Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

Strength of Weak Ties

When it comes to finding out about new jobs----or, for that matter, new information, or new ideas----"weak ties" are always more important than strong ties.  Your friends, after all, occupy the same world that you do.  Your acquaintances, on the other hand, by definition occupy a very different world than you.  They are much more likely to know something that you don't.

Sociologist Mark Granovetter, in his classic 1974 study "Getting a Job," looked at several hundred professional and technical workers from Boston suburb of Newton, interviewing them in some detail on their employment history.  He found 56 percent of those he talked to found their job through a personal connection.  People weren't getting their jobs through their friends.  They were getting them through their acquaintances.

Acquaintances, in short, represent a source of social capital, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are. 

For more information about building your social capital, go to:
http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/1formulaforsuccess.html

Source: Click here for "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown and Company)

John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach, www.CoachedtoSuccess.com

Corporate Profit Squeeze

With labor costs now absorbing almost 87% of the output of nonfinancial corporations, companies are likely to face a lethal combination of rising interest rates and rising wages as inflation accelerates.  To overcome this profit squeeze, companies must increase productivity fast enough to fund both higher wages and decent profits for shareholders.

Back in the roaring 1990s, real wages for the average private-sector worker rose by about 14% (as measured by the Labor Dept.'s employment cost index).  That's compared with a slim 1.4% gain in the previous decade.

Now that workers are starting with a bigger share of output and faster wage growth, to satisfy them and build profits at the same time, companies are going to have to do better than the 2.2% productivity growth of the 1990s. And that will likely take place in an environment of rising interest rates, putting more pressure on profits.

One of the best ways to build management capability for productivity growth is through an executive coaching program.  Executive coaching provides the high leverage learning necessary to help managers excite, energize and coach their people to greater productivity.

For information on Executive Coaching's return on investment (ROI), go to:
http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/execroi.html 

John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach, www.CoachThee.com 

Affordability: What the budget can tolerate

In housing and automobiles, affordability is determined by monthly payments, including taxes and insurance.

As higher rates dampen demand for homes and cars, the effects spread to the rest of the economy.  More important than housing's direct affect on the economy is the fallout from the slowdown in home-price appreciation.  This is where the economy will be most vulnerable.  The easy availability of refinancings and home-equity loans have allowed consumers to tap into the equity built up in their homes.  The Federal Reserve found that the average household extracted $26,700 in equity with each refinancing.  Now the refinancing windfall is going away.

You Get What You Tolerate

In medicine, you look at how "well tolerated" a drug will be related to its side effects.  At work and at home, many people evaluate new opportunities related to what can be well tolerated.  In consumer spending, the key question is: How well can our budget tolerate the monthly payment for a new automobile or new house? 

Yet, at the end of life, most people don't want their tombstone to read, "He tolerated stuff for other people because they paid him."  Especially, when we realize that we can make more money and have more fun doing work that engages our passions.  Life is too short for being tied down to high monthly payments for homes, cars and other purchases...or...doing work you don't enjoy for people you don't respect.

For more on consumer spending and the bursting of the real estate bubble, click here.

John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach  www.MentoringandCoaching.com

Knowing how to read people

Picking up on and interpreting hidden cues — is a critical asset for success in your work life.

Studies show that the brain processes four primary codes of communication.  Two of these (speech and vocal codes) are processed auditorily, while the other two (facial expression and body language) are processed visually.  When assessing people, we must interpret all four codes of communication — observing how they move, how they comport themselves, how they sound, and what they say.

The body language code (the combination of movement, gestures, and mannerisms) communicates a lot about people — such as: are they lying or telling the truth, do they like you, and do they actually mean what they are saying.

For example, people who lean in towards you are showing that they are interested in you and what you have to say.  This is also the case if someone copies your body language (e.g. crossing legs in unison, clasping fingers, etc.).  People who feel powerful and confident usually take up more physical space while people that stand too far away are being arrogant, snobby, or simply showing that they don't like you.

As you improve your ability to read people, you will know much more about those you deal with and make better decisions on how to approach them.

Source: "I Know What You're Thinking" by Lillian Glass, Ph.D.

 Mark Goulston M.D.: Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone

 Emmanuel Gobillot: Leadershift: Reinventing Leadership for the Age of Mass Collaboration

 Bill Lane: Jacked Up: The Inside Story of How Jack Welch Talked GE into Becoming the Worlds Greatest Company

Free Advertising via Blogs

Today, we learn of news events, find new jobs & cars, and communicate with each other via the Internet. This causes readership of mainstream media (MSM) companies' traditional newspapers to decline while classified and display ads shrink.  And since advertisers are what supports the newspaper business, MSM companies are creating or converting regional newspapers into free publications in an attempt to shore up circulation. 

As automobile manufacturers shrink in the United States, so does their automobile advertising which is a major source of funding for domestic MSM newspapers, magazines and broadcasting.  Fifty years ago, the CEO of General Motors (GM) said, "What's good for General Motors is good for the USA."  The same is true today.

Blogs Help to Sell Cars

GM's Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz has his own FastLane Blog that is building customer relations for the company by engaging people in genuine conversations via an interactive link to top management.  Competitor Honda is using blogs, like this one, to distribute free video automotive advertising to prospective car buyers. 

Please note that there are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the video commercial you will see when you click on the link below.  Everything happened in real time exactly as you see it.

It is my understanding that the film took 606 takes.  On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work.  They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions.  The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including full engineering of the sequence.  Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in 'free viewings'....Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this commercial.

Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and the complete Honda Accord) are parts from two disassembled hand-built Accords.  The voiceover is Garrison Keillor.  When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten.  They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real.

About those funky windshield wipers:  On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet.

Click here: Honda Accord Ad

John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach www.MentoringandCoaching.com

Nature and Nurture

The Wall Street Journal's Science Journal (April 22, 2005) reports how life experiences affecting DNA is becoming better understood in lab animals and humans.

In the lab, Michael Meaney and his colleagues of McGill University in Montreal report that maternal care changes the chemistry of a "neuroticism gene" and the rat grows up to be mellow and curious.  This innate genetic trait of neuroticism is reversible by a nurturing environment.

In a 2003 study, confirmed in 2004, a gene called 5-HTT thought to be associated with depression and suicide was not unless people who carry it also experience deeply stressful life events.  In another study, men with the low-activity ("violent") form of a gene called MAOA were no more likely to grow up to be antisocial or violent unless they had also been neglected or abused as children.

"These genes were not connected with aggression or depression, respectively, in the absence of exposure to environmental risk," says behavioral geneticist Terrie Moffitt of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and King's College London.  "That different environments can produce different (traits) from the same genotype is now emerging in many fields of health research."

"The whole subject of what counts as innate has just exploded," says science historian and physicist Evelyn Fox Keller of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  "Historically, nature/nurture divided what was fixed from what could be changed.  But what our biology really gives us is our plasticity; our ability to respond to our experiences.  That's what's innate."

 Test your leadership style to see if you are a copycat or born leader? 

Who reads blogs?

Although 62% of Americans have no idea what a blog is, blog readership is up 58% in 2004 with 6 million Americans getting news and information through RSS aggregators.

RSS: Really Simple Syndication..or..Rich Site Summary..or..RDF Site Summary

RSS is a XML format for news and content syndication where headlines and links to the actual content are made available from blogs like What can it be? and this one.

After the publishing site creates an RSS file of its content, other Web sites may use the headline feed, and the content can be read with a standard Web browser or by specialized RSS viewers. By selecting your special interest XML feeds, you are kept up-to-date on valuable news and views...plus...you have the ability to interact with the source blog to state your perceptions and co-create with the author and other blog subscribers.

BusinessWeek reports (in their cover story for May 2, 2005) that Blogs Will Change Your Business.  Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out.  Their advice: Catch up...or catch you later. Go to Story 

With 9 million blogs out there and 40,000 new ones popping up every day, there is a bunch of new information being created and distributed.  Isn't it time that you hopped on board the blog bandwagon?

John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach, www.CoachedtoSuccess.com 

Building Customer Relationships with Blogs

What's a blog?

Since 62% of Americans have no idea what a blog is, here is the answer: 

A frequently updated website consisting of personal observations and excerpts from other sources, typically run by a single person.  A blog is made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically—like a journal. The content and purposes of blogs vary greatly—from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.

Blog posts are like instant messages to the web.

Many blogs are personal, "what's on my mind" type musings.  Others are collaborative efforts based on a specific topic or area of mutual interest.  Some blogs are for play. Some are for work. Some are both.

Blogs are also excellent team/department/company/family communication tools.  They help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums. Use a private blog on an intranet to allow team members to post related links, files, quotes, or commentary. Set up a family blog where relatives can share personal news. A blog can help keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and group culture, and provide an informal "voice" of a project or department to outsiders.

There's growing anecdotal evidence about the grassroots impact blogs can have on sales for companies, especially small businesses.

Internet guru Dave Weinberger says blogs are a growing force in commerce because they provide a more powerful voice to individuals. "If companies allow their employees to blog, [they] have the opportunity of engaging their customer in the sort of genuine conversations that build real customer loyalty."

The ever-shifting cultural and commercial tides cause continual adjustments in our approaches. What was once trusted (government, big corporations) are now suspect. What was taken for granted (truth in advertising) is now subject to lawsuits and fines, even reviews by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The continual erosion of trust and truth are giving rise not to the marketing machines but to authenticity.  Authenticity spreads virally, especially through the Internet. Authenticity for old school marketers is hard because it's their job to stage, craft, and simulate. Today, it's not selling so well.

--Source: Creating customer evangelists at: http://www.customerevangelists.com

 

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Healthy Optimism

People with a sunny outlook on life may be unconsciously beating heart disease.

A study of nearly 600 people with a family history of heart disease found that those with an optimistic personality were half as likely to develop heart disease as their grumpier counterparts.

The study participants (who had no symptoms of heart disease but whose brothers and sisters had been diagnosed with heart disease at young ages) took a standard personality test and were checked for high blood pressure, blood sugar, body fat and cholesterol levels.

Maybe adding a little fun to people's lives can work like medicine to help prevent heart disease.  Researchers told an annual Heart Association meeting that people who enjoy humor were also less likely to die from early heart disease.

Interested in taking an online self-assessment to better know your personality?
Just go to: http://www.SelfAssessmentCenter.com

Why not integrate a little happiness and love into your life today?

John G. Agno
Certified Executive & Business Coach, www.CoachedtoSuccess.com 

Sorting Out Perceptions

Most of us believe we know how the world works---rather than just perceiving how the world works.  Understanding that our perception is not how the world works but only how we see the world, through our own personal and organizational filters, matters. 

Jack Trout in his book, "Big Brands, Big Trouble," tells us that the failure to understand the simple truth that marketing is a battle of perceptions trips up many who are hoping to achieve a viable market presence for themselves and their products or services.  The perception of a brand or product/service in the mind of the consumer is the reality — everything else is an illusion.  Truth has no bearing on the subject — it's all about how the consumer thinks of you and your brand.

Misunderstanding consumer perceptions can hurt a company. 

In the early 1990s, AT&T had more than a 60% share of the long distance market; but there were problems on the horizon.  Customer satisfaction scores were lagging, both Sprint and MCI were very close to AT&T in terms of perceived reliability and consumers couldn't see a real difference between AT&T and the other long distance providers.

But AT&T had a secret weapon — the Fastar program, a system that automatically reroutes calls around an accidental break in a cable line.  The system took 5 years and cost $13 billion to develop, but it remained a secret because AT&T didn't market that system.  Instead of positioning itself as the "reliable choice" based on its innovative Fastar technology, AT&T marketers positioned the company as the "right choice," which meant nothing to consumers.

AT&T made a massive investment in making their system the reliable choice yet didn't let their prospects and customers in on "the secret."  If you have something very special to offer, that the competition doesn't have — then tell the world.

Source: Jack Trout: Big Brands Big Trouble: Lessons Learned the Hard Way