Global trends for 2013 - A top ten for business leaders

The original article is from http://www.economist.com
Written Nov 26th 2012, 11:01 by J.A.

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1.Social everything:  New generations and their digital world stepping forward

Social technologies are now a central part of everyday life and work. The social generations are reshaping companies from the inside, helping them to build broader, more agile networks to create and deliver value to customers. Mobility and connectedness will be at the heart of the future business environment: communications and marketing are moving from a focus on one-to-one relationships, to many-to-many.

2.Redefining value: The consumer is winning the fight to own the new consumer

The notion of value is being redefined for the 21^st century. Consumers have choice. They want personalization, and to participate in value creation, shifting the mindset to “made with me.” Value will also be about “shared with me” as the ownerless economy expands. This will be driven particularly by younger generations who value experiences they can share – and that also deliver benefits to society - over possessions.

3.Distributed everything:  Mobility in production and consumption

Mobility is entering a new stage. Not only does consumption occur anywhere, anytime, but the tools and resources to create and capture value are more broadly distributed too. Work is becoming increasingly distributed. Small-scale manufacturing, including 3D printing, will reshape production. Renewable technologies are distributing energy production, while mass teaching platforms are revolutionizing education. Ask what can’t be distributed, not what can.

4.The next “industrial” revolution: Robots and smart machines reshaping work

Smart machines and robots will redefine society. Robots are now being deployed as receptionists, banking assistants and even prison guards, while technology allows amateurs to do what professionals once did. The upside: addressing issues such as caring for ageing populations. The downside: huge job losses. Yet the next wave of smart machines will also create new kinds of jobs. The challenge will be to ensure a workforce that is ready and skilled for them.

5.The new space race:  Pushing the frontiers of technology once again?

Scientific advances from national space programs have had a significant impact on how we live and work, from advanced materials to global telecommunications. Now, commercial space travel and exploration is a reality, even as a new space race hots up, particularly between the US, China and Europe. New advances will surely result, as will questions over the ownership of space “assets,” and whether advances will be shared for public benefit. 

6.Geopolitical wars: The fight to control the future

The BRICS and Beyond (other rapidly growing economies) will be where the fight to control future economic growth and social development will take place. It’s a multipolar market landscape, based on dramatically different economic, social and political systems. Politicians, along with companies, are still trying to find and control their place in the new world order, even as trust in governments falls, nationalism rises, and power shifts towards the people. The potential for radical political shifts at home and between nations is rising.

7.Resource wars escalating: From a world of abundance to shortage

As the world’s population moves towards 9 billion by 2050, resources are under pressure, exacerbated by climate change. By 2030 we will demand twice as many resources as the planet can supply – risking social unrest and conflicts as people and nations compete for ever scarcer resources. Scarcity is already driving resource price volatility and cross-border investments. New technologies and rethinking consumption will be critical in future – with businesses rather than governments likely to lead the way.  

8.Business stepping up: From profit to purpose

Many businesses are stepping up to a new role, often with partners, to tackle social and economic challenges. Corporations are seeking to build legitimacy – and the license to operate – in the eyes of demanding consumers, employees and stakeholders who care about the impact and motivations of companies with whom they associate. But it’s also good business as companies realize mutual benefits with society. Look for more businesses redefining their corporate purpose in this way. 

9.Information is power: The security challenge

Cyberspace is the new frontline for security. Knowledge and information is a source of competitive advantage for organizations, nations and individuals. But it’s a growing challenge to retain control as mobility and the democratization of everything (commerce, politics and societies) increases – along with cybercrime and cyber war. Look for a rising tide of litigation, policies and regulation. Digital freedom or a “big brother” society?

10.Who needs banks anyway? Reshaping the financial system

The financial system is broken. Regulators want change, businesses want new means of financing and consumers want alternatives. The “banks” of the future will include state-owned entities, and firms that simply don’t use cash: think bartering and community currencies. Digital wallets and mobile banking are opening the door for telcos and software players, while trust is the entry point for retailers and crowdfunding communities. In an increasingly crowded and cashless financial system, banks may no longer be key players.   

Why Executives Are So Bad At The Behavioral Side Of Management Read more: http://www.inc.com/brian-evje/the-skills-most-leaders-dont-have.html#ixzz2EnyXDXTJ

The original article is from http://www.businessinsider.com
Written Brian Evje, Inc. | Nov. 8, 2012, 3:50 PM

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For too long, we’ve thought of “hard skills” and “soft skills” as mutually exclusive. Hard skills are supposed to provide the value, and soft skills supposed to be subordinate, inferior, and all about feelings. Some frameworks of leadership reinforce this myth by encouraging positioning leaders as above the group and magically removed from doubt and anxiety.

In reality, there is nothing “soft” about the skills needed to relate to people well enough to lead them.  True leadership involves both hard skills and harder skills.

Leadership’s Hard and Soft Skills
Leadership has its own set of occupational skills, such as the ability to synthesize data; the clarity to make timely and informed decisions; the capability to define priorities and goals; and the aptitude to see situations from a wide, organizational perspective.

On the behavioral side, leadership requires an exceedingly high degree of skill in working with and for others, holding others accountable to their commitments, and marshaling others to work together while following you into the future.

Unfortunately, many leaders fail to embrace leadership responsibilities and instead busy themselves with non-leadership tasks - the work their teams should be doing. We see this in the vp of engineering who monitors engineers checking in code; in the CFO who insists on completing the routine details of closing a sale; or the sous chef who won’t let each station chef work independently enough.

The more your role involves leadership, the more your job must focus on blending the occupational and the behavioral, the technical and the interpersonal, the hard and the soft.  If you cannot achieve this internal balance, your organization will suffer a similar lack of equilibrium.

This balance can be exceeding difficult, because many people define themselves by their ability to be experts in their occupational skills while viewing behavioral skills as secondary or incidental. In this way, especially for leaders, traditional “soft” skills are harder to get right.

Leadership’s Harder Skills
Many leaders end up over-compensating. We’ve all known the leader so focused on goals that she is unable to relate to her people, or the leader who can’t focus enough on goals because he wants to avoid the tension required to unite around a shared purpose.

A good approach is to recognize and accept that 1) the occupational skills of leadership are much different than those of everyone else, and 2) because leadership at any level is necessarily about other people, leaders must be aware of their behavior, and be visible to others, in ways that non-leaders don’t have to be.

This is one reason that leadership behavior is harder - as a leader, you don’t have the convenience of behaving only for yourself. You must behave for others.  Many leaders fail, or fail to develop, because they are stuck in an old mindset and continue to act for themselves.

Improving Your Harder Skills
Ultimately, leadership is hard because relating to people is challenging. It’s that simple. Here are three tips for improving your harder skills.
1. Admit that inter-personal skills are important. I have worked with leaders who resist improving their inter-personal skills because they fear it shows weakness to superiors, peers, and subordinates.  This is hardly a helpful path for developing better leaders, as it denies the basic truth that if I expect to lead others, I must first be able to lead myself.  Don’t be afraid of this work.
2. Rethink your definitions of “hard” and “soft” skills. Ask yourself, “How do I define and exercise my hard and soft skills?  Do I try to keep them separate?  Do I focus on leadership responsibilities, or am I skill occupied with a non-leadership perspective?  How can I approach my next challenge with a greater sense of the needed harder skills?”
3. Get some help. It is difficult to identify how our default behaviors and habits affect others. Learning to make different or new choices requires the structure and support of a good coaching process. 

Hire the Best Candidate, the One You Can't Afford

The original article is from http://www.inc.com
Written Frank Addante  Jul 9, 2012

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People are a company's most expensive asset. It costs a lot to recruit, train, manage, communicate with, and retain employees. I'm a fan of quality over quantity with everything I do, but I find that with people it's especially important.

Scaling a company the right way is challenging. I have scaled five businesses from zero, including my current company, the Rubicon Project, which has grown to more than 200 employees in seven offices and five countries around the world in less than five years. One rule that has served me well is to focus on hiring the absolutely best people I can find, rather than many average ones.


1. Great people attract great people
Overall, your talent people will increase exponentially, while your recruiting costs will decrease.

2. They'll increase your team productivity
Add fresh, new A+ talent to the team, and you'll get everyone to step up their game, and increase productivity across the board.

3. They'll magnify your horsepower
I've witnessed time and time again that one ultra-talented individual can produce the work of a team of 10.

4. Don't overlook communication overhead
Every new hire dilutes the signal of your core communication. It simply costs a lot more to communicate with and manage a larger group of people: more meetings, more meetings, and more meetings about meetings; management, middle management, senior management, and so on. Time equals money. You get the picture? Hire fewer, sharper people.

5. Hard incremental costs
There are direct costs--per employee--for health care, benefits, taxes, phones, computers, networks, software licenses, subscriptions, chairs, desks, office space, recruiting, interviewing, training, payroll processing. The list goes on and on.

Social Media And The Boardroom: Critical Questions Directors Need To Ask

The original article is from http://www.fastcompany.com
Written By Richard S. Levick   November 27, 2012

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Social networks are the venues where purchasing decisions are increasingly made, investment opportunities are increasingly weighed, and corporate adversaries--such as social activists and the plaintiffs’ bar--increasingly gain public support for their agendas. But despite that fact, the latest data indicate a significant divide between director engagement on social media issues and social media’s impact on their companies.

Last month, Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance released the results of a survey that examined how 180 top CEOs, senior executives, and corporate directors approach the opportunities and risks associated with social media’s meteoric rise. The findings are startling:

Ninety percent of respondents report a basic understanding that what is said on social media can have a major impact on their organization; but only 32 percent of their companies monitor social media to identify risks and only 14 percent utilize social media sentiment to measure corporate performance.

The good news is that there are a number of questions directors can begin asking today that will immediately help them, and their organizations, get up to speed. To formulate a list of the 10 most critical, I enlisted the assistance of three thought leaders who understand the crossroads of corporate directorship and social media as well as any in the business world today. Catherine Bromilow, a partner in PwC’s Center for Board Governance in the United States; Chris Wood, a Senior Manager in PwC Canada’s Audit Committee Connect; and Neil Manji, a partner and leader in PwC Canada’s Audit Committee Connect, shared insights and experiences that illuminate the opportunities and risks inherent in social media engagement and provide the foundation by which directors can start asking the questions that set a strong strategic course.

1. How do we use social media to engage with customers, open new markets & recruit the top talent?
2. How are our competitors utilizing social media to achieve the goals outlined above? What can we learn from their efforts?
3. How are our executives utilizing social media? Who are they communicating with? What are we allowing them to say?
4. What are our policies on employee use of social media? Are we appropriately training employees on in this critical brand protection and promotion area? How often do we update the policies to ensure they are keeping up with technology?
5. Does our social media outreach comply with existing and potential regulations? What are the implications in terms of Regulation Fair Disclosure?
6. Are we actively monitoring popular social media platforms for negative publicity about the company?
7. Are we actively monitoring plaintiffs’, activists’, and regulators’ social media activity for clues as to where our next crisis might arise?
8. What are we doing to build a burgeoning community of support in the social media space--one that is large enough to enable direct stakeholder communications that can circumvent the traditional media filter?
9. What is our strategy for reaching out to the most influential social media voices covering our industry? Are we treating them with the same respect we would show 60 Minutes or the New York Times?
10. How are we integrating social media strategy with our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) efforts? Are we taking steps to ensure that these critical initiatives support each other on an ongoing basis?

The Power of Praise: 'Thank You' Goes a Long Way

The original article is from http://www.inc.com
Written Kathleen Kim | Inc.com staff    Nov 9, 2012

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Don’t hold off until annual performance reviews to praise stellar employees. A simple “thank you” here and there can boost efficiency and even help your business make more money. According to new research (and, perhaps, the laws of common sense) companies that excel at employee recognition are 12 times more likely to generate strong business results than those that do not.


The study was conducted by advisory services firm Bersin & Associates President and CEO Josh Bersin wrote recently that “high-recognition culture” companies share three common traits:

First, they build focused recognition programs which collect “thank you’s” and “feedback” from peers, not just managers. Second, they directly tie recognition to business goals and company values, so recognition reinforces strategy. Third, they give employees open and transparent access to the program – so everyone can see who is being recognized and anyone can recognize another.

But to really praise like a pro, start here:

1. Be specific and know your people: Inc. columnist Gail Browning recently wrote: Our research at Emergenetics indicates that most employees would enjoy a personal thank-you note, but they want it customized to them. For example, to say, "You're doing a good job," is fine for a "social" thinker, but a "structural" thinker doesn't trust you unless you add a specific task he has accomplished."

2. Consider the delivery:  The way a thank you comes across is just as important as the thank you itself. Inc.'s Jeff Haden recently wrote: Every employee responds differently to recognition. Many appreciate public praise. Others cringe if they’re made the center of attention. Know your employees and tailor your recognition so it produces the greatest impact for each individual.

3. Get everyone involved: A thank you shouldn't be just one-on-one. Encourage your entire company to promote appreciation and praise. Inc.'s Jay Love recently advised: Insist on your department heads sharing stories from their departments and highlighting the achievements of team members at the monthly All-Company Meeting. Lively presentations that include photographs, videos and client comments make this one even better!

Tell Stories & You'll Boost Sales

The original article is from http://www.inc.com
Written YOUR BRAIN AT WORK | Geil Browning   Nov 8, 2012

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Storytelling appeals to how the brain processes information. Here's five ways to make that work for your business.

People ask me what I do at Emergenetics International, and I could easily say I own a human capital consulting firm that provides assessments for employee development, recruitment, and retention. That'd be informative, sure. But you need to be prepared to say more, if you want to draw people in.

I tell my story--about how I grew up sitting at my family's kitchen table, listening to my mother and grandmother trade tales of the classroom. I come from a long line of teachers and these conversations of how Susie solved math problems or why Johnny acted out in class inspired me.

Stories resonate because of how human brains function. Noted cognitive neuroscientist (and Sperry's student), Michael Gazzaniga, has researched the way our brains process stories--how the left hemisphere fills in gaps for the right hemisphere. Our brains desire narrative continuity, which draws us to stories. We naturally want to fill in gaps of information that we need to know to process it.


Simplicity Rules
Think of Steve Jobs unveiling the iPad. It was both technical (equipment) and emotional (hip, cool, and visionary). But most of all, it was simple.
Be Holistic
Appeal to both the left-brain and right-brain perspectives. I buoy my emotional story--about how Randy helped define my career--by facts and data. Paint a picture that both sides of the brain can fill in. (Hans Rosling is a master of turning data into a rich narrative.)
Interactivity is Essential
Your audience members run a full gamut of behavioral tendencies. In-your-face exuberance might inspire some, but turn off others. Read your particular audience, and adjust how you express your story and assert your value.
Authenticity, Authenticity, Authenticity
Storytelling has to be genuine. Not everyone can be a Bill Clinton or Guy Kawasaki and instantly enrapture. What you can do is understand, recognize, and utilize your own particular strengths. If you are highly analytical, use that to your advantage--but make your data come alive. Of course, you need great products and ideas to back up your pitch, but make sure your pitch sincerely connects to your buyers by itself.
A Narrative Arc Has a Beginning, Middle, and End
I ran into Randy just last year. The business that he has run for the past 20 years is growing like crazy and he has created one of the best places to work in the Midwest.
And as for me, I just got back into the classroom. Emergenetics is now consulting for one of the largest school districts in Colorado.

10 Things You Can Do Now to Have a Great Tax Season

The original article is from http://www.accountingtoday.com
Written Boca Raton, Fla. (October 31, 2012) By Daniel Hood

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• Make sure you have good scanners. He recommends the Fujitsu 6130, which scans 50 pages a minute, duplex, and offers despeckling and decrumpling, among other features.
• Get multiple monitors. “Go home tomorrow and buy another monitor. It’s ridiculous to have just one monitor. You’ve got to have at least two,” he said
• Software: scan, organize, populate. Make sure you’re using tools that do these things. “Clients bring in their stuff -- that’s the polite word for it -- and normally this ‘stuff’ would go to a tax preparer and they’d sort it and move it around and copy it and put yellow stickies on it and highlight it,” Frederiksen said.
• Send direct mail to homeowners. Frederiksen said that he gets most of his clients from direct mail. He buys lists of all the new homeowners in his area; a number of companies provide them, but his firm uses Homeowners Marketing Services. 
• Thank-you letters. These should be sent out within five days of completing a client’s return, and ask for referrals.
• Tax organizers. “We are big believers in tax organizers as a marketing device,” Frederiksen said. 
• Create an audit prepayments and correspondence program. As an add-on at 10 percent of your fee, or $100, offer to cover any audit, and to deal with nuisance mail. 
• Preschedule mail-ins. Tell clients to send information in by February 25, even if they don’t have everything ready.
• Preschedule appointments. “You can spend a huge amount of time during tax season messing around with appointments. 
• Expand your capacity. Because of the shortage of skilled preparers, Frederiksen said that there will only about a third of the tax preparers available that the industry needs, so practitioners may want to start exploring outsourcing returns to India and locally through firms like Xpitax and SurePrep.