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Raising your CIQ

Posted by Constance Ward on January 27, 2012 | Comments Off

This week I had a meeting to explain how competitive information differs from competitive intelligence, how competitor information differs from competitor intelligence and how market research differs from all of those fields.

Some would consider these “splitting a hair” differences, but each term refers to a unique concept. I’ll summarize briefly…very briefly.

Competitive information is the information that is published or in the public domain that focuses on a specific market or product, whereas competitive intelligence is what you know but others don’t. Similarly competitor information is published or in the public domain and competitor intelligence is unpublished but both deal with the actual competitor.

Market research, on the other hand, looks at “why buyers buy.” Competitor intelligence and information deal with “why sellers sell.”

Many simply lump all of these areas together as “competitive intelligence.” or CI. If you’re interested in learning more about competitive intelligence, look at www.scip.org, a one-stop shop window for the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals. You’re sure to raise your “CIQ,” your competitive intelligence quotient.

Here I’d like to discuss how CI and thought leadership are integrated and combined drivers of strategic competitiveness.

You can’t be a thought leader unless you know what people – especially your competitors – are already thinking. Once you are aware of and in touch with the thinking inside your competitor’s head – in their world – then you can position yourself ahead of that as a thought leader.

To separate yourself as an industry thought leader, you need to do thorough research so that you know what the thinking is inside the industry. Then you can create distinctive thoughts ahead of where the industry is – otherwise you’ll just be a thought follower.

What’s your CIQ? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

A relatively enlightening discovery

Posted by Constance Ward on January 23, 2012 | Comments Off

Albert Einstein

In September at the Cern underground research center near Geneva, Switzerland, one of Einstein’s laws was bent if not broken; and the repeat experiment just completed seems to confirm the findings of the first trial.

Basically, one of Einstein’s laws of physics states that it isn’t possible to travel faster than the speed of light. But scientists involved in both Cern experiments measured neutrons traveling some 60 billionths (yes, billionths) of a second faster than light travels.

Before throwing out Einstein’s special theory of relativity, scientists are continuing to examine all possible errors in their work and will rely on another laboratory in Illinois to confirm their results.

Are you ready to “throw out the old rulebook” when looking at the future of your industry and question all the current assumptions? Are you ready to challenge conventional wisdom in your industry — or your company — and tear up the textbook? If so, you might be at an inflection point. Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

That’s a big number! Politics versus economics in financial decision-making

Posted by Constance Ward on January 20, 2012 | Comments Off

More than 6 trillion USD was wiped from global stock markets with 12.1 percent drop in global market capitalization, according to Financial Times on 31 December. Elsewhere in that edition, an editorialist noted with dismay the importance of politics over economics, citing French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as prime examples.

Are your business decisions driven by economics or by external politics or by internal politics? In other words, are you making sound financial decisions based on your strategy or good-enough ones based on expediency? Are you balancing global and local politics as you design your strategies or are you focused only on the politics of the markets you’re in? Are your strategies being driven by the “squeakiest” wheels inside your company or on a balanced set of inputs? Ask, assess then act. We’re here to help.

And the victor is…

Posted by Constance Ward on January 17, 2012 | 2 Comments

Victor Hugo

The recent “war of words” between Britain and France has been making international headlines lately. Victor Hugo once commented that the French and the English needed each other because they both got better from the competition.

Are you experiencing any particularly aggressive external competition right now? Are you using that brouhaha to strengthen your company?

Times of struggle against a common “enemy” can unify your internal team members and help them pull together in one direction — hopefully that is the direction where your company needs to go. Are you consistently clear about that direction and who is the true “enemy” so that internal competition is eliminated and the focus is only on the external competition?

Are you communicating your thoughts well to those inside — and outside — your company? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

Now THAT’S Client Centricity!

Posted by Constance Ward on January 14, 2012 | Comments Off

Client Centric Samoa

A funny thing happened in Samoa last month. They lost a day. If you’re an international traveler, you may have experienced losing a day as you flew across international datelines. But Samoans just sat still and lost a day on 29 December 2011.
Samoa used to sit on the east side of the International Date Line; but on that day, the small island nation in the South Pacific realigned itself on the west side of the line. Samoans went to sleep on their Thursday night, and they woke up on Saturday morning. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for someone, say, who turned 40 on that Friday!
It seems that the majority of commercial business in Samoa was conducted with trading partners on the west side of dateline, such as Australia and New Zealand, so it was more convenient for their customers to deal with them in the same day zone.
Are you that focused on your clients that you would — metaphorically, at least — give up your Friday to suit their schedules? Are you so flexible in adapting to client needs? Ask, assess then act. We’re here to help.

I never finish anythin

Posted by Constance Ward on January 8, 2012 | Comments Off

Unfinished

A few weeks ago, we were walking around the shops at Port Solent with my Portsmouth stepdaughter and her family when we came across a tee shirt shop. The tee shirts had funny sayings on them, but the one that made our young granddaughters laugh the hardest was “I never finish anythin”…

That saying reflects the feeling I have now as I’ve just launched this website. So many pre-launch reviewers gave great input that I plan to incorporate along the way, so this site will never be completely finished. I hope that it will continue to evolve as you add your ideas, too, through the other connected forums that feed this website:

Please use these conversation channels to take part in a dialogue about what makes a good thought leader. Ask yourself that question. Assess the best answer to share with other forum participants. Act collaboratively and submit your ideas, experiences and examples. Be a thought leader in thought leadership! We’re here to help.

Survey: What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Posted by Constance Ward on January 3, 2012 | Comments Off

Let’s assume you have made all the usual New Year’s resolutions: exercise more, eat better, get more sleep, etc. But what will be on your 2012 list of Thought Leader Resolutions? Read more business books? Join more trade associations or take a more visible leadership role in the ones where you already belong? Check the Thought Leader Zone website more frequently?

Submit some of your thought-leadership resolutions on the form below, and we’ll compile a best-practice (or should that be best-promise) list of your ideas!

The end of the year…more or less…

Posted by Constance Ward on December 30, 2011 | Comments Off

As the New Year approaches and we begin to think about our New Year’s resolutions, a quote by Norman Mailer comes to mind: “Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.”

Are you growing into more of a thought leader every day? Have you resolved to strengthen your ability to lead your employees, your company and your industry in 2012? Are you willing to take steps to improve your thought leadership skills this year? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

Photo by summerbl4ck on Flickr

Vaclav Havel — The Velvet Revolutionary

Posted by Constance Ward on December 21, 2011 | Comments Off

Václav Havel, the "Velvet Revolutionary"

This week one of the world’s most humble heroes died. Vaclav Havel — the former Czech president, prisoner and playwright who brought about the peaceful revolution in his country in 1989 — taught us some important lessons in leadership.

As you may have read elsewhere on this site, I had a front row seat on the bleachers of reform in Eastern Europe at that time. Buoyed by the quiet heroic actions of Havel and the more ebullient Lech Walsea, protestors brought about the fall of communism I witnessed in Bulgaria and Romania.

Years later my then 14-year-old niece and I saw Havel arriving at a concert in Salzburg, Austria. She couldn’t believe I was acting so awestruck about such a normal-looking man, and I couldn’t believe she hadn’t learned in school about how this person had helped to change the lives of so many by living out his principles.

In Havel’s early years as a playwright, he was inspired by banned philosopher Jan Patocka and wrote a political essay on the “Power of the Powerless.”

He wrote about a green grocer who refused to put in his shop window amid the onions and carrots a sign with the slogan “workers of the world unite.” It was understood that the green grocer was not expected to believe the sign; but by displaying it, he signaled he would give regime no trouble. But Havel believed the grocer could “live in truth” and reclaim his dignity by taking down the sign and suffering the consequences.

Are the workers of your world truly united or are they just paying lip service to your principles and beliefs? As a thought leader, do you have followers who find it easier just to give your regime no trouble but don’t really believe the direction you are heading is the right one? Do your employees think that, according to a worker in another of Havel’s plays called “Vanek,” they are simply “the manure that makes your fancy principles grow”?

These are tough questions that should cause you to reflect on your own regime.

Is it possible to live in truth in the world of business? Are you, as a thought leader, demonstrating to those you lead that your moral philosophy is to “live in truth”? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

Put on your own oxygen mask first

Posted by Constance Ward on December 12, 2011 | Comments Off

My sister was traveling back from a holiday in Florida with her two-year-old granddaughter. Before the plane took off, a flight attendant came by to remind the adults in the group that in case of an emergency, they should put on their own oxygen masks first and then put on the baby’s mask.

The corollary to this advice applies to busy executives, too. Do you remember to put on your own oxygen mask first before trying to help others? How do you ensure you have enough “air” to survive hectic schedules on a daily basis and still have time to think?

During these times of crisis and instability, are you still able to get enough balance in your life? How do you fit in work, family, friends, chores, fitness, hobbies, newspapers, business books and leisure reading like novels and magazines…just to name a few activities.

In such a packed schedule, how can you shoehorn in “being a stronger thought leader”? Leading the industry forward as a thought leader takes time and dedication to the task. Are you having difficulty fitting in “thinking time” between all the meetings and daily demands of running a business?

What gets prioritized gets done, so are you blocking time in your schedule for thinking? Have you set aside time daily or weekly for deep, focused thought — a time when you can “come up for air” and think about the bigger picture? You need to make time for critical reflective activities. You need to make time to ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

Photo by Miikkahoo on Flickr

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