Leadership in Social Times during a Economic Low

Lately I have heard a good amount of discussions about bosses or company leaders and how they are positively or negatively affecting their employees. The reason I hear more than ever before is due to how social everyone has become as a reflection of their online social adaption to connecting with people. I always knew that people where affected by their leadership, but I think some leaders at some point have forgotten the big impact they have just walking by in a hallway.

Leadership makes or breaks a company more than ever before with the impact they have on their employees. You can even tell if a company/brand will do well based on how the employees talk about their leadership. Every employee is a walking advertisement for their company with or without them knowing it.

I remember one time at a party over hearing a lady talking about a "GM" person working on an Chevy car they just met while talking with others about stores to get things at. The "GM" person stated they only shop at Target, Costco, Nordstroms..etc. Basically, higher end stores. The next thing the person I was listening to said, "No wonder GM is missing sales, not everyone shops a high end stores. Do they even relate to their targets?" Now they have a bad taste in their mouth about the brand and all it took was a conversation about stores.

The same thing happens with leadership. Here is some of the simple things leaders can do keep employees on their side and engaged:

• Acknowledge people in the hallway by say "hi" with a smile (Name or No Name..it still makes a difference)
• At the end of the year (or quarterly) thank employees for their work and dedication
• Let employees know what the companies goals are and how they can be involved/support
• Celebrate the small successes and post them for everyone to see
• Thank the families of the employees for the support they give your employees

More than ever in this economic low people want to feel like they are acknowledged as part of the team and that you can give a moment of your time to show you are real. This will make the difference in your company having a good or bad social status in a viral world.

All that Glitters

Holiday season is about to come full swing with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Indulge in ending the year on a bright note. Just in time for the holiday parties and gift giving, fashion labels are providing accessories and clothing that can let you get your sparkle on.

If you are on the timid side you can add an rhinestone or sequin encrusted accessory to your outfit.

For those of us that think a light sprinkling of sparkle is good for day and a heavy dose is for evening there are plenty of shirts, jeans, slacks, leggings, dresses...etc to choose from.

The key is to only wear as much sparkle as you want to radiate at that moment. The more you wear = the more people will stare like fish to a sparkly lure. So pick your head up, pull back your shoulders, straighten that back, find your confidence walk and strut your stuff in style with this holiday's wide variety of all that Glitters.

*Above items were found at: Nordstrom

Support & Recognition

I would like to applaud all the people right now stepping out of their set of norms to expand their social wealth. Not everyone finds it easy to walk into a room of strangers and introduce themselves to a group, even if it is a casual setting sitting at a table. Yet more people are having to learn the art of networking and recognize importance of creating a support group of individuals that can help you in discovering your next social/career moves.

Luckily the growth of technology has made it easier for us to connect to new people and create forums for people to connect base on interests, common goals or the need to connect with the outside world. I was at a event last night (Detroit Digital 313) where the topic about creative brought up the importance that FEAR brings to push people into using their creative thoughts to move forward. Which I couldn't agree more that Fear helps expand our thoughts to all the possibilities and actions that need to take place prevent or soften the impact of the worst that could happen. This Fear for a lot of people has encouraged them to engage in learning emerging technology to keep head of the curve. For interactive marketing people this gives us a greater platform to reach a larger group of people as a friend or supporter with our brands.

It has always been said that with someone's loss comes another person's gain. This couldn't be more true. Brands are now paying forward to help with people's difficulties to gain long-term brand supporters. "Who was there and helped me when things were going bad?"

As you develop your corporate or personal brand, think about what you are doing to help those around you to build a personal relationship and lasting impression. Every once in a while everyone deserves a pat on the back/token/recognition or reward for stepping outside of their norms to better themselves.

Future of Social Media

Social media does sound better and more personal than interactive media, either way they connect people, products, brands, geography and the world in more ways than we thought was going to be possible even 5 years ago. Thanks to innovative minds and emerging technologies the world is changing around us faster than you can hand write a letter and place it in an envelope.

Practice your hand writing to make it legible, find stationary (dust it off), learn how to spell without spell check or type it first than hand write it, place the finished product in an envelope and seal it (hope the sticky part still works) and buy a stamp to send = 2-3 hours if you are a computer based person

I know this is an exaggeration, but for some people it is reality and really shows how fast the world around us is changing. Now instead of picking up the phone to get your friends or family decision on a product, you can research it online and have input from your online network. Plus, with the multiple online marketing tools brands can directly connect and engage people with their products and their brand values.

House Party Video: Jeff and the Machine

I believe the next step will be where people can rate other people's feed back to products and brands giving them a point value. When you see a person with high points for good honest feedback, the more reliable/trustworthy that person is. The higher the points the more visible their comments are in the feedback stream as well. The more real the feedback person is will help too..Can you contact them? What is their background? Do they fit your needs and values segment?

If you are looking for ways to engage with products directly, check out some of these sites where you can be hands on and help brands engage your network of friends:

House Party

Global Opinions Panels

P&G Everyday Solutions

vocalpoint

The Power of Colors

Do you have a signature color or a color you gravitate to? Either you wear the color or it is part of your signature personal branding (stationary, pen ink when signing, business cards, website, blog..etc.)? If you haven't figured out what your color is, you just might want to consider finding one that expresses you and start implementing it into your personal style. Here is a quick color information review:

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.
Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action.
Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

Light purple evokes romantic and nostalgic feelings.
Dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings. It can cause frustration.

White means safety, purity, and cleanliness.

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

Once you establish your color, it will be come apparent when people will remember you by your color without you even telling them. My color at GM in engineering was pink..I left notes on pick note paper, signed in pink and even wore pink. If I left a note and forgot to sign the paper, people knew where it came from without asking around.

Now days my signature color is my unique "Red" hair color. In today's interactive media channels it is a quick way for people to find me based on my pictures. I tend to wear colors around that make my hair color pop and not blend in. People that have only met me once remember me for my signature color.

What is your signature color?