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Brand Storytelling: Your Customer Is the Hero. Be the Guide.
Stop having heroes. Be one. For someone else. I want to dispel a myth about heroes. Heroes aren’t necessarily super. They’re people. People like you and me. And this matters because the way we think about heroes shapes the stories we tell—and the roles we ask other people to play in them. The hero isn’t you. It’s them. Heroes are often thought of as courageous, strong, and exceptional. That isn’t wrong. But for those of us raised on Hollywood superheroes, this is only one version of the story. The extraordinary, deeply flawed hero—Batman, Supergirl, or the protagonist of the latest Marvel movie—takes it upon themselves, sometimes with the help of…
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Possible Selves: the person you hope to be, fear becoming, and are
There’s a gap in your perception. And the reality is, you likely exist somewhere between who you hope to be, who you fear you are, and who you actually are. We’re all like this—to some degree. Psychologists call these our possible selves: who we hope to become, who we fear becoming, and the other versions of us we carry around in our heads (Markus & Nurius, 1986). If noticed, we can use them to our advantage. But the best news? None of them is absolute. And none of them is entirely real. Possible selves, three main versions At one end, there’s the person you hope to be. This is who…
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Influence and Media: How Ideas Break Through
Influence is the art of moving people toward an idea. Think of TED’s tagline: “Ideas worth spreading.” That’s the point. Ideas are the currency of influence. But influence only matters when an idea eventually becomes something more. Someone believes it. Shares it. Supports it. Acts on it. And getting people to act, most of all, is the work of leadership. Ideas Have to Move Before thoughts can become actions, ideas have to be communicated. Communication is essential. But it isn’t enough. It needs media. Influence is the art of moving people toward an idea, and media is the means of moving that idea to them. Media is the car and…
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Power Is a Function of Dependence
If you want more power, consider… Power is a function of dependence. Power isn’t possessed. It’s relational. This is important. Because power isn’t a possession. It’s relational. It’s directional. And your personal power isn’t located in you. It’s located in someone else’s need for you. Conceptually, that means if A has power over B, A’s power comes from B’s dependence on A. Here’s that visually: B —dependence→ A Where greater dependence = greater power. (This idea comes from sociologist Richard M. Emerson’s theory of power-dependence relations. Rather than treating power as something an individual possesses, Emerson argued power exists within a relationship: A’s power over B rests on B’s dependence…
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Attention in Marketing: What Matters Most?
Why are you posting on social media? For attention. And that makes sense. There’s both a strategic and psychological advantage to earning someone’s attention. Attention is an act of focused giving: for a few seconds, someone may choose your message over everything else competing for them. And without it, your message—whatever it may be—evaporates without impact. So, yeah: go after attention. But there’s a catch. Attention requires exposure You can’t have attention without exposure first. My apologies, Bill. Posting creates the opportunity for exposure. It gets you into the environment. It gives someone the chance to encounter your idea. But exposure is weak on its own. Because we’re exposed to…
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Where you stand is rarely the whole ground
Layers of problem-solving When it comes to the layers of problem-solving, there’s the thing. And then there’s the other thing. There’s what meets the eye and the support. The object and the intention. What’s known and everything else. Your voice…and the reason you open your mouth. Both co-exist and yet most of us often only consider one level. This is normal; we’re looking at the level that meets the senses. Unfortunately, our senses neither fully address the scope of problems nor the shape of solutions. How Small Issues Become Big Problems Over Time Here’s an example: a leak in my kitchen destroyed the floor. Flooring, I learned, is much more…
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Anger, my dog of war
What my dog taught me about anger I struggle with anger. Or that’s the story I tell myself. For those of you into Astrology, I have a lot of Aries in my chart. For those of you not into Astrology, when I get mad, I get really mad. It’s palpable. My wife once told me that my anger can fill a room. Admittedly, I don’t hide it well. Some might call this being hot tempered. Others might call this a problem. In the past, my anger has cost me friends, relationships, and opportunities. Hence why I think I struggle. Today, however, I’m befriending my dog of war. Because anger isn’t…
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Distance running with my selves
Lace up your best long distance running shoes Now that it’s spring, I’m running outside. I love running. It’s my favorite. When I was a kid, my favorite sport was soccer because it covered the most ground. At the time, running felt like flying. It was otherworldly. In a sprint, I could move beyond myself. Today, my sense of “self” and moving beyond it are quite different. Running is less about flying and more about ghostbusting (another childhood favorite). Yet while I’d like to think, “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” sometimes, sadly, I run with them. The fact is, humans are multidimensional. So multidimensional that from a Dynamic Systems…
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From repetition to expertise
The art of effective learning strategies to master anything new Repeat after me: when it comes to effective learning strategies, repetition is crucial. Exposure, on the other hand, is necessary but insufficient. Though helpful, exposure must be repeated and repeated at intervals. So at the risk of overstating, effective learning starts with reps. From Outliers, Gladwell posits 10,000 hours to greatness. Greatness, of course, may or may not be your goal. Maybe you just want to learn something new. Or maybe you simply want to be more effective. In any case, time invested is critical. You know this intuitively, but researchers suggest that doing something more than once improves your…
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No one’s been here that long
A mindfulness-for-anxiety perspective shift in modern life I’ve never done this before. Not just this writing. I mean this moment in time. And if I’ve never done this moment before, then (I imagine) neither have you. In fact, no one has. As far as I can tell. At the time of this writing, the oldest person alive was less than 117 years old. In the U.S., those over 100 account for about .03% of the population (though this number is on the rise). Globally, those over 100 account for about .01% (though this number is on the rise, also). Even with more centenarians alive today, that’s not a lot of…
