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| Tom Ilube |
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The Wow Network - November 2009
On 18th November, members of the Wow Network and guests enjoyed two inspiring talks from Tom Ilube and Khalid Aziz for the latest installment of Wow’s Secrets to Success series. Tom, a serial entrepreneur, is currently the CEO of online protection company, Garlik and was part of the founding team of Egg plc, while Winchester-based Khalid Aziz runs his own business, The Aziz Corporation and is also a visiting professor of Business Communications at the University of Southampton. View photo's from the event here.
Tom Ilube
Tom talked us through his 5 insights:
Insight 1: A world class team = a world class vision
Insight 2: You only need one yes
Insight 3: Get clear on your core brand value
Brand Architecture:
Brand Essence
Brand Personality - What's the feel of the brand?
What's your core brand value?
I.e. the essence of Garlik is: Powerful (ability to do or act) + Insight (mental penetration)
Insight 4: Work with a first class PR firm to get top quality coverage
- Choose the firm who’s right for your business now
- When being interviewed never answer yes or no to a question, it’s an opportunity to talk about your business. Start your answer with “well.......” then launch into your 30 second pre-prepared statement
- Your story has always got to have a fairy tale structure i.e. what dragon are you wrestling with and who/what’s the white knight who’s coming to save the day!? How will it all end happily ever after?
- If you’re trying to build a relationship, don’t pitch your brand too overtly, aim to be a credible expert first. Then you can talk about what you do at a later date
Insight 5: It’s all about YOU
I am a.................................. (Make a statement with specific detail as to who you are)
- Decide what your conditions of satisfaction are (again detailed and specific)
- Make your bold promise i.e. what you plan to do
In 12 months time I will be.............. (Make a statement with specific detail)
- Success comes down to Leadership; Leadership is about commitment and is different to management.
- Don’t look for agreement from your team, but alignment
- Take risks, but calculated risks that may hurt if you fail but won’t damage the company too badly.
Tom ended with a thought to ponder...........
Where will you be in 12 months time? What will your bold promise be?
View photo's from the event here.
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| Khalid Aziz |
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Khalid Aziz
Khalid talked to us about leadership in a recession. Some of the key points from his presentation were:
- Buy value
- Don’t accept sophisticated excuses for failure
- To be a great leader in a recession you have to communicate early and honestly i.e. go public early with bad news
- Business is about making money – not charity
- The difference between management and leadership is a good manager does things right, whereas a good leader does the right thing
- Celebrate your people – tell them what they're doing right every day!
- Inspire!
- Show your employees that you want them to be richer..............offer gestures and make bold gestures
- Create more leaders within your business
- Encourage face-to-face communication – if you want to be a great leader you need to know when it’s Ok to send an e-mail or pick up the phone or speak to someone face-to-face
- Praise in public, reprimand in private
- Employees need a lot of love!
- Empower people, this involves trust and allowing them to make mistakes – although not the same mistake twice
- People want to be treated equally and equitably, but also differently
- Recognise there are markets to be exploited.....and find them. Lead your people to these markets and you will do well.
And the final thought......
- With the right attitude you can do anything!
