Monthly Archives: September 2006

Making Your Own Measuring Stick

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Earlier this week I mentioned this was possibly Seth’s most important post.

Why do I say that?  Because as a society, we allow others to define success.  So we end up striving hard and sacrificing much in order to acheive someone else’s definition of success.  Living for too little a goal.

My take on life is we each have our own measuring stick. This is true of businesses as well.  If you’re adopting your definition of success from another person or adopting your company’s from the competition… you’ll probably fail even if you “succeed.”

This week, I heard the story of a man in our church.  I’ve known him for a while.  I have always been amazed by his involvement in leading others in the church and being involved in their lives.  He seems very successful in many ways, including busienss.  What I discovered this week was he capped his lifestyle early.  He owns his own business and now only works 20 hours a week.  The rest of his time is spent on his family and in ministry.

He has a different definition of success than many businessmen.

What’s the measuring stick you back your heels up to?  Tiptoeing and stretching in order to feel tall?  Have you ever wondered if being tall equals success?

When the Game Slows Down

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Friday rolled by without a post. Mired in a consulting project, I could not free myself enough time to post. It’s becoming obvious that my system of writing will have to change.

Adjusting back into agency life has been a little crazier than I expected. It has been a blast though. I feel as if I just now got my feet firmly underneath me. Like a football player who has moved up to the next level, the speed of the game had my head spinning.

Well, the game has slowed down a bit.  I’m starting to see things as they develop.  It’s very reassuring.

The last piece of the puzzle is getting the blog back on track.

Thanks for your patience.

Individuals and Institutions

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Do individuals need institutions, or do institutions need individuals?

Addressing that question, johnmoore of Brand Autopsy snagged a nice find of a Dan Pink article recently published in Ad Age.

Dan Pink states:

That big agency or marketer needs you a lot more than you need them. I mean, what do you need now to reach potential clients? A phone, a computer with an Internet connection.

Hmm. Regarding technology and capabilities, I totally agree with Dan Pink.

What’s not addressed are softer needs. If we’re talking about right-brained talent, then these are individuals who probably have a heightened sense of need for community.

I fit the psychographic mentioned in Pink’s article. I’m a fairly balanced right/left-brained individual (skewing slightly to the right), yet I wouldn’t make it very long as a solopreneur.

Example:
Several years ago, the company I worked for participated in a Tulsa city-wide event called Corporate Challenge. I poured over the entry form, checking off events in which I would be interested. As I reviewed my selections, I noticed something interesting: I chose all team events. Although I love basketball, I didn’t choose the basketball shooting contest because it was an individual event.

Now, I’m not saying that all individuals with the proper right and left-brain mix are team oriented… but we can’t ignore the soft assets which organizations can offer.

In fact, it’s the organizations that grasp these less tangibles that will thrive.

For Those of You Wondering…

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Why is this a blog called Casual Fridays and its URL is thepeoplebrand.com?

Why Casual Fridays?

I chose this blog name mostly because I knew I would struggle to post to the blog every day. I figured I could post something each week (though I struggle with that sometimes as well), but I was afraid people would get frustrated six days of the week coming here and not seeing anything new. So I decided I would post on the same day each week.

I noticed there wasn’t much blog activity on Fridays, so I thought I would fill the gap a little. Since I knew I would be addressing business issues, the phrase “casual Fridays” made sense to set the theme and mood of my blog.

Why The People Brand?

The People Brand was the name under which I worked. It was my dba (doing business as). After accepting a position at Hahn Promotions recently, I no longer do business as The People Brand.

I chose TPB as my business name because I felt as though many businesses had lost what they’re all about: people. Your brand isn’t a feature or a positioning statement. It is people. Your management, your employees, your customers and non-customers alike.

Branding is about people. Business is about people. Its about how we treat one another. Its about how we show appreciation. Its about how we make them feel, how we feel, and how we communicate that… to PEOPLE.

Why am I saying this now?

I feel like I’ve strayed away. I’ve been in a rut. From the way I write to the way I read.

THAT’S GOING TO CHANGE.

I’m going to experiment a little… maybe a lot. But I’m hoping the one thing that continually comes across is the message: Business is about people.

I know it sounds cliche… “We’re in the people business.”

Everyone says that.

I want to say it differently. What that looks like??? Well, we’re gonna find out.
Hope you enjoy the ride.

New vs. Now

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Sometimes I write a post and struggle with it all week. I challenge my own statements and thoughts. After my last post, this week was definitely that case.

So, here are some additional thoughts I’ve arrived at this week:

New does not always = change

Sometimes new = status quo

In somewhat of a polemic (my word for the day) graphic, here’s why:

New vs. Now

Basically, we can buy something new or hire someone new, all in order to stay the same. We can make projections into the future, but never enact results to fulfill a vision. Idealism may stifle us from creating anything worthy. Instead of adapting to current needs, we might look for something new to allow us to stay the same. Staying in theory enacts no change. We must live it out.

Ouch. This really hit me where it hurts. I’m really struggling to apply myself to the NOW. But, I’m committed to it and am excited to see the changes that occur.

Redeem or Replace?

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Invinsible

We love stories of redemption. I think it is something wired within us. It is something we all inherently yearn for.

We love the idea of something new. I think it is something we’ve been trained to desire.

New is sexy and mysterious.

New is full of potential.

New has no scorecard of history to hold it back.

Once the familiar has let us down, we start looking at the new. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

In life, none of us want to play the role of the fool. So, we sacrifice to the idol of the ideal.

Yet, I believe we have to risk being viewed as a fool in order to play a part in a story of redemption.

Would it be foolish to sign an unemployed substitute teacher to an NFL team? Would you do it? I doubt I would. Yet, Invincible was last weekend’s top movie. We love the story of someone rising from the ashes.

This isn’t just all warm fuzzies though. I think there is true innovation found through redemption.

Like redeeming someone’s immune system to fight cancer. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. The opportunities are all around us, if we’re willing to risk being foolish.