Recently, I started comparing three different “agencies” on leadership. One, my company. Two, the board and its president at a museum that I am a board member of; and third, the volunteer fire department that I work for.

A couple of items came to mind that cause differences in being able to lead:

1) If the employee’s/volunteers are being paid.
2) If the employee’s/volunteers are doing something they love.
3) If the employee’s/volunteers are doing something they think they are obligated to do.

Yes, there is a difference between getting paid to try and sell a copier to a company vs. running into a fire to save a child. One is for the monetary reward while the other is for the spiritual/ego reward.

But, as a leader, it is rare that you are selling the copier or the first one into the fire. A leader, like a general in the military, does not lead from the front. The leader steps back and looks over the situation and strategizes on what the best next move is.

We have ALL forgotten ourselves and led from the front on occasion. There wasn’t enough time so we jumped in and moved the gun emplacement or called the customer back immediately to resolve a situation and save a sale.

Was it smart? Was it the right thing to do?

Let me ask you this. You, the platoon leader, jump to take the “point” position as your platoon moves through a forest – is that right? You, as a manager of 10 customer service employee’s, take calls instead of overseeing the 10 reps and helping them with customers in general – is that smart? Or you do everything in the museum to get it up and running, not asking for help from the rest of the board or its members?

Of course they are all not smart. Your job is to get OTHERS to do the job so you can step back and see the overall picture and be able to react to ever changing conditions.

Can you imagine fighting a fire if the chiefs and officers all grabbed a hose and ran into the building while all the firefighters stood around outside? Who would or could see house next door on fire or that the water system is broken? Maybe a firefighter would, but, who would they tell?

Is that efficient?

As a leader, you MUST step back and lead from behind. You can’t take the first bullet fired or work at the reception desk of your company. You have to trust and rely on others to do their job based on your training! BTW – if you aren’t training your people (or at least involved), how can you be considered a leader?

Does this type of training also make a leader? I think it does. Officers in the military are “tried and tested” in the field to see if they are able to handle the next level of leadership (they aren’t promoted automatically because it is “their turn” – imagine the number of lives that would be lost if it was done like that?). CEO’s do not become CEO’s of companies because it is “there turn”. I think you understand what I’m saying.

Now to my point. Does the capability of operating a computer make a leader? If they have a Pentium 2 instead of a Corei5? If they can type 100 words a minute vs. 20 words a minute?

As we live in this time of advancing technology at a breathtaking speed, many of the “older” generation of leaders can’t keep up like today’s youth (partially because they work and don’t have time to learn new technology, and/or they are comfortable with what they have, and so on). Does this make them any of a less effective leader?

I am NOT saying that they are living in a shell and don’t or are not aware of new technology, they just choose not to use it.

Recently (back to my firefighting), I started attending officers classes for the fire department. The state that I live in has made a mandate to the Fire Academy (who teaches all classes and does all training) that all homework would now be done on a computer and emailed.

I think you know where I’m going – we have the joy and privilege of having firefighters that have been fighting fires for 30+ years, have been made officers and are current officers (because of their leadership skill-set), and are now taking the classes and are “failing” or are the butt of jokes because they either don’t have computers, can’t operate them the same as the twenty year old’s, or have difficulty.

Does the knowledge of technology make a great, or even good, leader?

When I am entering a house on fire with a family of three trapped somewhere inside, I am not looking to a leader that knows how to type 100 words a minute or can attach multiple images to an email. I am looking for someone that can read the environment and put me in a position to be the most effective (in extinguishing the fire or saving the family, etc.).

Is that the same in the business world? Do you want your director to be able to type 100 words a minute but have no clue how to position an advertising campaign through Facebook? Of course, to be able to do both is best, but, do you want someone to have the knowledge and skill-set to be able to get you great bonus’s because of outstanding sales or someone that can forward you the latest Dilbert cartoon.

I know that I am showing extremes here, but, I want you to think about who you work with; and the type of person you want to work with and the type of people you work with. Don’t be so quick to judge because they don’t know Photoshop or can make a complex formula in Excel – the skills are great to have and if your job is to do formula’s, then this is self-explanatory, but, leadership is inherent and not based on how well they can manipulate technology. Great leaders are born, good leaders are made, and poor leaders are political.

In a nutshell, if you worked at Microsoft’s Gaming Division – is it more important for the Division Manager to be able to beat Black-Ops or to be able to increase sales by 1000%?

Age and being older does not diminish the greatness of a leader.

My grandmother was a great leader. When she was alive, she would drive all of us, her five children, her 19 grandchildren, her 12 great grandchildren, and her 3 great great grandchildren to insure that they were “there”, wherever that was, when we were going to celebrate a birthday or reunion that was going to happen (with her being the centerpiece). This leadership, yes, was partly out of love for family, but, also, much came from respect and duty (two things you hear consistently if you are in the military and two things that are given freely to legitimate leaders).

A boss I had in Israel was a great leader. He would manage by steering, not directing. By suggesting, not dictating. He would manage and lead from afar, exactly as you would imagine a general to lead – from atop a hill overlooking the complete battlefield and making decisions based on the whole war, not just the battle that is happening directly in front of him.

An officer in my Fire Department (Volunteer) is also turning out to be a true leader. He remains calm in the face of adversity, shows strength and determination when the odds turn against us, and knows how to prod and encourage without beating and berating.

All leaders have to lead by example; as well as all leaders have to see the whole picture and not just what is directly in front of them.

As I have mentioned many times previously, leaders and leadership is mostly inherited, rarely able to be taught. There are MANY individuals who can be great leaders but are never given a chance to refine, improve, and understand what they have. Yes, there are those rare individuals that immediately can and are leaders, like Patton, Rommel, Churchill, Reagan, Gandhi (and not to mention all the great business leaders – Austin, Boeing, Colgate, Monaghan (whom I met), Ringling, and on and on).

You can argue that some of the above beat and pounded their people into doing what was needed – I won’t disagree with that. Sometimes that is needed and there is a time for that to occur. But these leaders lead because they offered something to their people that no one else had (remember, the employee could always quit and go somewhere else) – respect, understanding, caring, love, and especially, respect. I know I said that already, but, if there is no respect, you can’t lead FOR LONG.

Of course, you can have “respect” for someone who has a gun – like Stalin. Is that leadership? Where no one does anything unless directly told and everything written down to CYA? No. Threatening and making threats is not leadership.

You know what a leader is – make sure to be one or to follow one – it is your choice. Just make sure that the leader you follow can make decisions, even if wrong. Don’t sit there and get shot because your General can’t make a decision, or get burned to death because your Fire Captain can’t decide, or that you lose your job because your manager can’t decide which advertising campaign to go with.

Lastly – a leader wants to teach and train and make their employee’s the best that they can be. Do not follow someone who does not care about you or does not want to see you succeed.

Good luck.

Just remember, if you are out front, every time, you will no longer be the leader, because you will be shot and killed. A leader also let’s others lead. By letting others lead, you, the leader, can step back and see the forest and plan and strategize.

Leading is tactical by nature, strategic by choice. Make the right choice as soon as possible and lead from the rear.

We train twice a week. Once a month we train extremely hard and are rewarded with a pizza dinner at our HQ. We order pizza from one of the local pizzerias and bring it in for all of us to enjoy.

We order approximately 20 pizza’s of all different varieties. Usually the bill is between $300 – $450, depending on how many firefighters train (somewhere between 25 – 40).

All the pizzerias in our area promote themselves on their boxes. All the pizzerias also have a coupon on the box that says something like “Cut out and collect 10 of these and get a free cheese pizza”.

A cheese pizza, out here, has a price of $12.00. If we were to order 20 pizza’s, at an average cost of $18.00, then we would have to pay $360.00. If we were to cut out the coupons and “turn them in”, the pizzeria would only get $336.00 (plus the two free cheese pizza’s) – the next time that we would order from them.

Last week, after one of our hard training sessions, we ordered from a pizzeria. When we brought them in (we pick them up), the pizzeria had marked “VOID” on each of the coupons on the box.

Not only did that pizzeria lose the fire department as a client for the rest of their existence, they also lost business from all the firefighters who were in attendance (and of course, whomever they told about this).

To “save” $24, the pizzeria gave up $336.00; as well as all the other catering opportunities that may have been presented to it through the course of the following year.

THINK before you do something rash like this. A cheese pizza COSTS no more then $4.00 (I am told that it is really less then $3.00), but, to be fair, let’s say it is $4.00.

For $8.00, this local pizzeria lost at least, AT LEAST, $1,000 worth of business from the department AS WELL AS all the firefighters who will no longer go there. Was it worth it?

Yes today’s economy sucks – but does that mean that you will change your “business model” when large orders come in? Will you give a discount AND void any special offers? Do you tell your clients this in advance?

The economy DOES suck, but, you must keep your current clients and not, in any way, jeopardize or put at risk the opportunity to lose them. Think before you act.

Sadly, most of us are in the position where we don’t have a product that will cure cancer or be an iPhone – we have a product that most people don’t know that they want or even need.

What does it take for a product to be a success? Credibility!

Would you buy from a company that no one trusts?
Would you buy from a company that makes a product that kills your pet?
Would you buy from a company that kills all the fish in the ocean?

Of course not – to purchase a product from a company, they must be and have credibility.

What’s it take to build your credibility? It takes time, effort, and understanding from many many different divisions within your company (from money from accounting to contracts from your lawyers to creative from your agencies).

ONE: It takes a strong management team, a marketing heritage, a great spokesperson – all of these are required to get the foundation started on building your credibility.

TWO: Produce a product that has a strong ROI, proposition, and value to your customer.

THREE: Have marquee customers – customers with a name.

FOUR: Have partners that are recognized by their brands. Having Microsoft behind you versus Joe’s Garage Computers goes a long way in building your credibility and success.

FIVE (lastly): Change the market – slightly or incredibly. You have read my article on companies being speedboats or oil tankers -it doesn’t matter in this case; if you can change the direction of the market, then, you have brought credibility to your company, your brand, and your product.

If you skip/ignore one of these, the path to success is extremely difficult if not impossible. They truly are not difficult to accomplish.

There are five legs (I believe) in marketing that support your sales and brand. In no particular order, they are:

Advertising
Promotions
Social Media
Merchandising
Public Relations

Here is how I define each:

Advertising: TV, magazine, newspaper, web. This can be static ads or video ads, on TV or on the web.

Promotions: The easiest way to define this is “Buy two xx’s and get one x free”; “Test drive this car and get a $500 gift card”; or “Send in five box tops and get a free sample”. You want to promote your product or brand and usually this is done by couponing or free giveaways or whatever kind of promotion that you think will get someone to sample OR LEARN ABOUT your product.

Social Media: Funny – this is still being defined out there – is it advertising? No because we are not forced to go to your Facebook page and therefore are not advertised to. Is it Public Relations? Absolutely, but, the customers that go there aren’t looking to be “pitched”, they are going there to be informed about non-pitch subjects. Is it Promotions? It’s certainly going in that direction where Facebook pages are now giving out “free” samples. Is it Merchandising? You could say it kinda is, because of the video’s that can be watched about your product. Obviously, this still has a long way to go. [Which leads to blogs or blogzines or whatever name they're gong to be called this week. Are they part of Social Media or Public Relations? Some people think that blogs are with promotions because they "promote" your product.]

Merchandising: End caps, in-store signage, sampling stations and everything else that you see in brick-n-mortar stores. Is advertising on a web page merchandising, since web pages are become more and more our brick-n-mortar stores?

Public Relations: News releases, press tours, and everything else that is required to get someone else to write or talk about you on TV, Radio, magazine, newspaper, blog, etc.

These five legs should make up your marketing strategy on a consistent basis. Can your brand survive if you only do one or two legs? Of course it can. Some would say it is weaker because you aren’t doing all five legs, especially if you are an agency that does one of the legs that you are not doing.

Are some legs stronger then another? Absolutely. A 30 second spot during the Super Bowl blows away an end-cap at your local hardware store – for brand recognition, but, what about for sales?

Which leads you to: Do I need that Super Bowl ad? No, you don’t – that end-cap may be exactly what you need.

Just be sure to always research each of the legs when you are building your marketing plan and you will discover how important it is to do or not do that Super Bowl ad.

“You sell the product?”
“No.”
“You tell people to buy the product?”
“Yes.”
“So you sell the product?”
“No.”

He has a very small company, meaning he, himself, and him. He hires people as he needs them (contractors, etc.) to do the work that he needs when he needs it. He wants to grow his company but doesn’t understand what “marketing” is and what it could do for him.

Here is what marketing is and what it means to him:

His marketing is telling someone what his company is and does when he is not present to tell them in person.

That’s it.

It’s the same for you and your company – marketing is telling your customer what you do for them without having the capability of sitting down and explaining it to them.

I see TV advertisements that have the Twitter logo on the bottom of all their ads (good for you Twitter!), but, I have to ask the question, why?

Golden Corral – a restaurant chain in the U.S. has the Twitter logo on their advertisements – why?

But more importantly, what is it going to accomplish? That they offer a buffet everyday? That this Friday the fish is $2.00 off?

I guess there are followers for everything and people want to know when Dairy Queen is taking $1.00 off on a cone – but, to place their logo on your advertising? All you are doing is advertising for them.

The same has to be said for Facebook – if you are NOT on Facebook or Twitter, your market is not in the social realm – which is okay. But, if you are in the social realm and DO NOT ALREADY have a Facebook and Twitter account, you should and deserve to fail.

What I’m saying is that you don’t need to wast space in your marketing and advertising plans and budgets to advertise another company that everyone already knows you are a part of.

1) Listen to individuals out there – it is no longer “focus groups” and “polls” – it is actually hitting the street (or your social pages and read).
2) Identify your influencer’s – make them a partner, not an enemy
3) Target – zero-in on your users with offers and continue to bring them new content.

Focus on all of these and never forget them or let them out-of-your-site!!