Be Different or be dead

February 5, 2018

1 proven way your new idea has a chance of success

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1 proven way your new idea has a chance of success.

Chances are, your new business venture will fail; your brilliant new idea will never see the light of day.

That’s a fact. Over half of all startups don’t make it beyond 5 years if they get off the ground at all.

Think about it. Stew over it. Worry about it and lose sleep over it because this statistic alone should be the motivating fact that drives entrepreneurs to beat the odds of success.

My experience is that most eager young professionals approach the challenge of launching their business the same way; it’s almost like they follow the rulebook as promulgated by the startup ‘experts’ who advocate that they have the magic formula — at a 50% failure rate its hard to conclude that they should be listened to at all!

In addition, many of them have no more than academic training which gives them a theoretical platform but no real practical credentials to prove what they say actually works.

My advice to startup leaders is to find, follow and heed people with practical experience and a proven track record of success rather than a long string of academic accomplishments.

That said, how does the CEO entrepreneur get their idea moving forward and have a fighting chance of survival?

Spend time on these

There are a number of activities they spend their time on.

— finding investors willing to support their idea;

— drumming up interest in the community for their solution to a real problem;

— developing a business plan for their new venture;

— recruiting people with a passion for their idea and the competencies needed to get to market;

— creating a value proposition for their idea and product that is unique and different from other solutions in the market and that answers the question “Why should my prospective customers buy my solution as opposed to those being offered by other competitors?”

Each of these startup activities is important but the last one represents THE tipping point in the evolution of any bright idea from a concept to a working revenue generating product.

Unique value claim

And it should be the one that consumes 100% of the startup initial action plan.

The development of an incomparable value claim amongst competitors is the prerequisite to every other action the entrepreneur takes.

For example, investor interest will only be piqued if the new idea is compelling (satisfies a real demonstrated customer need) and materially different than what the competition is doing. If the product value is similar to other offerings why should they be compelled to make an investment?

And a business plan is meaningful only if the new product has been defined complete with demand assumptions given its competitive position in the market.

Success in today’s markets is based on meaningful and real differentiators. Look-a-like solutions either get no traction at all, or they are relegated to commodity status and soon disappear as startup carnage.

Ironically, I find this requisite for success is rarely given the focus and attention it deserves by startup CEO’s. They have a tendency to spray their attention across matters such as raising capital, public awareness, technology development and lead generation without having clearly thought through what makes their solution standout from other competitive offers.

How a new idea is unlike any other in the market is THE critical issue to spend time on. Upfront. BEFORE engaging with investors and potential customers spell out exactly why someone should want the new product and not one of the many other alternatives cluttering the marketplace.

If it is unclear how the new idea stands out, interest will be insipid and startup efforts will be ineffective and costly.

Nothing is more important than investing whatever time and energy it takes to create the ONLY statement for a new idea.

If it is done well success may be the reward; if not, the enterprise will struggle to get traction and will likely join many fellow startups as a statistic for a failed new business venture.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 2.5.18 at 04:33 am by Roy Osing
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January 29, 2018

3 tested ways a leader can give an amazing speech

3 tested ways a leader can give an amazing speech.

Why do some presentations bore you to death and leave you in agonizing pain while others take your breath away and amaze you?

It starts by approaching the task as a marketing challenge. What do your customers expect, and how can you deliver in a way that no one else does?

As a minimum, your audience wants to learn something new and they want to enjoy the learning experience. But if that’s all you do, you satisfy them and no more.

If you want to ‘take their breath away’ you must give ’em what they DON’T expect; that you surprise them and make their experience unforgettable in a way that only you do

There are 3 essential elements of a speech platform that will leave audiences breathless.

1. The content – what you say

— Know your audience and give them compelling and relevant material that they CARE about. Personalize and make it intimate for THEM; if you are merely flogging your boilerplate stuff, you will put them to sleep.

— Lace your flow with surprises along the way; something they don’t expect to hear like your own concepts with language that is edgy and will be remembered.

I use cut the CRAP as a call to eliminate the stuff that was no longer relevant in an organization as opposed to “eliminate non-strategic” activities, and kill dumb rules as a way to reduce the internal rules, policies and procedures in an organization that make no sense to customers.

— Make your material practical; give your audience ideas they can use when they leave your presentation. Avoid devoting all of your time to discussing high level helium-filled concepts that are anchored in theory and impossible to implement easily.

2. The delivery – how you say it

— Be passionate and emotional about what you are sharing with them and keep it extremely informal. This is a performance so lose the platform and podium barricades that separate you from your customers. Design the area so you can get out and walk among the folks; get close to them as you engage with them.

— Tell stories to breathe life into your material, and make it personal to show that you are human, believable and that you can be trusted. Use visual aids; people can’t relate easily to words and numbers. Have fun; they will too. Avoid techno-speak; the experience can’t be memorable if they don’t understand you.

— When in doubt be simple; you may be impressed with your ability to speak in complex terms, but it will turn your audience off. Make a point at your own expense; they will love you for it.

3. The distinction – how you are different

— Study other speakers; have a detailed understanding of how they perform in terms of their approach to content and style. Analyze what they do well and what they fall short on.
But remember, you are not evaluating their approaches with the objective of copying what works for them; your end game is to determine how you can separate yourself from them in some meaningful way.

— Create your ONLY Statement: “I am the only speaker that…” as the way to define how you are different from others who are also trying to command the attention of audiences.

Your only statement will define your speaker brand that you live by. It is critical that you not be mesmerized by the experts on public speaking who all espouse a more academic approach to getting your message across. Following their route merely means that you and the thousands of other speakers will all look alike with little individuality.

Awe-inspiring performers who are memorable to their audiences are different than anyone else in some way and they constantly constantly hone their art

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 1.29.18 at 02:47 am by Roy Osing
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January 22, 2018

Why successful leaders change their minds on decisions they make

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Why successful leaders change their minds on decisions they make.

Some leaders show two faces (and some show many more) when it comes to dealing with a challenging and contentious issue.

They strongly declare and advocate their position to various audiences, but after “selling time” takes its toll with a barrage of dissenting views, they change their mind.

They decide that expending the emotional energy to convince others of their position isn’t worth the effort.

Politicians do it all the time; they switch positions on the run when they learn that their original stance is either unpopular or was ill thought through in the first place.

The many faces of leadership displays acquiescence in its finest form; the end game is not necessarily based on principles the leader is passionately and emotionally invested in, rather the objective is to try and appease as many people possible with the hope that dissent among the masses is minimized and a short term advantage for the leader is gained.

It may be the case that few feathers are ruffled, but the leader achieves little progress as they spend all their time selling, defending and switching their position.

The fallout is that the leader is branded indecisive, weak and one who flits about without landing on anything.

They live in the moment; they have no tomorrow in sight.

Leaders need to be able to flex given the varying circumstances they face during the process of trying to gain support for their idea.

New information that affects the decision taken comes to light

Facts that were unknown when the position was formulated present themselves and cannot be ignored. This could be characterized as insufficient analysis or incomplete study of all the relevant information that should be considered in taking a position.
That said, the intent should not be to lay blame but rather take the new information and integrate it into the decision making process and not dismiss it because “it is too late to incorporate it into the mix”.

Employee feedback is loud and compelling

In terms of implementation challenges as well as uncontemplated impacts on individuals and their lives.
If, for example, frontline employees give the decision a thumbs down in terms of their ability to implement it, pay attention and take a second look. A bold decision which may be theoretically sound but which cannot be executed in the real world must be reconsidered. Always listen to the “warriors” who are in the field who know what is possible and what is not.

‘The unexpected’ rears its ugly head

A random and unpredictable event suddenly occurs, forcing a reconsideration of the direction on the table.  In the uncertain and unpredictable markets organizations face today, there will always be unanticipated factors that make themselves visible and which challenge the wisdom of the original decision. These forces need to be taken seriously and should always create a pause to reassess any declared position.

A decision to tweak the leader’s original position is always the better path to take as opposed to steadfastly sticking to a decision which is at risk given new events that have emerged.

Under circumstances like these, a switch in position may be required.

Strategically schizophrenic leaders change their minds with purpose.

They ‘flex with purpose’ and weave their morphed proposal through the organization with the singular purpose of achieving their intended outcome as best they can given the changes they made to it.

There are many potential routes to a destination despite the forces that prevent it from being achieved the original way it was intended; the standout leader is willing to strategically change HOW they arrive at the prescribed destination.

Mindlessly adhering to a position even though in light of feedback it’s success is highly in doubt, is irresponsible.

On the other hand, progress is not served by a constant stream of reactive tweaks or adjustments that shatter the picture of the journey’s end.

As a leader, pick a destination you believe in and be strategically schizophrenic in seeking the outcome that best suits the conditions of the time.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 1.22.18 at 05:41 am by Roy Osing
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December 25, 2017

How does a leader become insanely effective at executing?

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How does a leader become insanely effective at executing?

If the leader of an organization can’t successfully execute, it will languish and eventually die.

It really doesn’t matter how intellectually brilliant their strategy is, or how cleverly the composed plan integrates the toolset advocated by the pundits,  if it can’t be implemented it’s worth nothing.

Leaders can’t assume that execution will happen by declaring the new direction to the organization and expecting that people will know what to do, they they will want to do it and that they will do it.

WHAT TO DO - the strategy needs to be translated right down to the individual who requires an intimate understanding of what actions they need to take to execute on the organization’s chosen path.

It’s one thing to shout out the intent to “unleash the power of the internet” to marketing, for example, but without providing the product, customer segment and application focus, marketers won’t know what specific programs to develop to make it happen.

And furthermore, if clarity around what marketing should stop doing is not provided, the move forward will be dysfunctional, inefficient and unproductive. Hanging on to the past while at the same time trying to take on a new future is an impossible role for anyone to assume.

WANT TO DO - the leader must provide the motivation for employees to want to adopt the new course. Rather than tell everyone “this is where we’re going”, the leader must sell their decision if they want people to be personally invested in supporting it. Employees must see the new future as exciting and cool in a way that gets them emotionally hooked on the idea.

They need to be more than intellectually convinced; they need to be emotionally “all in” because that is where they raw energy comes from to willingly take the action needed to move forward.

WILL TO DO - the leader must be the strategy hawk that takes personal responsibility to see that results are delivered through their teams in the organization. This is all about monthly measuring key performance indicators, taking immediate action to close any gaps and celebrating any successes where target have been exceeded.

This is the time to recognize the achievements of the heroes who have gone above and beyond expectations to deliver results.

It is Interesting that a leader is expected to have an academic pedigree that can be paraded around to shareholders and public with the implied message that these credentials will take the organization to lofty heights. That “knowing stuff” will drive superlative performance.

This is not the case.

Organizations perform well when they execute well in an environment where randomness, unpredictability and chaos govern the agenda and where nothing turns out according to plan.

It’s about time we started describing the brilliant leaders of the day in terms of their execution credentials and the power they have demonstrated to harness the hearts and souls of individuals to drive forward in uncharted waters.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.25.17 at 04:49 am by Roy Osing
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