and fuz-zune-y all ready.

Start to Finish

It's amazing the number of parallels between the world of marketing and organizational development (which is what we do by the way).

I often hear employees of companies talk about the lack of follow through, and common sense when it comes to the messages they hear from their leaders.

Our employees are our greatest asset.

What are you doing about it?

We will recruit the best talent, and develop our future leaders.

How?

Great ideas start well, but can lose steam quickly if you're not prepared to work hard, and follow the idea from start to finish. The key is to take a moment and think everything through.

Here's a great example of what I'm talking about. We used to have a certain brand of laptop. We weren't happy. We changed. I'm still on a distribution list for the old manufacturer. Today I received a "New Product Announcement", I wasn't interested... I unsubscribed.. here's what they said...





Great idea.. send a message.. bad idea.. don't follow through.

TGIF

Man am I happy it's Friday. No, not in the "yeah it's the weekend!" sense, rather yeah, I'm observing again.

From Monday to Thursday my wife and I drive into the office. On Friday's from March to about now, I usually bike in (yes, that's me in the cycling shorts you see on Bayview..). But, from now through the winter I'm relegated to the subway. What luck!

You see, this allows me a full hour to read, and yes observe. Sure it sounds creepy, but it's not. I can see what people are reading, wearing, eating, and the demographics shifts from stop to stop.

The bottom line, is that it's about getting out of your office, or at least opening your eyes.

We often tell leadership development participants (people leaders to be exact) that they should spend more time out of their office than in it. They should be out coaching, teaching, helping.. observing - in a constructive sense,.. don't even get me started about how much I hate the term supervisor..

We also tell participants to get out... yes, out of their building. Learning happens all over, so seeing new things helps. Be it networking (be warned CSTD, HRPAO, AIMS.. I'm dusting off my membership cards..) or visiting other companies (and in turn having them visit you - you never know.. they might teach you something..)

And it works... imagine if you were an area manager for The Second Cup, standing in line behind me at the new Starbucks across the street from my office (you know - checking the place out... just like I said...) and you heard the not so cheery barista complain how they didn't have any signs at the back of the pastry cooler to let THEM know which muffin is which... you could go back to your organization.. and make sure everything was labelled on BOTH sides of the cooler..

Getting "outside" helps you observe. Observing helps you learn. Learning helps you succeed.

See what I mean?

Attention to Detail

Whether it's your strategy, your vision, your role in the organization... right down to the logo, clarity is essential.

It is the job of the leader to provide... better yet... reinforce the clarity of the organization on a daily basis.. otherwise things could get off track...

From a distance, things may seem in order, but in reality, something's just not right... This lack of clarity could be costly.

Take the logos above... they're all wrong... they look 'right' but they're not, but you knew that - didn't you?

Want test your skills on the logos above click here.

Are we clear?