Finding Leaders - Earning Leadership

My initial blogs have dealt largely with matters of greater concern to individual entrepreneurs than to small companies. Today, I am revising that a bit as I will address executive leadership within small but growing companies. Every such company no matter how small must have people on staff in whom it has confidence and who will be able to move up in responsibility as growth continues: new and future leaders need to be identified and recognized.

The characteristics that mark a truly good leader: integrity, vision, energy, commitment and many more, are widely agreed upon. But the one which has to come first is trustworthiness. It sometimes requires a long exposure to a colleague or subordinate in order to confirm that he or she is truly trustworthy. But, if a young executive wants to be considered for senior advancement, the C-Suite members must be convinced that he or she possesses this attribute to the nth degree and must also be sure that the candidate for promotion is trusted by his and her colleagues.

Well, how can one tell for sure? How does one earn this trust? Obviously, it requires maintaining confidentiality as appropriate and treating colleagues with respect and confidence. Further, one has to display the attributes referred to above: integrity et al. But it also requires being open with fellow staffers and to risk being vulnerable and willing to admit one doesn't know the answers when that is the case. The upcoming leader must also be willing to answer questions fully and to share examples from his or her own past which fit the circumstances, thereby revealing the candidate's humanity. This ability - to show one's humanity and be open to a colleague's concerns by revealing something of one's self in his or her responses - will resonate and earn the trust needed to move ahead and be given further leadership responsibilities.

Create A Niche If You Can!

Last month I heard Susan Friedman, a coach, author and speaker, make a really convincing case for creating, through unique positioning, a protective niche to fit your business into. Her well-taken point is that business is so competitive today with so many entrepreneurs and small companies active in virtually every category, that it is much easier to prosper if one can create a niche where there are only a few organizations in the same space. This not only reduces competition but means that your business will be more singular and more readily recalled than one in a category overrun with entries. And, if you can create a name or postioning line for your business which reinforces the benefits it provides, so much the better. Susan refers to people who are able to do this as "Nichepreneurs". By adopting this kind of an approach, they often come to be thought of as experts in their field and thus are able to charge a premium for what they do. Sounds pretty smart to me! And, you can learn more on how to do all this by snapping up her book, "Riches In Niches - How to Make it BIG in a Small Market".

-- What Do Eels Have to Do with Marketing?

Did you know that eels are disappearing as a cult food in the Netherlands? Don't like eels? Don't care? Well, even so, we can learn a lot from the North Atlantic eeling industry. You see, the eel market there is disappearing due to this desired delicacy having been overfished in that country. In fact,the NY Times reports that only 17 eel fishermen are still actively eeling today instead of 200 a generation ago. As a result, one Dutch company has developed a new product which crosses two types of catfish into a hybrid which the company is branding as Claresse, a substitute for both smoked and fresh eel. "Claresse is positioned as eel though not in presentation or flavor; the reaction from retailers has beeen very favorable", says the company's marketing director. Now I haven't seen how this is being executed in advertising but the very approach is a huge endorsement of the opportunity imaginative positioning of a new product can provide and therefore an important lesson to all of us in marketing. For the Dutch, without doing so, they may not have "eel" to eat or a business from which to make a living!