Six Critical Factors in Winning Against Private Label

In the not-too-distant past, private-label products were discussed in the same hushed tones reserved for topics not suitable for public consumption. Consumers didn’t really want to tell anyone they bought private label, the generics of the retail world, and let on that they were willing to compromise. National-brand managers relegated private-label products to the bottom of the category shelf set, allowing a tiny portion of share to be taken by this awkward cousin—but never really took them seriously.

But in the economic crash of 2007–2009, the world of private label changed dramatically. Retailers like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons led the way by developing private-label brands instead of individual products. By some reports, as much as 54% of Sainsbury’s sales, and 41% of Tesco’s sales, come from these owned brands.

These retailers also recognized that (in many cases) using a national brand equivalency (NBE) strategy, where one simply knocks off the aesthetics of the best-selling national brands in each category and places their product to the immediate right of said brand with a price 40% lower, wasn’t gaining any loyalty.

The private-label trend caught on globally, from Loblaws of Canada to Walmart, Target, Kroger, Aldi, Wegmans, H-E-B, The Home Depot, Lowe’s … the list goes and grows on. A 2013 Nielsen Homescan study showed private-label brands in the US make up an average of 23% of total dollar share in supermarkets, 20% in club, and 18% in dollar. And now, Amazon is actively building its own private-label group, with plans to offer a considerable amount of owned, branded products across hard and soft goods.

A 2013 Nielsen Homescan study showed private-label brands in the US make up an average of 23% of total dollar share in supermarkets, 20% in club, and 18% in dollar.

So what can national brands do to compete in a world where they don’t control the retail space, shelf set or pricing structures? It’s a tough question to answer, but there are a few opportunities out there for brands willing to take on the challenge.

1. RECOGNIZE THE QUALITY OF PRIVATE LABEL

Sometimes we run into brand managers who scoff at the idea that private label might be a real competitor. Or, perhaps even worse, relegate private label to the lowest tier of the category set and figure that only consumers looking for a cheap product at a cheap price will choose it.

This line of thinking is horribly flawed. Private-label products and brands have made huge strides in quality over the last 10 years, with many of the manufacturers who support private label proudly touting the superiority of their products versus national brands. First Quality Enterprises of Great Neck, New York regularly conducts independent tests to certify that their diapers and incontinence products perform as well as or better than any national brand. Aldi recently ran an ad calling out Pampers in a head-to-head comparison with their Mamia brand.

When private-label brands can match, or claim to match, national-brand quality standards, it’s time to recognize their power and plan accordingly.

2. GET TO KNOW YOUR BUYERS AND CONSUMERS

Most retailers build their private-label brands through in-store conversion. They spend few resources educating consumers on the values of their brands or trying to build relationships with consumers before they enter the store. This is where national brands hold the first advantage.

National brands must know the people who shop for and consume their brands and products very, very well! I’ve worked with brand managers that noted their consumer audience as “builders” or “homeowners” or “moms.” That kind of vague reference won’t get you anywhere. You must dig to understand not just the demographics of the people buying and using your products, but also the psychographics behind why they make their choices. To do this, I recommend getting out and talking with people face to face, in homes, in stores, wherever they gather or shop for or use your products. Sending out an online survey will never get you into the hearts and minds of your consumers. You must engage them personally.

3. CREATE STRONG BRAND EQUITIES

Make it easy for your brand zealots to discover, locate, purchase and recommend your brand and products to other like-minded fans.

I’ve been playing acoustic guitar for more than 35 years. Around 20 years ago, I came across the Taylor guitar brand out of El Cajon, California. I was drawn to the quality of the guitars they made, and the distinctive headstock made it easy to spot others playing the brand from a distance. The brand published a newsletter that looks and reads like a high-end magazine, and shipped it free to everyone who owned a Taylor guitar. These newsletters shared stories about how the brand sourced woods, built different guitars, incorporated technology in the building process and more.

They also built their brand community by using popular artists to play at local guitar shops where fans could get their hands on the very guitars being played exceptionally well by these artists. This collection of information and identifiable equity elements has helped Taylor become the number-one acoustic-guitar brand in the US.

4. BUILD EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

Studies continually show that consumers trust national brands at a level that far outweighs their private-label counterparts. The power of Coke’s long history of brand storytelling, from unique shape language to the color red, polar bears, Santa Claus and teaching the world to sing, makes it virtually impossible for store brands to compete on anything but the lowest performance measures.

When national brands focus on product function only, they open the door for private label to take away market share. Most consumers want an emotional connection to the brand. Give it to them.

5. INNOVATE AND LEAN FORWARD

Private-label manufacturers by their very nature race to catch up to national brands, which is why national brands must work twice as hard to change the game. This means national brands must stay in touch with consumers and market trends to see what people want now, and how their preferences are changing, so they can anticipate change and get ahead of it whenever possible.

Steve Jobs recognized that anyone could make a phone, but only Apple could make an iPhone. He looked at a category replete with lookalikes and created a new platform that shook up the entire mobile phone universe so much that a once-dominant player like Nokia, which had gotten lazy in its innovation cycle, saw market share fall from a high above 50% in 2007 to just 3.5% by the third quarter of 2012.

Offering new versions, flavors or varieties of the same old products never has and never will be considered innovation. Consumers get confused by too many line extensions and default to the products they know and love anyway, so do yourself a favor and reach beyond the extension into true innovation.

6. USE THE ENTIRE MARKETING MIX TO YOUR FAVOR

Because consumers have an emotional connection to and therefore predisposition to purchase national brands, it is the responsibility of the national brands to do everything in their power to embrace those passionate consumers. This will never happen in one clean, concise manner. It involves strategies in pricing, placement, product assortment and promotion. Finishing this experiential journey with excellent customer service, trade relations and sales support increases the likelihood that your brand will be able to compete against the strongest private-label challenges.

Build Private Label Brands That Last

Private Label has come a long way since the 1970s!

In the US, private-label products have long carried a stigma of being the generics—the items people bought when they needed to compromise. Some point to the energy crisis of the 1970s as a boom-and-bust period for private-label products. Consumers were forced to trade down from their beloved brands to cheaper options because they simply couldn’t afford the items they really wanted. They bought a lot of private-label products, and—by most accounts—the experiences didn’t go all that well.

Two hard lessons were learned during this period:

1) Private label more often than not meant significantly lower quality and;

2) Consumers couldn’t wait to trade back up to brands and products they really wanted when their budgets allowed the switch.

Private-label advocates knew they had to find ways to build brand loyalty and gain credit for more than just being the lowest-cost option.

The good news is that private-label brands have made huge strides in the hearts and minds of American consumers. During the Great Recession of 2007–2009, as in the 1970s, large numbers of households were driven to private label. But one significant difference is that as the economy has shown signs of strengthening, consumers haven’t bailed from private label. A recent Nielsen report indicated that 71% of consumers say private-label quality has improved over time.

Can private-label brands hold on to their good fortune? We’ve identified five key principles that need to be in place for private label to hang on to and advance their share.

BUILD BRANDS INSTEAD OF COMPROMISES

Consumers always claim to want the lowest price, which is why so many private-label efforts follow a national-brand-equivalent (NBE) strategy. But when this happens, consumers are reminded that private label is the trade down from their desired choice. So private label gets no credit for brand or product innovation, nor loyalty based on its own equities. Consumers will trade up and out when possible.

Target’s Up & Up brand abandoned NBE lookalike branding, opting instead for clean, bright packaging and clear system architecture to communicate minimalism without sacrificing style. By building up its own brand, Up & Up created a recognizable, “cheap-chic” offering in line with Target’s master-brand positioning.

LIMIT YOUR LAYERS

Consumers have been trained to perceive three tiers in most retail environments: cheap stuff, expensive stuff and everything else. However, owned brands can fall prey to presenting too many layers. Some retailers have difficulty killing off weak products or collections that no longer match the brand and instead create sub-tiers and super-tiers. When consumers can’t distinguish the nuances, they apply the three-tier rule for simplicity.

Sainsbury’s evolution to private-label leadership began with a clear good/better/best strategy that provided separation within the tiers—“Basics,” “by Sainsbury’s” and “Taste the Difference.” Giving each brand a discrete (and complementary) job to do ensures products are organized in a smart, accessible way so consumers can quickly assess and know what they’re getting.

MATCH THE BRAND SCALE TO THE SITUATION

In today’s superstores, shopper mindsets shift from aisle to aisle. Know where private-label initiatives can succeed as large-scale systems crossing the entire store (such as Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand) or where they are more effective as smaller systems that leverage the unique emotional cues of specific categories (think Walgreens’ private-label-turned-national-brand Boots for high-end beauty). It’s important to match the needs of the brand, category and consumers.

MAKE EACH BRAND STAND FOR SOMETHING DISTINCT

People don’t buy what you make, they buy why you make it. Owned brands can become watered down over time by lack of clarity in the brand purpose or position in the marketplace. Building a purpose-driven brand empowers owned brands to use discretion when it comes to product assortment. And innovation against category white space can be a driving differentiator when tied to an established position.

Wegmans’ Simply from Nature pet line does this well. Driven by the insight that pets are family too, the line cuts out artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. Here, staking a claim to a considered brand experience—while still driving value—elevates product benefits to differentiators and positions for preference.

KNOW HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH

Consumers tend to shop retail categories in one of two ways as they move across the store: top-down quality assessments and bottom-up compromise. For top-down assessments, they’re concerned about failure, perception and replacement costs. Think about buying fresh meat, where the family meal is on the line. The typical household only buys a few types of fresh meat that they already know how to cook. This drives butchers crazy but it makes sense when you think about it. Because if mom screws up a London Broil she’s trying for the first time she ruins dinner and suddenly the family is doomed to cereal or pizza for the night. The family now has to pay twice for dinner ... and mom feels like she’s failed the family. That’s a lot of pressure riding on one cut of meat. Better just to stick with things she knows how to fix and look like a star at the dinner table. The same logic holds true for other categories as well, such as prestige cosmetics, where emotion and appearance count.

For bottom-up compromise, consumers look for products that deliver their desired level of performance, but at the lowest price possible. Think about buying commodity and high-use items like toilet paper, laundry care, dish care and paper goods. Sure, there are always consumers who want the best. National brands love and court that audience hourly. But not everyone wants to pay for a quicker picker upper. These consumers tend to start at the lower end of the selection set and find what works okay for their needs. For them, a paper towel that works okay is just fine. They’ll save money on paper towels and go buy more ground chuck.

While the faltering economy that drove the expansion of private label has improved, in its wake is a new class of value-minded consumers willing to keep purchasing private-label brands as long as they perceive continued quality and innovation. Brands that leverage these principles will be poised for both elevation and endurance.

Unleash The Power Of Your Organization With Bottom-Up Leadership

Taking a bottom-up leadership approach can positively shake up your company and help bring some of the best ideas out of the shadows and into the market.

Most companies operate under a top-down management approach, in which visions and business plans are set at the highest levels and passed down through the organization. This can be great in theory, but it can also leave some of the most innovative and breakthrough ideas locked inside the people on the front lines. When those people feel disconnected from or shut down by leadership, the company can be doomed to irrelevance, especially in an era that demands innovation.

Build A Strong Core Team

W.L. Gore & Associates, a company known for its innovation and made famous for Gore-Tex, uses sponsors to help new hires untangle the system and find their place in the organization. They help make connections and find links so people are set up to succeed from the beginning. The company further allows employees to choose their assignments and follow their passions. Once an employee selects a project or team, they’re pretty well locked into the commitment. From that point on, their accountability is to their teams, not to their bosses. But great ideas often come from passionate individuals and strong teams.

Listen. Repeat. Act.

When current General Motors CEO, Mary Barra, first started at GM, she was an 18-year-old student co-op full of new ideas. She had the good fortune of working with mentors and managers who helped her learn and grow—and who listened to her ideas. As she moved through the company she saw the value of staying in touch with and open to the ideas of those on the front lines.

With a father who worked as a die maker for Pontiac for 39 years, Mrs. Barra fully understood what could be learned from those who touch the product every day, even in adjusting minor details that affect the people on the front lines. In an interview recently with Business Insider, Mrs. Barra proudly stated how as VP of Global Human Resources for GM, she shortened the unwieldy language of the dress code to just two words: Dress Appropriately. While something like this might seem trivial to some, it can be a sign of respect to those who feel patronized by the language passed down by managers who have lost sight of what life is like in the trenches.

Remember That Great Ideas Come From Anywhere

Passionate people with their hands in the work have a better chance of making connections between seemingly disconnected dots. Many people are familiar with how 3M’s Arthur Fry used an experimental light adhesive to create a better bookmark and thereby invented Post-it Notes. Mr. Fry’s inventiveness was evidence of a 3M culture where ideas, even ones that aren’t immediate successes, are shared in order to make the collective output even better.

The same can be said of the Gore Company. Dave Myers, an engineer with Gore’s medical teams, thought the company’s technology being used on mountain bike cables to block out gunk might work on guitar strings as well, since guitar strings lose tone and quality over time due to oils in the skin. After a bit of of exploration, Mr. Myer and his team introduced Gore’s industry-leading Elixir guitar strings.

In these and myriad other examples, success comes from sharing ideas and staying open to contributions from all areas of the company. Keeping employees locked into silos significantly diminishes the organization’s chances of regularly discovering breakthrough ideas.

Watch Out For Management Bias

Far too often managers miss the great ideas generated on the front lines. NPR host and author Shankar Vedantam believes he knows why.

In his book The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives, Mr. Vedantam’s research shows that managers often put more weight behind ideas from distant sources than ideas from their own employees. Simply put, it’s easier—and often more attractive—to hire high profile consultants than to ask for ideas from within the organization.

Vedantam goes on to discuss how managers can rush forward with “confirmation bias”, seeing only the ideas that support their own theories while discarding proof that their idea isn’t the strongest one on the table. This can be a culture killer because employees quickly see their ideas being pushed aside in favor of hierarchy and management. When this happens morale plummets as key employees face a cruel choice: stay with a company that undervalues their contributions or take their ideas elsewhere.

Be Wary Of Superstars

In a 2014 interview with The New York Times, Google’s Senior Vice President of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, talked about the problem with shooting stars. “Successful bright people rarely experience failure,” he said, “so they don’t learn how to learn from that failure.”

Bock continued: “They, instead, commit the fundamental attribution error, which is if something good happens, it’s because I’m a genius. If something bad happens, it’s because someone’s an idiot or I didn’t get the resources or the market moved.”

By contrast, “We’ve seen that the people who are the most successful here, who we want to hire, will have a fierce position. They’ll argue like hell. They’ll be zealots about their point of view. But then you say, ‘here’s a new fact,’ and they’ll go, ‘Oh, well, that changes things; you’re right.”

Ask Yourself: What Could Bottom-Up Thinking Do For Us?

Far too many management programs today emphasize action over listening, and title over experience. Most tend to prefer the sanitary approach of using consultants because writing a check is easier than building forums. When this happens, we communicate to our employees that they and their ideas don’t matter.

Management has to listen and act.

We think using these simple ideas can make a big difference. What do you think?

Why You Need Change Management Bread Crumbs

In the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, two small children are led out into the woods to fend for themselves and with expectations that they won’t survive the night. However, the kids have the evil plan all figured out and leave a trail of pebbles and bread crumbs to find their way back home so they can eventually slay the witch.

Managers Are Evil Until Proven Otherwise

For many employees involved in change management initiatives, the story of Hansel and Gretel is far too close to their own experience, minus the bread crumbs. We hear it all the time: employees feel like they’re being led into the woods to certain doom while senior managers feel like they’ve done their jobs in telling their staff that big change is coming, that they shouldn’t be worried and that everything is under control.

These broad and vacuous statements do nothing but reinforce the idea that upper management is trying to “change” employees right out of a job.

Upper management must understand that the prevailing attitude with line employees is that change is going to end badly for them. It’s survival mentality. In his book Leaders Eat Last, author Simon Sinek discusses at length how the brain fires up a dose of the hormone cortisol when we sense danger. The human body doesn’t wait until we can see the danger, it takes care of business ahead of time. Cortisol helps focus our attention on getting out of dangerous situations.

In change management initiatives, employees tend to sense that change is happening even if nothing has been announced in the company. Keep in mind that bad news travels faster and is, frankly, more exciting than good news. So given the chance to leap to conclusions, most of us leap the wrong way. Managers have a responsibility to their direct reports and to their companies to over-communicate what’s happening and help overcome human nature. No shady language, no duplicity, no dodging the hard questions.

This steady stream of communication can be considered the bread crumbs out of the woods for employees. The biggest difference here is that the trail leads to a new, hopefully even better, destination instead of back to the original starting point.

Error Increases With Distance

It’s easy for managers to be lulled into complacency when communicating change issues. Many believe that since they delivered a clear message once or twice, then everyone should be on the same page. Others believe that since they heard a message from their managers then everyone else must be getting the same message. This isn’t even close to reality. With one client, we found up to 10 degrees of separation from line employees to the C-suite, which made those at the senior executive level appear to live above the clouds. They were for all intents and purposes untouchable to the average employee.

But the CEO leading the change worked very hard to shorten the distance between his office and the people making products every day. He communicated clearly to his senior leaders and expected them to help cascade the same language, using the exact same terms, to the people below them. And he got regular reports on who was doing the communicating and how the messages were being received.

This seems like such a simple concept, but many of us forget that with every level in the organization comes a greater chance for error, for key messages to be twisted and altered to fit the personality or agenda of the messenger.

Whenever possible, we suggest that senior leaders shorten the gap between the top of the company and the bottom. Deliver messages directly and in person to the broadest range of employees. Expect managers to do the same, and measure both participation and impact. This enables executives to manage the chaos before stories get too far off the desired path.

Go Far Together

One African proverb says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The same is true of change management.

Change doesn’t happen fast nor should it, in most cases. It takes time and planning to get the messages right and help everyone get on board. Organizational change is about setting up the company to go the distance. You can’t do that by racing alone.

Build a solid platform, communicate the end goal and how the company plans to get there, and recognize that most of the workforce won’t believe the messages until they see them lived out in and through management. With these bread crumbs the rest of the organization will make their way back to safety and join the rest of the company in reaching new goals.

Are Middles getting in the way of your progress?

It’s been my experience that many of the major blocks to change, growth, innovation, and more are tied to Middles: middle class and middle management.

The problems of having just enough

Middles tend to have just enough, so they fear risk that might cause them to lose what they have. Rags to riches stories don’t come from Middles. This group has a hard time seeing the potential gain because the potential loss is so overwhelming. You rarely hear Middles saying they are willing to risk it all. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’m a huge fan of small bets and what Jim Collins described as firing bullets before cannon balls. But Middles can struggle even with firing off bullets unless those bullets are fired in incredibly safe territory.

Middles also can’t afford bigger bets, so the adage of “it takes money to make money” serves as a roadblock. Because risk is such a major inhibitor, Middles can have problems taking the steps they need to make a major impact in their communities, churches, businesses, etc. When you have enough to be comfortable, but not enough to be carefree, comfortable is like living within giant walls covered in razor wire surrounded by a moat filled with crocodiles. No one is getting in, but no one is getting out, either.

Don’t screw it up!

Middle managers who share this risk aversion can kill progress in companies. They often live by the mantra “just don’t screw it up!” So they passively block innovative thinking, change within the company and new people with new ideas. The Middles don’t like new. They like big, comfortable, proven and safe.

We’re not in a safe economy. With innovation being the buzz word for companies of all sizes, having a culture filled with the Middles mindset can passively kill whatever progress upper management has in mind.

The absence of yes

One of my favorite statements related to the passive aggressive behavior of Middles came from a 2015 episode of the TV series The Good Wife. I’ll spare you the details of the show, but the line “The absence of ‘yes’ times time equals no” is a brilliant representation of the Middles code of compliance.

Think about it. You’re in a company that desperately needs to change to stay relevant and gain the best new talent, plus you need to innovate and offer up something new for your audiences. Upper management develops new foundations with a vision, mission, values, purpose, building a positive culture, etc. The Middles don’t say “no” to the change. They just don’t say “yes”, either.

Then it’s time to get innovative. Upper management is now under the belief that their teams are on board. Since they didn’t get much push back on the change initiatives, they believe everyone on the boat is rowing in the same direction and now will embrace innovation as well. The absence of no does not mean yes. Middles don’t like to say no, partly because saying no means they will have to defend their reasoning—and their reasoning may mostly be centered around the fact that they don’t like change. Especially in a culture where upper management is driving to a new destination, Middles don’t want to be seen as the boat anchors.

But don’t think for a minute that Middles agree with or support the progress. The absence of yes can be seen as passive agreement. That would be a mistake. Middles know that when it comes to organizational change and innovation, usually they just have to outlast the idea of the hour and then they can get back to managing their comfortable worlds. Thus, the absence of yes times time equals no.

So what can you do? Here are five suggestions for dealing with Middles and the Middles mindset.

Overcoming the Middles

1. Use Middles to strengthen the core. Middles aren’t all bad. They just don’t like risk and change. Middles might be excellent at managing the core of any organization and keeping the company on track. Embrace their strengths and focus on strengthening the middle.

2. Don’t ask Middles to lead change and innovation. In his excellent book “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, author Clayton Christensen recommended moving disruptive innovation outside the core of the company. Why? Partly because the Middles often treat innovation like a virus that needs to be attacked, passively or actively, by the body. Do your organization a favor and let the Middles focus on their strengths while enabling the Innovators in the organization room to move and grow.

3. Help Middles see the future. Middles need time to embrace change. Middles want the company to continue doing what it’s always done and, in some cases, get back to the glory days the company once enjoyed with its legacy products and services. Because they tend to not be early adopters, this is going to take more time than most organizations want to recognize. Understand this. Schedule time, training and work to get buy-in before all the decisions have been made so the Middles can see themselves as part of the future.

4. Get verbal agreements. If you’ve ever sat in an exit row on an airplane you’ve been asked by a flight attendant to give him or her your verbal acknowledgement that you know you are in an exit row and have the ability to manage the exit door in an emergency. They don’t take a chance that you might be able to do the job, because if the plane goes down, you managing that exit door could be a matter of life or death. You need that same kind of agreement within the company to know everyone will do what you think they will when the time comes. Don’t let the Middles passively kill progress with an absence of yes.

5. Be willing to make the change they can’t. Just as important as getting the right people on the bus is helping the wrong people find a different ride. Once the vision and expectations are set, the coaching managed and programs initiated, it’s time to keep an eye on progress. If key metrics aren’t being met—and this tends to be consistent over time—and team frustration grows, it may be time to help some Middles find new roles inside or outside the company. In some cases this is just a factor of the company taking a new direction and needing new skill sets, so coaching people out of the organization doesn’t mean they are damaged goods, simply that they may not fit the future as well as they did the past.

The truth is we need both Innovators and Middles in most organizations. Just know that they can cancel each other out and see each other as the problem. Knowing where the company needs/wants to go will help, but things can’t end there. Upper management has to keep an eye on progress and people who are truly part of the program. Embrace those who join the efforts to move forward. Coach those on the fence. Help the others find success somewhere else.

10 Ideas for Taking Charge of Your Career.

Whether you’re just starting out or rethinking your current situation, you’re in charge of you. Where you go from here is largely related to who you are, how hard you’re willing to work and what kind of impact you want to make in the world. Choose to be amazing.

Early in my career a mentor helped me see that I had a choice in how I worked my way through life. He said that though I’d never be able to control every aspect of what happened, I could control how I showed up, what kind of impact I had and how I felt about that impact.

I’ve collected the best advice I’ve received over the years and narrowed them down to the top ten. I’d love to hear what works for you.

1. Be YOU

Much of the world doesn’t like originals. They like things and people that are predictable. But you have a choice in the kind of life you want to live. I love Todd Henry’s statement that “cover bands don’t change the world.” They play someone else’s music over and over again. Don’t be a cover band. Be you.

2. Have big goals

Be willing to aim for lofty goals, so that even if you fall short you will have accomplished something and that something is relevant to you. Long-term goals help you have an idea of the smaller steps you need to take to reach them. If you’re focused only on today, you become very fragile when things don’t go your way. Things are going to be different than what you planned. You should plan on that!

3. Make a difference

Plan to make a difference, to learn and grow and change the world. Those things don’t happen overnight. They aren’t killed overnight, either.

I encourage people to take a moment each quarter and document what they did over the previous three months to have an impact. A lot of people struggle with that. They can tell me all the work they did, or number of projects or clients, or places they went. But not anything of significance. Don’t confuse effort with outcome. Plenty of people work very hard and have nothing of significance to show for it.

4. Worry about what you can control; not about what you can’t.

This was something I heard early in my career and is absolutely one of the most important lessons of my life. Obsess over things under your control but learn to give up the things outside of your control.

You can’t control how your presentation will be received by the people you present to, but you can control how much time, energy, thinking and general preparation you put into your presentation. I’ve found that when I did the heavy lifting on my end more often than not the outcomes came closer to what I had hoped. It’s when I cheated on the prep that things went badly.

5. Take what you do seriously, but not yourself

Learn to laugh. Enjoy your work and the people around you. Nobody wants to work around the office curmudgeon and they certainly won’t be around to help make your life better if you’ve made theirs a personal hell. Do great work but enjoy the ride.

6. Be curious

Stay open to what’s new and different and crazy and special. Stop trying to know the approach. There is no one approach. That’s a fixed mindset that says somehow you’ve arrived and now you can’t grow any further. Science proves that your brain can rewire itself continuously and learn new techniques. So keep up the curiosity.

7. Be amazing at something

Don’t be normal. Normal is boring and doesn’t leave a mark. Be amazing. It doesn’t matter what you choose. Find your passion and work like crazy to be amazing.

8. Be willing to fail

I guess I’m lucky here, because failing comes so naturally to me or because I’m willing to put ideas out there and get a reaction. A few years after college I was on stage one night playing my guitar and singing before several hundred people and forgot the second verse to a song. Oh sure, I had the guitar chords down, but the lyrics were gone. I could have walked off the stage embarrassed or I could have … yeah, walking off wasn’t an option. I asked the audience if they’d mind me singing a different song. They didn’t mind. I played, sang and finished the song in style. I’m convinced the big applause I received wasn’t so much because I did anything special but because I had just overcome one of the top nightmares for people performing in front of an audience. I think they liked knowing I didn’t spontaneously combust. I’ve performed thousands of times since then and had any number of issues pop up. But I’ve always survived.

9. Don’t make excuses

Good things happen every day. Bad things happen every day. Own your issues and improve when you screw up. You will screw up. Hopefully, because you’re going to be willing to fail and that means you’ll miss the mark sometimes. When that happens, be the adult in the room who takes the heat.

10. Be open to change

What I do now didn’t exist five and ten years ago. Technology I use every hour didn’t exist three years ago. It’s an amazing time to be alive. Go with it. Learn new things. Be curious. Have a growth mindset and enjoy the ride.

BONUS: Who you are is not who you will become

Take a good look in the mirror. Whether you love or hate what you see, you have a chance to make tomorrow something special. You’re not stuck. If today was lousy, make tomorrow better. You can control that. You should control that. In the end, be you. Be amazingly you. And change the world while you’re at it.

The Copy Paper Syndrome: why selfish behavior is killing your company from the inside out.

What difference can a few sheets of paper make?

We’ve all been there: you head over to the office copier, one that’s shared by a dozen or several dozen other employees who all bear the same responsibility for keeping it stocked with paper, only to find that the paper trays are empty. You look around for the spare reams of paper and find that those, too, are somehow missing.

Here’s where the syndrome kicks in: what’s your next move?

A) Walk to wherever the boxes of paper are stored and bring a whole box, or at least several reams, back with you and fill the paper trays while stacking up the extra paper for others to use later?

B) Walk to the paper storage area and retrieve a ream of paper so you can completely fill the tray you need?

C) Walk to the nearest other copier, grab a handful of pieces of paper based on what you need and return to your copier to finish the job?

D) Walk to the nearest other copier and take care of your task there, since that machine apparently has paper?

If you chose options A or B, you’re already in rarefied air in today’s me-first company cultures. Unfortunately, it is far too common to find employees and managers alike who focus on taking care of themselves and their needs rather than looking out for the good of the company and their fellow associates.

The perils of looking out for you versus looking out for us

Companies are made up of a variety of moving parts, all working together to make a product or offer a range of services. It takes everyone on the team to make that happen. When employees fill their days with only those items that are important to them, or are listed on the scorecard they are held accountable for, they miss the ‘working together’ principle of teamwork. If it’s always someone else’s job to do the little things, then the organization begins to break down. Things that are left for others invariably end up never getting done.

Short-term outlook negates the long-term vision

The Internet is filled with disparaging articles on Millennials and their give-it-to-me-now approach to work and life. But it’s not just Millennials. This is a systemic issue. Many large organizations promote managers on regular two- and four-year intervals, as long as those managers don’t screw things up. As a result, those managers avoid long-term solutions and instead focus on what will help them get promoted to their next station. We have found brand and marketing managers who recognized larger issues with their brands and that someone, eventually, would need to address them. But why worry with the big picture when grabbing the low hanging fruit will get you to the next level?

Upper management rarely sees the problems—because selfish behavior is like a cancer in the corporate body silently killing the company from the inside out. By the time upper management gets wind of the problem the cancer has spread and now manifests itself as missed orders, shipment delays, product quality issues, facility breakdowns, budget overruns, etc. The systematic dysfunction comes about because people are looking out for themselves. And because many companies reward the behavior, they only have themselves to blame.

The boy who saved Holland, but couldn’t save the corporation

There’s an old tale about a boy in Holland who was walking along one of the dykes and noticed a trickle of water coming out of it. Knowing that water coming through a dyke could eventually lead to a catastrophic failure of the dyke and therefore imperil the country, the boy stuck his finger in the hole and thus saved the Holland.

The same story could happen across many manufacturing plants today—but it doesn’t. In the name of budget cutting, companies neglect to make basic repairs to their facilities.

For example, in one large manufacturing plant we found in our research, the facilities stretch across tens of acres and require constant maintenance and repair to withstand the intense weather outside. Now no site manager wants to fork over their entire budget to repair 40 acres of rooftop, so you do what you have to, and you divert the water. Short-term fix for a long term issue. No need to repair a small hole or two in the roof when those dollars could be conserved or used elsewhere, right? The mentality shifts to just putting a tarp up to block the drip when it rains.

But little holes add up. And since employees are looking after themselves, remember here that no one is rewarded for plugging the hole, the drips and tarps keep coming. As a result, on rainy days, this manufacturer’s facilities look like they’ve hung circus tents inside to deflect the water. Deflect is the operative term here. Because the tarps aren’t solving the problem. No one is solving the problem. In terms of the Copy Paper Syndrome, they’re just getting a few sheets of paper for themselves and leaving the larger problem for someone else.

Be the one who breaks the cycle

It is important that we look out for the needs of more than just ourselves to ensure that all areas of the company are tended to. Don’t leave a task for that unnamed person—who probably doesn’t exist anymore anyway. Make the time to look out for the person behind you. Be the one who gets the extra paper even when you only need a few sheets. Be the manager who, even if you can’t solve the larger problems, makes sure upper management is aware of them and has line of sight on the issues. Sure you’re busy. Everyone is busy. It takes the entire team to win the game.

Want help breaking the cycle and moving your organization to a healthier culture, let’s talk. Join the conversation here or reach out directly.

7 Reasons Why You Should Fire Yourself

Don’t wait for someone else to evaluate your performance. Do it yourself. Then either make the necessary changes or fire yourself and improve your life.

Too many people want to blame their issues on the system, on a manager who is out of touch, on a company that just doesn’t understand them or have programs that meet their needs. If this is you, do the world a favor and fire yourself. Quit and go do something you know and love. Use all your energy to have a positive impact on the world and make a difference somewhere. Go ahead, the world will be a better place for it and no one will miss your whining at the place you left. Trust me on this.

Not ready to take that step?

Let’s do a little personal inventory on whether you should stay or go.

1. You don’t take your work seriously.

This is an easy one. Have a blast at work. Be happy. But do your work. Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile and independent researcher Steven Kramer, noted in their heavily researched book The Progress Principle, that happy employees do, in fact, work harder, do better work and create what the authors call a “positive spiral.” If you’re on the downward slide and it’s affecting your work, you should seriously consider a change of heart or workplace.

2. You complain. A lot. And often.

No one likes a whiner. It’s a toxic trait, it’s contagious and habit forming. So, if you’re the first one to complain about every little thing in the office, especially while never being part of any solution, it’s time for you to go.

3. You don't contribute to the company culture.

We’ll consider that you’ve already addressed the issues in number 2 so you’re no longer a whiner. But what else have you done for the culture? Those company values you like to make fun of ... how many of those have you embraced and brought to life? And what about helping your teammates achieve their goals? Zig Ziglar made a career out of helping people see how “you can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” All you have to do is keep in mind that this world is not about you. You're important, but so are the others around you. Don’t agree with me? Fire yourself.

4. No one is dying to have you in the room for the big challenges.

Are you a problem solver? Someone who rolls up their sleeves and tackles the hard challenges? Didn’t think so. Those big challenges require taking risks and calculated jumps. You don’t like to do that. But that’s what the company needs right now. If you’re not going to be one of the people willing to do what it takes to get us to where we need to go, you’re taking up precious space. It might be time to fire yourself and go find an easier job. We’d love to have you here, but that’s your choice.

5. If there’s a problem, somehow your name is always attached, and never in a good way.

Yeah, I know, you’ve just had an incredible streak of bad luck. I get it. I also know that you need to fix that or you won’t be here to extend your streak. Refer to the previous issues and become a positive force in the company, someone known for solving problems and getting stuff done. If you do this, you won’t have to fire yourself.

6. You’re not accountable to anyone, including you.

Pointing a finger is fine as long as you point one at yourself first, make the change and then move around the room. Do like Michael Jackson and start with the man in the mirror. Hold yourself accountable for your thoughts, words and actions. Be an adult. If this is hard for you and you’re unwilling to grow up, hand yourself a pink slip, if you can.

7. You have nothing to show for your time at the company.

This is a company built on results—positive results and, well, you don't have any of those that we can find. That means you are probably coasting and picking up a pay check. We don’t really need those kinds of people here because we’re looking to make a difference in the world. We believe you have it in you but if you don’t believe that as well it’s probably best if you move on.

Or ... hire yourself every day

Do you remember how you felt on your first day at your new job? Chances are you were filled with excitement, with all kinds of energy and ideas on how awesome this job was going to be. You didn’t join to be a slug. You didn’t set out to coast. No, you were going to make it to the top.

That’s a choice you get to make every day. So start with a good, hard look at who you are, where you are, and what you want to be. If you’ve drifted, get back on track. If you’ve slipped into a funk, get back on solid ground. If you can't get back on your own seek help ... and then get out there and make a difference.

What do you think? What did I miss?

The Goose Code: Lead, Follow and Encourage the Whole Journey

In the world of geese flight everyone has a shot at being a leader, all are followers at some point, and everybody is expected to cheer.

My house is apparently in a flight zone. Let the weather turn even slightly cool and geese fly over in any number of formations, from long lines to deep Vs. I see them and think of all the motivational posters I’ve seen and speakers I’ve heard who used the geese in formation analogy to talk about teams. I may be piling on here, but after a discussion with some students a few weeks ago, I thought it might be worth repeating.

Leaders Wanted
It’s interesting to see a flock of geese take to the skies. At first the group can seem disorganized and chaotic. But soon enough a pattern emerges with one goose in front and the others taking up the various positions behind. In his excellent book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek discusses how people are hardwired to let the Alphas lead, giving them the best of the spoils with the expectation that those same individuals will provide protection and assistance when needed. I don’t know if that’s exactly what happens in the goose world, but it’s clear someone has to step up and lead the way. Without this leader, the whole flock is doomed to chaotic and inefficient travel, which could jeopardize the community.

The same thing is needed in organizations all over the world. Even if everyone in the group doesn’t believe fully in the exact path to the goal there needs to be some alignment that someone will lead and others will take up positions behind to help the group get there. Intel invokes their Disagree and Commit slogan to signal that once the decision has been made to move, it’s time to get moving.

Your Turn!
I worked in an agency once that liked to use team analogies. A lot. But they were almost always focused on being the ideal leader, or being the perfect soldier behind a great leader. I knew when I got criticized as a senior manager for not always having the winning idea that it was time to leave.

Geese have a better grasp on this leader and soldier rotation concept. They recognize that the lead goose is taking the full force of the wind in order to make life a little easier for the rest of the flock. But they also recognize that being in front wears on a guy. So when the time comes to give the lead goose a breather, he or she is able to coast back in to formation and recharge so he or she can lead again when the time comes.

It’s irresponsible to think that any leader can always have the best idea, and all the answers. It’s much healthier for the organization to surround the leader with a strong team that can step in and give the leader time to recharge.

Honk. You’re Doing Great! Keep it Up!
I don’t speak goose, but those who study these things say that one of the fundamental reasons geese honk during flight is to encourage each other, from the guy in back trying to keep up to the lead goose setting the pace. Their constant pep talk helps the whole group do a better job. When’s the last time you worked in that kind of organization?

It’s much easier to sit behind the leader and criticize. When you’re not getting beaten by the wind, when you don’t face the same pressures every day, it’s easy to judge the person ahead of you. Don’t. Find the leader guilty of doing well. Send her a note. Tell her you appreciate what she’s doing. Don’t do to it to suck up to her, that won’t help anyone. But you benefit when she does well. And when your time comes, you have every right to expect her to be your biggest supporter.

I talk to company leaders all the time who tell me how isolated they feel at the top—because people guard their words, both good and bad. In healthy organizations, a foundation of trust means anyone in the building can give a honk out to the leaders around them. And when those leaders need bit of a breather they should expect that people won’t hyper analyze the pause as failure, but only a respite in a long journey.

Lead, Follow and Encourage the Whole Journey
What is your team’s approach? Are you celebrating the best of each member and encouraging people to lead in their moments? Or do you burn through leaders when they’re not perfect at all jobs? Do you welcome new leaders and new ideas? Or push out whomever and whatever doesn't conform?

One last thought: migrating geese set big goals to reach destinations far beyond the reach of one or two birds. Yet when they work together, encourage each other, and let each bird lead when he or she is in peak form, the whole community reaches the goal.

Maybe it’s time we finally recognize that we are better together. You lead, I’ll encourage. Then I’ll lead, and while you rest a bit, how about giving a few honks every now and then?

It’s Spring. Time to Weed Your Brand.

Spring at my house means crazy combinations of things growing in my yard and flowerbeds. Some are flowers that somehow survived the winter, even though they are technically annuals and should have lived only one glorious year. Some are perennials that we expected to return. And others are a mélange of weeds and various sprouts.

These plants are not coordinated in any way and grow randomly and somewhat frustratingly wherever they like.

I find many brand portfolios resemble my yard in the spring: odd collections with a few purposeful placements, a few hangers-on, and a handful of items that randomly showed up over time. Why not use spring as the time to do some brand management?

Just because it grows doesn’t mean it fits

I’ve worked with a large number of brand managers who looked at their roles as two- to four-year engagements where they intended to make their mark and move up in the company. That meant launching new products and brands. It did NOT mean affecting anything that came before them. The typical result is a dysfunctional brand portfolio that makes things tough for consumers.

There are plenty of case studies on bad brand extensions like Coors Water, Colgate’s Kitchen Entrees, and Frito Lay Lemonade because it’s easy to spot the major offenders. But people forget that micro-extensions are just as dangerous: the shampoo in 30 varieties though only six sell with enough volume to justify the calories spent to get them to market. These are annuals that were beautiful for one season and should have died, but they showed up the next season and no one had the heart to get rid of them. If they’re no longer a match for the brand, or simply add color but no value, they need to go.

Build the plan but enjoy the surprise visitors

Admit it. Most of us really, really like the little things that blow in from nowhere and bloom into something pretty. Recently, Kohl’s found itself the unexpected beneficiaries of Candace Payne’s wildly popular Chewbacca Mask video. The brand took advantage of the positive vibes being given off by the video (some 152 Million views worldwide and counting) and rewarded Mrs. Payne with gift cards and gifts. Count that as a major win for the retailer and an excellent job of capitalizing on a sudden new flower. Now it’s back to the plan.

This is not to say that Kohl’s can’t continue the conversation involving “Chewbacca Mom” but it would be a mistake to change the whole program to reflect a mega-viral video.

Sometimes you just have to kill the weeds

Some companies make it hard to kill products that don’t work, or get rid of the ones that came in with an acquisition but no longer fit the brand. These are the weeds in the brand portfolio—and they have to go in order to let the good stuff shine through. Just like vines growing in the flowerbed, it can be easy to mistake weeds for healthy products, but they get in the way and choke the life out of the brand.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple and began to turn the company around, among other things he killed off the weeds: laser printers, the Newton PDA and accessories. He simplified the portfolio so it could be amazing.

I hear plenty of people say they want their brand to be like Apple, but very few want to take the bold step of killing off products in the portfolio that seem to make money but actually drain the company of needed calories that could be better spent building something spectacular.

Be purposeful and enjoy the beautiful results

Every brand manager and company executive has a choice in what grows in the portfolio. But since there never seems to be a perfect time to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t, let this spring be the time you look things over. Have a plan. Weed accordingly. And be willing to trim some products that take on the appearance of good health but in reality suck the life out of the brand. In the end, you’ll have a stronger brand, build better brand tribes, and have the resources to continue your passion.

Could Your Brand Benefit From Personalization?

I work with a wide range of companies each year, from small mom and pops to Fortune 50s. A common thread, whether working on organizational health or brand strategy, is authenticity and humanity. Everybody wants it. Everybody talks about it. So why then do so few companies truly deliver in this area?

In many ways we can blame the convenience of email, which has done much to make communications simple, fast and easy, but has also added to the distance between people. Let’s face it, it’s often more convenient to send a quick email than to pick up the phone or even walk down the hall and have a conversation. I think we’ve lost more than we know by opting for convenience.

Before it’s B2B or B2C, it’s people to people

There are plenty of stories of famous people who wrote notes to those who touched them in some way, from Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, to John Lennon and William Faulkner. The common theme that makes the notes memorable is that the person writing the note was under no obligation to write it, and usually the person who received the note was pleasantly surprised or genuinely shocked to receive it.

I get surprised responses on the notes I write by hand. Why? Because so few people take the time any more.

 A friend asked me not long ago whether she should write a thank you note following a job interview, or simply send an email. My response was simple: write the note. I get many hundred email in any given week. I may get one handwritten note in a month, if that often. Which do you think I remember?

Personalization makes good business sense

I worked with a local triathlon shop for a few years to help them turn around their store after a particularly bad breakup between partners. The store’s reputation had taken a hit and they had virtually no money for traditional advertising and marketing. So we focused on the small things: we worked hard to rebuild positive comments on social media, we trained employees to improve the personal in-store experience and we added handwritten Thank You notes as a regular part of the process.

Notice that nothing in this list is particularly unique or difficult to execute. But the combination is rare enough these days.

In the triathlon world, new people enter the sport every week. From a retailer standpoint, that means people show up with the same questions and the same bewildered looks day after day. This can be frustrating for staff who are often seasoned athletes with years of competitive training and performance behind them. So we trained everyone in the store to think like a newbie—someone who isn’t in stellar shape, who doesn’t have all the right gear and who is probably intimidated by the thought of wearing compression gear in public.

This meant connecting on a human level and getting excited with the customer and for the customer. Most of us could use a few more people in our lives who share our interest and excitement in anything.

It also meant not focusing on the sale and, instead, focusing on the person in the store that day. We helped the staff see that by being genuine, accessible and willing to provide the right information for the right level of interest and energy, they could build relationships that far outweighed any one sale.

Finally, we implemented a simple policy of sending handwritten Thank You notes to everyone who bought a bike at the shop. Nothing complicated. Nothing convoluted. Just a note that said something like “thank you for choosing us to be your triathlon shop. We’re working on your bike to make it perfect for you. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or stop by.”

Competitive triathlon bikes run from around $1,500 to beyond $10,000. And each bike is tweaked to uniquely fit each rider, which may add a week or two between the time of purchase to the time of delivery. When you’re the buyer, every day without your bike seems like an eternity. By sending handwritten notes after purchase, the store reminded each customer that the customer was important and the shop was working diligently on their expensive baby.

Personalized and growing

It’s always difficult to track the impact of soft skills like training in personal service and handwritten notes, but in the case of the triathlon shop, they saw a dramatic turnaround in positive feedback on social media, they grew their customer base in the ever-important newbie and avid athlete segments (who tend to purchase the most gear and ask the most questions), and saw a steady 20% annual growth for three straight years in an industry declining 10% annually over the same time period.

Anecdotally, the shop regularly heard back from customers who said they had never gotten a handwritten note from any store before—regardless of the size of the purchase. Those same customers said they had told several friends about their experience.

Think about that for a moment. In this day and age of antisocial media, consumers tend to tell two to five times as many people about negative experiences as compared to positive experiences. And yet this local shop had fans spreading the good news. Why? Because it was personal. It was human.

It really is the little thing that matters

I coach executives to keep things simple, especially in communications inside their organizations. Because most of us think the worst before we think anything positive. So a simple nod of thanks, looking someone in the eyes, using their name and talking about what matters to them not only breaks through the negative fog many companies are in, it helps employees and customers alike see the authenticity they so desperately crave.

Try it for yourself. Take a few minutes this week and hand write a note of thanks to someone around you. There are plenty of people worthy of your time, trust me on this. Chances are good that you’ll both be better off for the time you spend.