Scot Ennis

• Nothing moves in neutral: You can’t always get from A to B in one minute. The trick is to start somewhere and keep moving.

• Nobody learns to drive from the manual: It’s easier for the team to learn something new via doing, vs. telling or instructing.

• Let others drive: It’s critical to know when to take the wheel and when it’s safe to let others drive for a while.

• They may be better than you at driving! It’s possible your staff are better drivers then you are, though you’ll never know unless you give them the keys.

• When stuck in traffic, turn the music up: It’s not the situation that makes a great leader, it’s how you react.

• You can learn more in one day than you think.
• What you were doing yesterday is old news, it’s all about what you are learning now, or next. Never stop learning.
• All people are friendly and everyone responds well to a smile
• Play. Dance. Laugh. Sing.
• You can’t do everything at once. There are lots of distractions in life, so be present in the moment,  you’ll get to the distractions eventually.
• Life is short. We all grow up fast. Live now.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step - Jackie Fiore, a young woman who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia

starts from within.

Every now and then at Switched on Media, we are privileged enough to learn from experts in the higher echelons of marketing. Last week, we had the opportunity to ask Darren Ryan, General Manager of Marketing for Canon in Australia, seven burning questions.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve ever had in marketing and sales?

Over the last 4 years, we have shifted Canon from a relatively sleepy place to a more dynamic organisation. During this time, we took what was a poorly performing business, the PIXMA inkjet brand, from a mere 20% market share to market leadership. Our share results are now pushing 40%. Our success has been about finding out what consumers want and don’t want, energising our Marketing and Sales teams as well as redefining how our customers view the space.

Throughout this journey, I have had moments where I thought we were making tremendous progress and other times where I felt like we hadn’t moved very far at all. Ultimately, I learned that we only have to be better than we were yesterday and if we have a clear plan to move forward, we can continue to move ahead of the competition.

Read the rest of this story here

Seth Godin, during lunch with onstartups recently…

Leadership and sales is sometimes about repeat, repeat, repeat…

I asked Andrew Walker, Global Marketing Director for Peroni how to handle difficult staff management issues. He said:

“Direct, Honest, Timely, Respectful conversations”

i thought that was pretty cool.

Bill McFarlane (one of the leads leading media trainers) in his book “drop the pink elephant” explains the 3 R’s of apologising.

Express Regret, provide a sincere Reason for the mistake, propose a Remedy.

Simple, easy formula to try next time you are thinking about running for cover when in reality you should be apologising for something.

As i review our second year results of 318% revenue growth i’m immensley proud of the team for delivering such compelling results for our clients. We are taking the afternoon off today to celebrate as a team. As we continue to grow, our focus remains unchanged: Business outcomes for our clients.