Articles
Overcoming Success
Overcoming Success The most formidable barrier many companies and their channels face is overcoming their prior success. It sounds like a stretch, but whether it’s current or even decades-removed...
Truths to Channel Passion and Success
Much of my business life has been working with brands and helping them motivate, align and engage their sales channel. Sometimes the channel is a dealer or distributor network; sometimes it’s reps...
Stay Hungry, Stay Human
I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know leaders of companies of all sizes, industries and degrees of success—Leaders who are hungry to do better, to grow, to feel that sense of accomplishment and...
Immerse Yourself
I always go back to the belief that your brand lives inside your product. It’s the uniqueness of that product that sets the brand apart in the hearts and minds of customers. Think about it. There...
Do You Have A Consistent Brand Experience?
Have you ever been excited about a product, only to visit the store or go online and end up walking away no longer interested? It’s happened to me many times. Usually, it’s because there was a...
Share Your Differentiation Inside Out
Today, my message centers on something I have seen transform organizations in the most profoundly positive way. When introducing new products or brands, I want you to forget the usual assumption of...
Educate to Differentiate
This message is on the “red-headed stepchild” of most corporations: training. Sometimes it is even “homeless,” and relegated to the marketing, sales, or human resources department. And since it’s...
Steppingstone or Destination?
We’ve been reading about the Great Resignation. Millions of people are leaving their jobs to find meaning or fulfillment elsewhere. Some move to a new company and others just stop working. As...
Avoid the “Perfect” Trap
I can proudly say the leaders I work with are genuinely good, sincere people. Every day, I see them being pulled left and right while trying to achieve results and please bosses, customers, and...
I have an idea
There’s a lot of idea generation going on in the world today. Some ideas end up changing life as we know it. Others never make it off the ground. The process for coming up with those ideas is widely...
Finding the magic in collective creativity
Years after his passing, Dr. Seuss has a new book out, thanks to his former assistant and his widow finding a complete manuscript that had never seen the light of day until now. What a great find...
Use design principles to ideate
“I really need some outside-the-box thinking.” How often have those in business heard this from clients, supervisors and colleagues? Sounds like a good thing, but how easy is it to do? Oftentimes...