Ann Davison

Enhancing Reputation through Thought Leadership

This week I am with some incredible leaders at the Greenbriar's business Wise conference.  Speaking in a break-out session on business development, I shared these three quick ideas for enhancing your reputation among key stakeholders:

• Develop a point of view about an issue or topic related to your business or organization. (For example, a local marble manufacturer can be a thought leader in her community on toy safety.) Share your insights through written and broadcast media and speeches.
• Connect your community relations and philanthropic activities to your business line and elevate visibility of those commitments.  
• Be a convener.  Bring other leaders and thinkers together and invite your target audience to participate in person or online.

A great question was asked about how to pursue thought leadership like this in the face of all the work that has to be done just running an organization.  The key is identifying the audiences you most need to influence and focus on delivering insights and actions that are meaningful to that audience via the media, platforms and venues where they are.   

Speakers this week have underscored that  you must be passionate about your business to be successful. The same can be said for your thought leadership  - it must authentically reflect your values as an individual or organiztion to effectively contribute to your reputation. 

Campaigning Towards Social Media Victory

Go mobile or go home.  That’s the advice I keep repeating to organizations planning to maximize the business and reputation opportunities available at the 2012 political conventions.  But the deeper question for political watchers is the impact social media will have on the actual November election.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article on the topic, Andy Kessler chronicled the evolution of media influences in campaigns from the first televised debate between Nixon and JFK in 1952 to the “make your own Obama commercial” craze that swept YouTube in 2008.   Today’s candidates are in a constant race not only to top their competition in the quarterly financial filings but in the daily tally of Facebook fans and Twitter followers. 

But as Kessler notes, when it comes to social media influence in campaigns, the true power lies in quality over quantity.  “Those with social media influence are most likely to help campaigns convert interest into votes,” Kessler writes.  

Converting interest to action is the holy grail of advocacy and political campaigns.  And for that to happen, the message must do much more than simply raise awareness.  Target audiences (eligible and likely to vote citizens, in the case of elections) must feel the message being received is relevant, empowering and urgent.  An individual’s beliefs and attitudes along with intentions are the best predictors of behavior.  And the quality of the messenger is an important link in that equation.

So, the question in the 2012 elections with regard to social media impacts may not be about how many friends of fans Obama or Fill-in-the-Blank Presidential Nominee may be able to attract – but who are the individuals putting up those virtual yard signs in front of their electronic house, and what do they say.  

 

Week In Review: Who Loses in Budget Cut Blues?

Three items in the news this week caught my eye: speculation about the trickle-down impacts of the so-called "Supercommittee" failure; a measure to freeze replacement of out-going federal workers; and the retirement of the "Mr. Speaker!" man.

Failure of the deficit reduction Committee to reach consensus on cost-cutting or revenue-raising measures is a blow on many levels, particularly for state governments. As legislative bodies gather in early 2012 to begin hammering out their 2013 budgets, they do so with little to no information on what they can expect from Washington in terms of funding for major discretionary or entitlement programs. 

Many states operate under balanced budget rules. With no guarantee on revenues, the eventual deep program cuts and eliminations anticipated at the federal level will likely begin at the state and local level. As my sports commentator friend Jack often says, "This will not be pretty." 

While punting on the big issues about deficit reduction, the Senate did debate how to find savings within the federal workforce itself, considering a proposal to replace only every second or third departing worker.  Not that the government has ever been quick to release non-performers, but the threat of losing FTE slots when an employee leaves could have the perverse affect of keeping these individuals in their jobs longer than appropriate.

Finally, we learned this week of the retirement of one highly regarded federal employee.  Bill Livingood who retires after serving as the House Sergeant-At-Arms for 17 years.  Though few know him by name, many recognize his familiar call to attention, "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!" This brief moment of pomp and circumstance, preceding the often less classy behavior by Members themselves, is always my favorite moment in a Congressional address by a President. 

In addition to this protocol duty, the Sergeant-At-Arms is responsible for providing security to the Members of the House, their staff and visitors. With all the talk of cutbacks and hiring freezes, it's safe to say that's one government job that won't be eliminated.