Secrets
8 Comments Published by Frank Lane October 9th, 2007 in Leadership, Organizational Performance, Personal PerformanceHeard good advice on TV, CANE episode tonight.
The patriarch of the family gave this advice to Jimmy Smits who he has put in charge of the business. “Learn to listen. People will say, ‘I shouldn’t be telling you this. But they tell you anyway. It’s one of the most commonly used phrases.’ Know as much about everyone else’s secrets as possible, while revealing as little about your own as possible.”
This is excellent advice for competitive market intelligence as well as for organizational management intelligence. The more you know about your competitors the better. The less they know about you, the better.
The more you know about your people and your organization, the better you can manage and lead them.
I agree that it’s great to know as much about others as possible but I would argue that in the commercial world there is very little that is proprietary and therefore, companies that make an effort to limit what others know about them are fighting a losing battle which will, more often than not, result in misunderstanding and bad PR.
The world now, with the advent of the internet and all its newest social networking and connectivity “flavors,” is now very open. My life is on the net for all to see. Some of my friends will comment ot me, “Wow, aren’t you scared to put so much about yourself on the web?” My answer, “No, actually the more I share the more I get in return.”
Takes Josh’s newest project on church signs. His blog has been a huge tool to create a community and generate interest.
Your thoughts?
i am 25 y.o. i’ve read your book, Brand killer. it’s more than good. you’re my idol.
brand entrepreneur to be(smile)
Tim,
It’s always good to hear from you. You are a thinker and this time is no exception.
I think we are both correct. My post was about the management of information; learn as much as you can, share only what is in your best interests for others to know.
For instance, Josh did not start posting his photographs on his blog until such time as he thought that the contacts developed would be in his best interests. He was quiet about his work for the first six years of its development.
We have even executed disinformation campaigns in highly competitive categories and caused competitors to make moves that were in our best interests, not theirs.
Salihin,
I am most flattered. I am glad you liked the book. Spread the word, and keep in touch.
Frank
Frank;
Always happy to read your postings (Joy told me about them, so I read each week). I do have question about leadership…
Does one lead first (as by example) or manage first.
Hope to see you and yours sometime soon.
-Merry
Merry,
This is an excellent question. Let’s think through it together.
Do people respond more favorably to Leadership or to Management?
Are people more likely to resent Leadership or Management?
Psychological and sociological testing shows that most people “respond” to Leadership and “resent” Management, particularly Micro-Management.
Thus my recommendation is to LEAD 24 hours a day every day, and to MANAGE only when necessary.
An example. When I became President of Neutrogena in 1980, the numbers and results were horrendous. I explained to the Board that I was going to 1) get the right people in the right jobs, 2) get them agreed to the right strategies, and 3) motivated to perform, then worry about the numbers if and when I had to. The right people motivated to execute the right strategies not only delivered the numbers, but beat them significantly.
sorry, it’s KILLER BRANDS(not brand killer,i didn’t mean to..language problem)
i like your book’s topic explained about “Pet Fresh” and “Spanx”. i think we can learn something behind this both example of story. “pet fresh”‘s story,we can learn about ninche market and “Spank”‘s story, we can learn about Mental limitation.
i think,This is A MUST BUY BOOK.
thank you Guru.
Tim > Thanks for the plug.