Leadership
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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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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…
