www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au
Nov/Dec 2011
. . . e r u t a e f l a i c Spe
STEVE JOBS 1955 - 2011
FAST-TRACKING YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS TODAY
From The Editor Welcome to our Magazine! Dear Reader, I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of 2011! I know everyone says that at the end of the year, and it’s not that this year has flown by, but more I’m looking forward to it finishing and beginning a new year. As you may know, we have had a hectic event schedule this year with around 26 events around Australia and also overseas. It has been an amazing journey, we’ve met so many business owners across the country and loved catching up with business contacts and friends along the way. ere are some people I would like to thank for making this year so enjoyable... our Blueprint Members, thank you for all the laughs and also your support during our events, we couldn’t have done it without you. Also a big thanks to people that have assisted us during the year, you know who you are and we are so grateful to have you as part of our team. We still have four events to go this year and then its off home for me to New Zealand to spend some time with my family and friends. But we’ll be back next year and again we’ll be on the road delivering some brilliant events. We’ll be releasing those dates and locations soon. However I am pleased to say that our first event next year will be in ailand! I know, it’s a tough job but someone has to do it. I hope you’ve all had a magnificent 2011. ank you for continuing to support this magazine and we look forward to bringing you more exciting content next year. Until then, have a safe Christmas and we’ll see you in 2012!
In this month’s magazine … Check out our latest news and business briefs... Page 4 Feature Article: The Factory That Jobs Built... Page 6 Find out what makes a great marketer.. Page 8 Andrew May David Straughton Lisa Messenger Read about what Dale has been up to recently... Page 10 Check out the photos from our latest October Business Blueprint Conference.. Page 11/12 We speak to Mandie Spooner and Shane Toohey in the Hot Seat ... Page 13/14 Claim your free audio, ebook and video... Page 15 Discover How To Lead The Creative Talents Of Your People.. Page 16 Be inspired by this month’s success story - Adam Sowden... Page 19
Contact Us For any enquires please call 1300 782 734 or email emma@BusinessBlueprint.com.au
NEWS IN BRIEF
S S E N I BUS S F E I R B Facebook Makes The World Smaller, Shrinks 6 Degrees of Separation to 4 A theory stemming from an experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s claims every living person is connected to any other through only six friends. According to a recent study, Facebook reduces the six degrees of separation to only four, meaning the world’s largest social network makes the world even smaller (figuratively). e study, a joint effort by Facebook and Università degli Studi di Milano, shows that the number of “hops” separating any two persons on Facebook is in fact smaller than six. According to the study, “99.6% of all pairs of users are connected by paths with 5 degrees (6 hops), 92% are connected by only four degrees (5 hops),” with the average “distance” between users getting smaller over time. In popular culture, the best known implementation of the “six degrees of separation” theory is the Kevin Bacon game, which requires you to connect a Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon, with actors being connected if they’ve been in a movie together. e higher the number of “hops” between an actor and Kevin Bacon, the higher that actor’s “Kevin Bacon Number” is.
Qantas Attempt at Twitter Promotion a PR Disaster QANTAS' attempt at social media promotion has turned into a classic PR disaster, with users hijacking the promotional tag to insult the airline. e airline’s official Twitter account asked its followers: "What is your dream luxury inflight experience? (Be creative!) Answer must include #QantasLuxury." But things quickly turned sour as many Twitter users barraged the airline's account with negative submissions, as disputes with workers' unions drag on. User smurray38 wrote “#qantasluxury is seeing your planes on Getaway not Four Corners”. Another user Beta_Boy said “#QantasLuxury is grounding the fleet so I can fly with @VirginAtlantic instead” “#qantasluxury is outsourcing your unionized workforce but keeping your marketing team,” said Obfusc8. In the past week, Qantas hired four full-time social media monitors to keep tabs on what people are saying about it on Twitter and Facebook. Aer this latest debacle, they may certainly have their hands full. By Brendan Casey in Herald Sun
Facebook has also published the results of another study, which looks at the average number of friends on Facebook. According to the study, “10% of people have less than 10 friends, 20% have less than 25 friends, while 50% (the median) have over 100 friends.” Written by Stan Schroeder on www.mashable.com
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Not Another Social Media Site?! Have you joined the Google Plus bandwagon yet? Many experts have claimed that it is rather compelling and engaging than even Facebook and other social sites. It offers easier sharing and social connection. e interface: Once you have completed your account set up, Google plus displays the home screen. is page is similar to Facebook. Here the videos, posts, photos and links are displayed. ey allow you to add "+1" (Just as "Like" button in Facebook) or give comments. is will allow you to integrate the main Google Account. Also, on the top of the home page is a black bar with links to other Google applications. erefore, you can easily switch from Gmail, Calendar, Photos, Reader and Docs. Four major navigation buttons are available; Home, Profile, Photos and Circles. For social networking people, things may be familiar but Circles is a huge feature which might confuse the new users. Circles Google Plus has introduced a friend lists concept which is called "Circles." is enables to organize online contacts like your colleagues, friends, family members etc into different groups. is helps in filtering the posts and updates so that you can send it to specific circles and not all. is assists in keeping healthy balance between different groups. Hangouts "Hangouts" is another exciting feature in Google plus. As a matter of fact, it is one of the first social network sites which have introduced video chatting concept with social friends. is is basically a virtual room where a video chat can be started among the people within your circles. In order to initiate or join the Google plus hangout, you will need a headphone, microphone and a webcam. Sparks Sparks is another new feature of Google Plus. ey operate just as a RSS feed. However, they operate for topics rather than specific sites. For example, it pulls up new stories, current articles and relevant sites for keeping it updated. In order to track your interest and search for new things, sparks makes it easy.
Huddles Huddles are a group chat which uses only text. is is useful for collaborating at work or getting friends together. It can be organized for the entire circle or for specific people. erefore, Google Plus can be used as a social marketing platform to promote and create business online. Colleen Lilly is a social media manager who offers social media services and management at http:// www.socialtrafficcentral.com
Is Your Business Going Print-OnDemand? Up until recently the only real way that you could produce books was to print a minimum of 500 copies or more. Reason being is because massive machines had to be set up and configured and it was simply not viable to print a small number of copies without having to pay a small fortune. However now, through advances in technology it's possible to use a digital printer and to print just one book. is new trend is revolutionising the book publishing industry and the concept has already been exported to hundreds of other industries around the world. Take for example Birds of Prey. ey are an online store that sells women's shoes. eir USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is rather than purchasing a shoe that will be worn by 1000,s of other women, you can customise every aspect of the design and material to be unique to you. is means that you're getting an original one of a kind that's exactly the way that you want and it's now just as affordable as a pair that is mass-produced. Other companies who are doing this are blanklabel.com which does customised mens shirts starting at just $60 and another is stylerocks.com which allows customers to design their own pieces of jewellery which are then made and shipped within days of the purchase. So the question now is, how will print-on-demand affect your business? How do you make your customers experience unique and get them fully involved in the creative experience? And how do you make your customers feel like a one of a kind and not another face in the crowd. Take some time to think about the answers to these questions and watch your business transform.
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THE FACTORY THAT JOBS BUILT I
n many ways he was a visionary, in some ways he was a ‘tweaker’, but however you look at him, Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur who le an impactful legacy. He was an aggressive perfectionist in every sense of the word, making him an exceptional leader, a controversial manager and one of the great inventors of tomorrow. ere are many attributes that make Jobs different from your usual ‘techy’. Whereas most engineers start with the technology and then ask ‘how do we sell it?’ Jobs would start with the consumer and work backwards from there. Many of his peers claim that Jobs was more of a marketer than he was an engineer, it wasn’t necessarily his technical ability that made him great but his understanding of what people would want and his ability to deliver. “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out how to make it a customer experience.”
What’s remarkable is that oen this wouldn’t come from consumer insight. For Jobs it wasn’t about asking consumers what they want. “It’s not the consumers job to know what they want.” He would state. Rather he would try to envision where the market is going and deliver products that would be new and innovative. Once asked about his number one rule in business, Jobs reflected on a quote from Wayne Gretzky, “A good hockey player skates to where the puck is. A great hockey player skates to where the puck is going.” Putting the consumer ahead of the technology was an example of Jobs’ ability to not be influenced by the paradigms of those around him, but to listen first to himself and back himself to make the decisions. is was never more evident than when Jobs returned to a struggling Apple in 1995 aer being fired from Apple in May of 1985. In a later interview with Jobs and Bill Gates, Gates stated “Apple really was failing when Steve went back and reinfused
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the innovation and risk-taking that had been phenomenal for Apple.” Jobs felt that while he was gone, Apple had forgotten who Apple was and had become preoccupied with outdoing Microso. Jobs never bought into this competitive paradigm because he saw Apple as a vastly different company and therefore it wasn’t about battling the competition but getting back to doing what Apple did best. “What was really clear was that if the game was a zero sum game where for Apple to win, Microso had to lose, then Apple was going to lose. And it was clear that we didn’t have to play that game. Because Apple wasn’t going to beat Microso, Apple didn’t have to beat Microso, Apple had to remember who Apple was. Because it had forgotten who Apple was. So to me it was essential to break that paradigm.” He also believed that a number of people in the Apple ecosystem were looking to the past for answers, whereas the company needed to look forward in order to resurrect itself. However just saying it wasn’t enough, Jobs went as far as donating the Apple
FEATURE ARTICLE | THE FACTORY THAT JOBS BUILT
Museum, perfectly preserved for years, to Stamford to encourage his team to drive forward into the future rather than looking back. “We tend to look forward. One of the things I did when I got back to Apple, was I gave the museum to Stamford, all the papers, all the old machines and kind of cleared out the cobwebs and said ‘let’s stop looking backwards here, it’s all about what happens tomorrow’.”
2007, more than a decade aer the first smart phones were launched in the nineteen-nineties. Highlighting some of the misconceptions around what Jobs actually invented, Gladwell concludes, “e great accomplishment of Jobs’s life is how effectively he put his idiosyncrasies— his petulance, his narcissism, and his rudeness—in the service of perfection.”
Decisiveness and making mistakes quickly was what Jobs was good at. He wasn’t afraid to make the wrong decision, but far more fearful of what would eventuate from non-decision. “Some mistakes will be made along the way, that’s good because at least that means some decisions are made along the way.” Although many claim he was a perfectionist, Jobs would oen emphasize the importance of putting progression ahead of perfection.
Whether he was an inventor or not, no one can argue that Jobs was an adventurous risk taker. Not taking risks reluctantly because he thought he had to, but rather taking risks because he loved the thrill of the adventure. “ere are a lot of things that are risky right now which is always a good sign and you can see through to the other side and think ‘yes this could be huge’ but there’s a period of risk and nobodies ever done it before. When you feel like that, that’s a great thing, that’s what keeps you coming to work in the morning and it tells you there’s something exciting around the next corner.”
Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Outliers” and other best-sellers, says that Jobs was far better at progressing other peoples inventions than he was at creating devices from scratch. Gladwell rightly points out that the core characteristics of the first Macintosh were borrowed from Xerox aer Jobs visited them in 1979. Apple released the iPod in 2001 but digital music players were on the market in 1996. e iPhone was released in
Ironically, much media attention followed the passing of Jobs speculating how entrepreneurs could replicate his approach and his success. If Jobs taught us anything, it is that there are no rules to success and that the only commonality the greats of history share is that they do it their
way. As Gladwell indicates, regardless of our characteristics, it is important that we identify our own uniqueness and put it to work in the service of perfection. On the surface, Jobs had every right to not succeed. He was adopted as boy and never met his biological father, he dropped out of university and only attended the classes that interested him, he was fired from the company he founded at the age of 30 and in the later years of his life was battling cancer. Perhaps it was through adversity and hardship that Jobs learnt to look forward at all costs, “because you can’t look back and say ‘oh gosh, I wish I hadn’t have gotten fired, I wish I was there, I wish this I wish that….it doesn’t matter. And so, let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.”
Jack Delosa is a Gen Y entrepreneur and investor. He is the Managing Director of two business education institutes, MBE Education and The Entourage. He has been named in the top 10 entrepreneurs under 30 in the Dynamic Business Magazine Young Guns. http:// www.mbeeducation.com.au
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MONTHLY MENTORS | HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
Tips On
How To
Andrew May
David Straughton
My Top Tips Are:
- Only one captain - decide who's really in charge; shared responsibility is no responsibility. - Create and communicate more organisational clarity - be clear about the company’s roles and responsibilities; articulate your vision. - Focus - it's vital to focus on your company's direction; give special attention to the financial side of the business. - Plan! (P.P.P.P.P.P.) - prior preparation prevents a pretty poor performance. - Develop more systems - 'Systemise the routine; humanise the exception'. (FedEx) - Practise - make sure you offer cutting-edge customer service. - Think - spend some time thinking about the various ways to be different, innovative, creative and exclusive. - Don't pretend or delay - learn to take action right now!
Have A Successful
Business Most businesses start out with a person looking at their boss and saying ‘I can do what they do, I’m just going to go out and start my own business and when I do I’ll be making so much more money’. However as you’ve probably discovered, business success is much for illusive than what other people believe. In addition to all the technical skills required to do the work which most people are good at through experience, there is a whole new set of skills required which most people underestimate. ings like finance, human resources, IT, administration, sales and marketing, website development, content creation, social media, outsourcing, stock control... and this is just the short list. So clearly, success in business needs further training and the degree in which you master these new set of skills will be the degree to which your business succeeds. Enjoy reading these following tips and always keep learning.
- Don't do it alone - surround yourself with a great support team. - Learn to live with 'happy discontentment' - complacency breeds laziness; get over procrastination and perfection, it only gathers dust. - Laugh and have fun - don't forget that we are meant to have fun and love what we do! - Quality time with loved ones and family - remember to tell those close to you how much they mean to you. - Old dogs can learn new tricks keep your mind fresh and active by learning new skills and improved ways of performing at your peak. - Recharge, refresh and renew take time out every week, have a mini-break each quarter and a good off-season every year. To find out more about Andrew, visit: http://www.andrewmay.com/
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For find out more about David visit: http://www.bigdave.com.au/
MONTHLY MENTORS | HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
Lisa Messenger - How to have a successful business it is largely based on word of mouth. What is handy, however, is Have financial acumen - if you that we only have to work with don't have financial skills, find people we like. someone on your team who does. Our core business went from a flat fee Create leverage - my business is and retainer style of invoicing to a now extremely focused to the really complex system of third party point that we can present the suppliers with multiple clients and same concepts, ideas and multiple products. When you go from intellectual property through a $50,000 a year turnover to a multiple products with multiple $100,000 a month turnover, you need price points to reach a wider incredible systems in place to make audience. it work. Love what you do - no, really love Develop intuition - in the beginning I what you do! Be so passionate laboured over decisions, but now I about your cause that you don't have the luxury of time. I've With a background in sponsorship, radically believe that you can got people around me who do the marketing and PR, Lisa is currently the managing director of Messenger achieve it. Keep reminding yourself research, but intuitively you've got Marketing and Messenger Publishing. why you're pursuing your cause and to know yourself and you've got to trust your instinct. She is also the author of two books, keep raising the bar so you are constantly challenging yourself. with a six-part series of books soon To find our more about Lisa, visit: to be released. Have self-belief - when someone http:// www.themessengergroup.com.au/ Learn nine top things that Lisa has tells me I can't do something, I persist even harder! So should you. learned in order to have a Knockers usually crush your ideas successful business below. and goals because they're afraid Maintain your focus - for too many to go there themselves. Before I have even written a word, I have years I didn't do this and already designed the book cover. I constantly diluted my efforts because I was running in different do this so that both my team and myself know that it is not just a pipe directions. While I still offered great service to clients, I constantly dream - it's about owning my destiny. had to reinvent the wheel. Build a great team - you can't do it Surround yourself with incredible mentors - realise that you don't on your own. Let go of the reigns and get some helpers because if know it all and that you need to you can't, you might as well give up open up to learning new things from those who have achieved success in right now. parallel industries. You become a Build quality client relationships - product of what you surround this is paramount in my business as yourself with.
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Diary Dates Hot Seat Interview Thursday 1st December Power Hour Class Thursday 15th December Power Hour Class Thursday 19th January Business Blueprint Annual Overseas Conference is being held in Thailand from the 3rd of February to the 6th of February Power Hour Class Thursday 16th February Hot Seat Interview Thursday 1st March Power Hour Class Thursday 15th March Hot Seat Interview Thursday 5th April Power Hour Class Thursday 19th April Business Blueprint Summer Conference is being held from the 26th - 29th April
Business Blueprint Members Area As the year draws to a close, there’s a lot to celebrate and a lot to be grateful for. As a quick update, this year we’ve run 26 events, gone on approximately 50 flights and met thousands of business owners cross Australia and New Zealand. I’ve also been fortunate enough to spend a couple of months out of the office travelling with my family and being able to indulge in some personal hobbies and leisure time. Of all the things we’ve done this year the thing that I’m most proud of is the four main Business Blueprint Conferences we have run through the year. e first was held in Fiji in February and it was a big success. It was the first conference we have run outside of Australia so it was a big challenge but everyone rose to the occasion and it was extremely well received. We even had Kerri Pottharst, Olympic Gold Medalist join us for a real game of Beach Volley Ball which was a real hoot. Next we had our April Conference with the stand out speaking being Sharon Pearson, Founder and CEO of e Coaching Institute. In July we had an exceptional line up including Darryl Lovegrove, Creel Price and Sam Cawthorn. And in October we had our biggest event ever with over 120 attendees and speakers including Peter Baines, Geoff Jowett and Brad Sugars, founder of ActionCOACH. A big thank you to all of our members who make what we do possible. It’s been a massive year of growth and we look forward to continuing to support you in 2012 and see you achieve all of your goals and dreams. Last but certainly not least, this year would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of the entire Business Blueprint Staff. ey’ve gone over and above and done whatever it takes to make things happen so a big thank you to you guys and I’m looking forward to our Xmas party where we can let our hair down and party. Until 2012, have a wonderful holiday!
MEMBERS AREA | FROM THE GALLERY
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HOT SEAT | MANDIE SPOONER & JOHANNA KLAUS
Mandie Spooner & HOT SEAT Johanna Klaus Mandie and Johanna started emagine publishing in July 2011 and are the exclusive Australian distributor of MagMag Publisher – the next generation of digital publication software to create interactive digital publications. So why digital publishing and why MagMag Publisher?
What are the advantages of using your software?
Digital publishing blends the benefits of the web and print together. Most people still enjoy the look and feel of a printed magazine; they connect with it. It’s a traditional format, much loved but losing ground because it is limited in its capacity to deliver immersive, interactive content that changes.
ere are lots of advantages!
Today, many of us digital natives require so much more from our information sources. With digital publications we can retain our emotional connection with print while enjoying the extraordinary versatility of the web. Your key messages will reach your target audience directly and because the Internet continues to make corporate publishing tools more economically viable, it can be done at a reasonable cost.
• You can integrate rich media such as video, music, documents, link to contacts, documents and websites for a fabulous and emotive user experience. • Read your publications on all devices. • Distribute publications digitally saving you money and reaching a large audience. • Unlimited global distribution. • Distribute through Social Media. • Elegant interface design, fun for your readers to interact with. • Embed the publication on your website. Is the software easy to use?
MagMag Publisher provides advanced e-publishing soware that allows any organisation to create rich, immersive content in an exciting new format that keeps readers engrossed and with the capability to embed video, music, documents, link to contacts, documents and websites any publication can immediately become a powerfully emotive interactive emarketing tool.
It’s very simple to use, you will be amazed! You upload your already created PDF to our soware and then you add your rich media. (video, music, documents, link to contacts, documents and websites)
What would potential clients use digital publications for?
What do you feel the most important considerations are for organisations considering interactive e-publishing?
e sky is the limit! You can use it for Customer Communications, Newsletters, Catalogues, Supplements, Brochures, Flyers, Interactive e-books, Training Manuals, Marketing Material and much much more!
We can train you or we can train your design agency on how to use the soware. If you don’t have a design team then we offer a design service.
Client Database. Having a client database to send your publication to. We have a ‘share’ button where you can share your publication on Facebook,
Twitter and via email which means even more distribution for you. You can also embed the publication on your website so that is a great way of distributing it. Great for online brochures, catalogues and magazines. Reporting. Do you know if your current Marketing works for you? With our Reporting feature you can measure how many readers open your publication, how long they spend on each page and what links they click on. erefore you are able see what is working and what isn’t working. And finally. Consumer needs have changed. e consumer wants to be able to access all communication channels (blogs, social media, internet, email) at any time using any equipment (mobile devices) is market is tipped to grow rapidly, on average 25% growth between 2009 and 2013 in digital publishing [Global entertainment and media outlook, PWC]
Call emagine publishing for a free sample of how your publication could look using MagMag Publisher. Mandie@emaginepublishing.com / 0434 908 029
Jo@emaginepublishing.com / 0432 962 565 www.emaginepublishing.com
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HOT SEAT
Shane Toohey
Together with his business partner, Ian Schubach, Shane started his business Peak Teams. He developed a patentpending technology that simulates adventure environments to create unique and powerful learning programs on leadership, teamwork and change. Growing up, did you consider yourself to be a leader? When I was 12 years old I was pushed outside the main group of cool kids at school, possibly because the alpha male of the group saw me as a threat. Whatever the reason, I spent the majority of my teenage years as a loner and an outcast, constantly challenging authority and looking for ways to rebel against society. I certainly did not see myself as a leader and I doubt any of my peers would have done so either.
What was the most difficult part of all of your adventures? e most difficult part of my adventures was finding balance. Balance between the single-mindedness required to achieve ambitious goals and the more holistic elements of life – thriving relationships, financial prosperity, business success, health and wellbeing. I think it is very easy to lose sight of the big picture when you start to chase an ambitious, long-term goal. I also believe it is very easy to wrap your sense of identity in the achievement of that goal, as I did. Interestingly, it was only because I achieved more balance in my life that I was able to complete my goal. When I went to Antarctica I financed the trip myself and I did so with the full support of my wife, Victoria, who continued to support and fund me as I chased my dream. en as a result of that trip to Antarctica I started my business, Peak Teams, which has now brought us financial success and stability as a family. rough your experiences, what has leadership come to mean to you? Leadership to me is more about our actions and behaviours than it is about titles or positions. I have always
remembered a quote I heard many years ago from a principal at a school assembly. He said, ‘Leadership is about influencing other people in a positive way, to achieve a desired outcome’. If you look at leadership as exerting positive influence to drive a positive outcome, then by extension, everyone must be a leader at some stage every day. at applies equally to a parent trying to influence their children to clean up their room, a salesperson trying to influence a potential customer or a political leader trying to influence other countries to sign up for new climate change policies. In all of these examples it would be easy to try to achieve the outcome through negative influence, such as bullying tactics, creating fear, making threats of retribution for non-compliance and so on. ese tactics are more about the abuse of power and authority than they are about true leadership. Truly great leaders make a conscious effort to not only influence other people to achieve outcomes, they also seek to make a POSITIVE impact in every situation. I believe great leaders build their legacy upon a foundation of positive impact.
Why do you identify communication as one of the biggest factors of leadership success? Communication is the connection between a leader and their followers. It forms the basis of influence, engagement and inspiration, which are vital elements of the leadership toolkit. Effective communication that includes giving and receiving feedback allows you to simultaneously improve your own leadership skills and strengthen the performance of your team. Simply put, the more effective you are as a communicator, the better you will be as a leader.
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What do you think holds young people back from achieving their goals as a leader? As young people, most of us believe that we are the centre of the universe. e view from the centre of this universe is very limited and oen does not take into account the complex issues that directly involve and impact a variety of people. If you do not think about, nor understand, other people you cannot communicate, influence or lead them very effectively. For young people to achieve their goals as a leader they must learn to put themselves in the shoes of their followers and other key stakeholders in any situation.
What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made as a leader and what did you learn from it? On an expedition to Kazakhstan I failed to really listen to my team as it disintegrated in front of my eyes. rough this experience I learnt many key lessons, including: • the power of ownership when a team has input into its goals • why a listening environment is so important for leaders • how desire for reputation and selfpromotion can ruin leadership credibility • the need for flexibility and momentum when attempting ambitious goals • an effective team is built on trust, respect and integrity.
To find out more about Shane Toohey and Peak Teams, visit: http://peakteams.com/
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We presently live in a time of abounding social optimism. Even suggesting that deflation and depression could occur is laughable to most experts. Today, Robert Rechter is again bucking the trend. In this book summary, 'Conquer The Crash', he draws the radical conclusion: we are about to face a huge, even unprecedented, economic bust. This book is crammed with evidence to support his theory and offers practical advice.
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ARTICLE | LEAD THE CREATIVE TALENTS
How to lead the creative talents of your people to fuel innovation and get results No matter how large or how small a business is it needs to leverage and harness the creative talents and ideas of its people. Why? Because it’s the creative and innovative thinkers, mavericks and thought leaders that drive your business forward. It’s their thoughts, talents and ideas that lead to new innovations, if innovation is the implementation of ideas then creativity is the catalyst of those ideas. Which means they help you outpace your competition, drive change and ultimately boost profits. But leading creative people and innovative thinkers is a lot like Herding Monkeys. ey oen appear to be all over the place, off in a world of their own. But they are actually very community based, and although they appear at times to be doing nothing, they are actually thinking
and pondering and creating. ey are also incredibly good at slinging s… stuff, ideas and concepts about, and they are incredibly smart. And because they think feel and do very differently it takes a different leadership style to draw the very best from them and commercialize their abilities. So how do you lead the creative talents of your people and more importantly, harness their genius and direct it towards viable outcomes? Whether you have hundreds of employees or two, the same rules apply. Here are four key tips.
1. Don’t be their boss. e old style of leadership, where you rally the troops and expect them to follow you as you head off into the
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wilderness with your blunderbuss in one hand and a machete in the other, simply doesn’t work with creative people. If you head off into the wilderness with your people trudging behind, sure you may be exploring uncharted territory, but your team is only widening an already trodden path. at’s not creativity or innovation, it’s conformity - it’s being their boss. You need to be a like an orchestra conductor – someone who knows how to nurture and the talents of individuals and help them be the very best they can be. Someone you gives them direction and guidance and bring their talents together in a beautiful symphony. at takes understanding and it takes vision.
ARTICLE | LEAD THE CREATIVE TALENTS
You need to understand how creative people work, what they need, and what obstacles you need to break down. But you also need to have a vision, to know what it is you are trying to achieve. Creative people and innovative thinkers love having clear direction, knowing what the rules of the game are and what boundaries to play within. But they also need the freedom to figure out how to get it done. Part of the leader’s job is to be very clear in establishing that vision and setting those guidelines. A leader also has to be brave enough and smart enough to let their creative people and teams do what they do best without getting in the way – just steering and guiding them occasionally when they get off-track. In many ways, the leader’s role is to support and guide, not interfere or constrain.
2. Recognize who creative people are? Creative people are everywhere and just because someone doesn’t wear jeans to the office doesn’t mean they are not creative. Creative people are those who challenge the status quo, see the world from differently, and find innovative and unique solutions to things. Creative people can be found on all levels of an organization and oen you don’t even know they are there, they also surround
you as freelances, contractors and suppliers. So the first step in tapping into their genius is understanding that if you label who is and who isn’t creative then you’ve actually limited the creative potential of your business.
want you creative teams heading off in the wrong direction, Micromanagement and creativity don’t mix very well, so have someone else deal with the red tape. ***
3. Give your people permission to be creative. Your people aren’t going to put forward a constant flow of great ideas if they don’t feel they have the permission to do so. You to need to create an environment where it’s safe to explore possibilities, and put ideas on the table without fear or ridicule. We did a survey last year on the top Creativity killers and the number thing that keep coming up was risk aversion. Creativity is all about going where no creative mind has gone before. It’s about exploring ideas that break the status quo, it’s about seeing the world differently and if your business doesn’t allow you or your team to take creative risks then you will only get adequate ideas and solutions, not brilliant ones.
4. Destroy the red tape
Coming up with ideas is one thing, but coming up with brilliant ideas is another. To do that you need to tap into the gold vein that is the creativity of your people. You need to nurture and inspire your people to think more creatively, do more creatively so your get a consistent flow of great ideas, to fuel the innovation pipeline and get the commercial results you need.
Nigel Collin helps businesses fuel innovation by leading and inspiring the creative talents of their people. As a speaker is in high demand and his latest book ‘Herding Monkeys’ – how to lead the creative talents of your people and turn their ideas into commercial results, is available in major bookstores throughout Australia and through Amazon Internationally. For more information visit: http://nigelcollin.com.au
Creative people hate red tape because it restricts creative flow. If you bog them down in admin and bureaucracy then how are they meant to do the creative stuff? How are they meant to come up with the next big innovation? So clear the path and make their lives easy. If your creative teams have to fill in form 2B-A76 every time they have a brain storming session then nothing will ever get through. Am I saying don’t have any ticks or checks? No I am not. What I am saying is that you need to reduce that stuff to only what’s essential to keep things on track. You don’t www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au/Mag Business Blueprint Magazine Nov/Dec 2011
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BUSINESS BLUEPRINT SUCCESS STORY I have done so many workshops and seminars in the last 10 years that I promised myself I would not do anymore. Although I have learned a lot from my studies I have not been able to find the motivation to put much into practice. My business has been running along quite comfortably for the last couple of years. After trialing a number of ways to grow it I had come to the conclusion that it had reached it’s potential. When a friend of mine suggested that I check out Dale’s seminar I was interested but certainly didn’t believe it would make much of a difference to my bottom line. My wife and I went along to the New Rules of Business somewhat skeptically. In the car on the way I said to Claire, “we will probably get excited and want to sign up but let’s agree now that we are not going to as we have wasted so much money on seminars that have not given great results.” Well... the content was so good at Dale’s free seminar that we decided we had to see what he had to offer in his paid program. So we broke our agreement and made the investment to attend Business Blueprint. A week ago we attended our first Business Blueprint weekend and I am so relieved that we joined up. I learned so much on the weekend, but most importantly I can now see that my business has only been running at a fraction of it’s potential, I can also see what has been keeping it from growing and have numerous strategies to easily take it to the next level. For some time I have been battling with ways to ethically sell my services and now this problem doesn’t exist as I have learned ways to sell with absolute integrity.
I could bang on for a few pages as to the other benefits gained from the seminar. The most important thing for me however is not the great insights, it is the results after the seminar. I have been more productive in the last week than in the previous 6 months, have entered negotiations with a number of new clients who want to work with me and are happy to pay more than double what I have previously charged. Our finances are more organised than they have ever been, and a number of jobs I have been putting off for over a year are now being done by our recently hired virtual assistant. I am not even going to mention how much she is charging us because it is so cheap even I am offended. The most exciting thing for me is I now have a clear plan that has simplified growing my business into a series of manageable steps. I am only just getting started with the action plan and can see great results already. Thanks Dale, you have an excellent product and to anyone who’s experienced Dale but is still on the fence, what are you waiting for – make the decision now, you’ll be glad you did.
Adam Sowden Australia’s #1 Decision Making Coach