Tag: relationships

No better investment

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you know yourself, the rest will follow. The opposite, unfortunately, is not true.

Getting to know your strenghts and your limits, what triggers you and what motivates you, what really matters and what you can let go. Having the capacity to adapt to your own mood, understanding that today it is simply not the day, that right now is the moment to push, that your getting mad yesteday is because of the lack of sleep. Not beating yourself up while still holding yourself accountable.

There is no better investment than the time you spend getting to know yourself.

Disservice

FabrizioLeave a comment

That idea you oppose, most likely it has some valid arguments backing it up.

By diminishing the idea, refusing to listen to it, sushing those supporting it you are doing everybody a disservice.

You are doing your counterpart a disservice, as you do not leave them the space to express their view and see if it resonates.

You are doing yourself a disservice, as you remain stuck, forgo a learning opportunity, fail to progress.

And equally importantly, you are doing your own idea a disservice, because even if it will eventually prevail, it will fail to represent a portion of the environment that might be sizable.

We are a culture in transition, and it may be that we are heading toward a more equal society — I don’t know — but what essential values will we forfeit in the process?

Nick Cave, the Red Hand Files, issue #109

Not permanent

FabrizioLeave a comment

Who is speaking up in support of the change you seek to make?

If it is always, only you, you most likely have one of two problems.

Problem number 1: you are seeking the wrong change. There is nothing to change, everything works just fine. Or there is something to change, just not what you want to. This happens more often then we care to admit, as we tend to follow our guts when it comes to change. It makes us restless, constantly searching for evidence, submitting ourselves to confirmation bias. In the long run it takes away from our purpose.

Problem number 2: you are seeking change in the wrong place. It might seem awfully similar to problem number 1, but in this case it is actually more about trying to bring on board the wrong people, pushing for change in the wrong organisation, expecting the wrong community to react to something they are not ready for.

One way or the other, there is one caveat about “wrong”: it is not permanent. If you are cautious and aware, you can prepare the ground for “right”. You can advocate, commit, wait, listen,understand. You can act both on the change and on the place, and eventually make them match.

Let’s go!

Keep at it

FabrizioLeave a comment

The months we are living are a challenge.

And even those who are lucky enough to still have job, to have a house, a supportive family, food on their table every day, more comfort than the vast majority of the world population. They too are struggling.

We live now in a prolonged liminal phase and we do not know what we will become. As individuals, as a community, as a global society. There is a sizable and constantly present amount of stress and anxiety that is slowly eroding many of the things that used to form our identity, our belonging, our purpose.

In a time like this, we need to keep talking to each other. We need to communicate what we feel, open to other people’s emotions and find common ground. Differences do not matter now.

And we also need to keep practicing. Whatever your practice is, whatever the thing that makes you feel good, whatever the habit that anchors you to the known. Keep at it.

These are the times, after all, where resilience is built.

Brand

FabrizioLeave a comment

A part of marketing is generating sales. And a part of marketing is fostering brand.

There are some myths around this that should be debunked.

Starting with the fact that the two things are separated and can live independently. Perhaps that is true in the short term, but building a business is a long term effort, and eventually brand and sales need to go hand in hand. Brand is what gets you your best-fit customers after all.

Then, there is the idea that sales is (mainly) for the early stages of a company, and brand is for when a company already controls a certain share of the market. This is a belief that comes from an era (and we are talking about probably 10-15 years ago) when markets featured a bunch of players (say between 10 and 50 – now there are hundreds, thousands in some cases). It is also backed by the assumption that investing in brand is something only bigger companies can afford, probably because when talking about brand one thinks at tactics.

Finally, there are many who argue that generating sales is infinitely more measurable than fostering brand. And there is some true to it. But of course, the reality is that most sales-focused activities end up being not measured, mismeasured, unoptimised, and eventually most organisations just throw money at a problem without really understanding what is going on. And on the other hand, we still get emotional in front of marvellously crafted brands and often decide to buy A instead of B in the heat of the moment.

So, perhaps instead of saying that a part of marketing is generating sales and a part of marketing is fostering brand, we could say that marketing is both.

The sooner we get to look at the two things together, the sooner we will stop wondering why the 105th whitepaper is not driving pipeline or why the new logo is not resonating with our audience.

That is a waste of time.