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The funny thing was, the very next day I found myself immersed in my own “Shiny Penny Hell(TM)” at the World Business Forum. As a member of the Blogger’s Hub, sponsored by IBM, I had a great seat and wireless internet to hear the ideas and insights of thought leaders in business, economics, marketing, leadership, the economy and the environment. Although we had some glitches with the internet connection early on, once they increased and secured our bandwidth, the tweeting and blogging went uninterrupted for two days. Unfortunately I had to leave half way through the second day but I believe I got the gist around the general themes that emerged from speakers such as Bill George, Patrick Lencioni, Gary Hamel, T Boone Pickens, and film legend George Lucas. Following are the over-arching messages that I took away from this powerful lineup:

• No one could have predicted the economic mess we’re in (and it IS a mess), but it is up to us to get out of it.
• Management innovation haven’t kept pace with changes in society and it is about time for some major overhauls. Noting like our economic crisis to accelerate the need for business to change.
• It will take strong, authentic leaders leading from a center of integrity and a desire to do the right thing to move companies forward in this environment. They need to focus on re-building trust with all stakeholders, both customers and employees, and building companies around not just workers, but human beings.

My only disappointment, which I’ve shared with the HSM staff, is that there were not more women on the agenda. In inquiring about this, I was told that they tried but were only able to land one, Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft, whom I unfortunately missed.

From my research and working with companies, I really believe that hearing from the female thought leaders around these global business and management issues would really add to the intellectual discussion in a new and different way. At least they’ve already secured one woman for next year’s World Innovation Forum – Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox. You can bet Renee and I will be there if we can!

T. Boone Pickens

Pickens’ accent had me riveted, too, as well as a bit homesick for my home-state of Texas. Reminding us that he was 70 years old before he made his first billion, he had a lot to say about the current state of both the economy and the environment.

He asserted that part of the problem with the economy has been CEO’s focus on pay, perks, privileges, and prestige. They are overly focused, as we heard from a couple of the other speakers, on short-term profits rather than long-term value. When they’re so internally focused and into self-preservation, the wrong decisions are made for the wrong reasons. Seems to me that part of the problem is in how Wall Street measures success, a topic some of the leaders alluded to but I can’t remember coming right out and saying that.

As for the environment, I appreciated his candid and seemingly authentic answers. When asked if he was focused on the environment purely because it was a “noble” cause, he answered honestly “yes, but I also expect to make money  and I don’t have to apologize for that”.  Or as I tell my students and clients, “it is easier to change the world when you have money.” There’s nothing wrong with making a profit while doing good…something many called the triple bottom line. He then pointed out that if all he wanted to do was make money, he wouldn’t have sunk $62M into natural gas. He’s doing it because he believes it is the right thing to do, as he admitted he’s always had a “shade of green.”

George Lucas was likewise engaging with a very entrepreneurial attitude. He’s had to work hard with limited resources,

George Lucas

living on chocolate bars and little sleep following his passion. In his brief time on stage, he shared several great lessons for all of us:

• Believe in yourself. He took a very modest salary for Star Wars but opted, instead, for 40% of the merchandising rights. He described going around selling T-shirts for the movie out of the back of his van – before it ever came out. A great gamble for him yielding a lot of money.
• Follow your passion. He actually said he never really set out to make a lot of money he was just following his passion for telling a story.
• Keep your eye on the changes in the market. Unlike some of his colleagues, he is embracing new technologies and learning to work within their medium. He even said that at some point he could see himself making movies that get released directly to the iPhone. Bad news for theatre owners, for sure.
• Choose carefully what you delegate. His vision for Star Wars was unmatched. He tried to delegate the artistic part of telling the story but, as he put it, he was the only who really knew the universe. Instead, he focused on the goal and engaged others when necessary to meet them.

One of his most memorable quotes I took away was more personal than business. He answered a question as Yoda would: Be careful what you hate, you may become it. Great words to live by.

Kevin Roberts

The energy level went up in the room here at the World Business Forum when Kevin Roberts, CEO of one of the worlds leading creative agencies, Saatchi & Saatchi, stepped onto the stage. From the videos he showed (see below), it is clear they really have down the formula for eliciting memorable emotion in advertising campaigns.

One of his first points was the progression of the whole marketing landscape. We have moved from an attention economy, where an ad’s role was just to get your attention, to the attraction economy where we are now. From here, he posited our future as the participation economy. More and more, people want to be active in the market, not just be fed what they should think and do. Pull, not push.

Kevin talked about the use of sites like YouTube as key to our marketing future. Judging from what he described as the response to the video shown below, I believe him! Using social media technologies, mass marketing is back but this time we don’t have to pay for it. Consumers want to be engaged. The goal is to give the consumer an idea and let them run with it. It is not about a market, it’s about a movement. Powerful.

The justification for this comes only when you measure marketing in a new way, using a new definition for ROI – return on involvement. His point is that when you approach a consumer with a rational message, it leads them to conclusions but when you hit them with an emotional message, they are led to action.

He also talked about how ‘brands’ as we know them are on the way out. Although they are built on respect, his term – lovemarks – are built on respect and love. A lovemark extends beyond traditional brand benefit – he asserts that it yields loyalty beyond reason. That level of loyalty should translate to real bottom line benefits if you’re delivering on your promise.

So do your customers view you as a brand or a lovemark? How do you know?

Although I’ve read his book, The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, many times, and even used it with my management team many years ago, he still managed to share the material in a fresh and engaging manner.

Since I don’t want to reiterate the whole book here (it’s a good one so go buy it and read it!), I wanted to share the couple of nuggets that I took away that I don’t remember reading in the book:

• Trust on a team is the crucial foundation of a good team and one way that it shows itself is through vulnerability. A group that can be vulnerable with each other has trust.
• Managers and CEOs are often afraid to over-communicate. He compared it to the husband whose wife asks “Honey, do you love me?” and to which he replies “I told you when we got married that I loved you. I promise to let you know if it changes.” He asserted that employees actually need to hear something 7 times before it really sinks in.
• Conflict based on trust is the pursuit of the best answer. Conflict without trust is politics. (LOVE THIS!)
• When you avoid addressing a difficult performance issue because you don’t like conflict or you’re afraid you’ll hurt someone’s feelings, you’re really being selfish.
• Lack on conflict leads to no commitment. If folks don’t weigh in on a decision, they don’t buy in, either. The leader’s job is actually to pull out conflict in order to encourage buy in.

His casual manner, funny stories, and practical advice made for a worthwhile session. He was, in my opinion, one of the top sessions of the day.

Bill George

Bill George, former CEO of Medtronics and now Harvard professor, was a great choice to open the World Business Forum 2009. Having attended a reception he threw for the Blogger’s last night (where he gave us a signed copy of this book, 7 Lessons for Leading in a Crisis), I was able to catch a glimpse into his philosophies and ideas. I have to admit, I liked what I heard.

He came right out with an unfortunately very male analogy, saying that being a leader us like being a great athlete. Sometimes your throw touchdowns and other times its interceptions. The parallel was drawn to both the leader and that athlete doing the best they can under the circumstances they had. Obviously he’s not a Dallas Cowboys fan, but I digress. The point he was making is that failure comes with the territory and it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a career.

He then got talking about our current economic crisis. He felt strongly that it isn’t over yet but, and I love this analogy, he said “A smooth sea never created a great mariner.” He asserted that a crisis really creates opportunities for leaders to really shine. I agree – it is all in how you look at it and the attitude you choose.

He reiterated over and over that one of our biggest challenges was in creating jobs, asserting that small businesses were indeed our best option for doing so. I took it as a call for entrepreneurship and couldn’t agree more. He actually said that instead of spending money to bail out GM, we should be taking that money and investing in start-up companies. I, of course, know several entrepreneurs who would wholeheartedly support that agenda.

He then spent some time giving us a preview of his 7 lessons for leading in a crisis, which are:

- Face reality, starting with yourself
- Don’t be Atlas – get the world off your shoulders (another very male analogy)
- Dig deep for the root cause
- Get ready for the long haul
- Never waste a good crisis
- You’re in the spotlight – follow “true north”
- Go on the offense (versus defense) – focus on winning now

One of the last comments he made (more than once) was that markets never come back the same after crisis. To me, I think this provides the perfect opportunity for innovation.

Lastly, he got on a soap box I often frequent: you don’t have to be the one to change the world on your own, but you do have to do your part. Kind of like my snowflake story. We both agree – you should never doubt your role in changing the world because you do have a role, no matter how big or small.