| Issue 9, March 2003 |
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This is m-news, M Power’s monthly e-newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it. M Power is a consultancy which empowers organisational and individual performance. m-news covers related themes – six quick snippets about business, organisational and individual effectiveness, communication and public relations.Communication empowers. Karen Morath, managing director, M Power The ‘quick six’ for March are
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1. Girl power
He
says that women in leadership positions in organisations have the
opportunity to rewrite the rules and demonstrate that talent defines
success in the new economy. Source - Tom Peters Times, March 2003
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2. A quote we like
“If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less.” |
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3. Sticking to the business basics |
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The basics of everyday operating management should never be supplanted by any other big idea. Len Schlesinger, COO of $10 billion US fashion retailer Limited Brands, believes in four timeless operational initiatives over ‘new solutions’ every time. They are 1. A fundamental respect for the importance of the customer experience, regardless of the channel you are selling through. 2. An explicit focus on the dynamics of the demand chain rather than the supply chain. We are all sellers, irrespective of our titles. 3. The recognition that an experience is designed by and delivered by people. 4. Margin – and ultimately profit – is rooted in meaningful differentiation of the product, of the experience, and of your people.
Source - Ideas Fest, www.fastcompany.com
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What public relations is has been the subject of much debate in M Power believes that public relations is an organisation’s or individual’s ongoing process of identifying the individuals and groups which influence and interact with it and tracking and initiating two way communication with them.
We also find the simplistic definition of ‘doing good things and telling people about them’ useful too.
But here’s what Marketing magazine had to say.
“PR…is as much about an organisation evolving its perspectives and behaviour – learning – as it is about convincing stakeholders to think or act differently. The strategy behind this is that while it may cause short-term anxiety and expenditure of resources, in the longer term it will lead to more satisfied and loyal relationships.” Craig Pearce
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I returned to university this month after an absence of nine years and the production of several children. It was an extraordinary experience in terms of personal development as well as real-apply-it-in-the-workplace-the-next-day-learning. My most compelling reflection is that it is impossible to concentrate on the vision or goals of an organisation while you are on task. The same thinking applies to your staff. By removing myself from my company for a whole week to attend classes (on innovation and change), I was able to focus on my vision for M Power rather than on the usual - how we would rise to that day’s challenges. I applied – from afar - the same philosophy to our clients’ organisations and teams and was amazed by the clarity of what I saw. That you can’t concentrate on the vision and goals of an organisation while you are on task seemed blindingly obvious to me. How often do you stop and reflect on why you or your staff do the things you do? How much of what happens in your organisation moves it toward its vision and goals?
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| 6. This month's book review | |
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The Influentials by Ed Keller and Jon Berry, The Free This is an important book. It paints pictures about how communities of all sizes work and challenges lots of perceptions about how people get their information about both products and ideas. And for a book that is chock full of stats and research, it is gripping reading. The basic premise of the book is that one American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy. Communicating to 21st century people using 20th century thinking just seems sillier as you turn each page. To buy the Influentials from Amazon click here.
© M Power 2003 | |
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