Scott Monty – Pragmatic Futurist

What Is Influence?

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Influence is not a destination, but a journey. <br />
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It's not a job, but the by-product of doing something well. <br />
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It is not the size of the audience, but what they do because of you.<br />
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Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Greek philosopher (whom you likely know from geometry because of his theorem). He was an influencer in various areas of Greek life: science, math, philosophy, astronomy, and art.<br />
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But two students were most influenced by his philosophy. You may have heard of them: Plato and Aristotle.<br />
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And that is how influence works.</div>
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<i>Image credit: <a href="http://john-petrov.livejournal.com/939604.html?style=mine#cutid1" target="_blank">Pythagoreans Celebrate the Sunrise</a> By Fyodor Bronnikov, (1827—1902), <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2591309" target="_blank">Public Domain</a></i></div>

What Is Influence?

Influence is not a destination, but a journey. It's not a job, but the by-product of doing something well. It is not the size of ...

The Fuller Brush Credo

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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller_Brush_Company" target="_blank">The Fuller Brush Company</a> was ahead of its time.</div>
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It's well known for the army of door to door salesmen that peddled its wide range of brushes, brooms, and other associated goods.</div>
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For a time, "the Fuller Brush Man" was synonymous with salesman. It didn't hurt that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fuller_Brush_Man" target="_blank">a movie of that name</a> was made in 1948, starring Red Skelton and another one named <i>The Fuller Brush Girl</i> was made in 1950 with Lucille Ball.</div>
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And as you can imagine, selling brushes out of a suitcase or car trunk was hard work that required tenacity and creativity.</div>
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But more than their sales techniques, the company was legendary for its guarantee:</div>
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<b><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Make it work, </span></i></b></b><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>make it last, </i></b></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>and guarantee it. </i></b></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>No matter what.</i></b></span></i></b></div>
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Other companies have since offered a no-haggle guarantee, but it was The Fuller Brush Company that stated it so plainly and made it the credo of the company.</div>
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Every employee knew what it stood for; every customer knew what it meant. We should all be so succinct in our messaging.<br />
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But more than that, the secret weapon in Alfred C. Fuller's possession was how he hired and trained his salesforce. It was all about the culture at The Fuller Brush Company. Because he knew that every employee needed to be held to the same high standards he held himself to when he started the company in 1906.<br />
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Insisting on uncompromising integrity, Alfred Fuller made every salesperson sign what was called <b>The Pledge of the Fuller Brush Man</b>. They pledged to “realize that my obligation is one of <b><i>service </i></b>to the <b><i>customer</i></b>, to the <b><i>company </i></b>I represent and to the <b><i>community </i></b>in which I live and work.” Each Fuller Brush Man also swore: “I will be courteous; I will be kind; I will be sincere; I will be helpful.”<br />
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Now think about the last experience you had in which your expectations were not met and you raised a concern. Were you triaged to another department or employee, or was that employee authorized to handle your issue?<br />
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Companies that are the best in customer service – Disney Parks, Zappos, Nordstrom, and more – train <b>all</b> of their employees to handle customer service needs. It doesn't matter if it's not their department, if they aren't customer service representatives, or if they have no knowledge of a particular product.<br />
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At great companies, the customer is <b>everyone's</b> responsibility.<br />
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And along with the simplicity of message like Fuller Brush credo – make it work, make it last, guarantee it, no matter what – that's really all you need to create repeat customers who'll tell the world about you.</div>
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<i>Top image credit: Tichnor Brothers, Boston Public Library via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Fuller_Brush_Co.,_Hartford,_Conn_(78040).jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></i></div>
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The Fuller Brush Credo

The Fuller Brush Company was ahead of its time. It's well known for the army of door to door salesmen that peddled its wide ra...

That Word Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

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Do you want happy customers?<br />
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It's hard to imagine anyone answering "no" to that question. And yet, every single day, we see businesses that do things – perhaps through policy, because they're lazy, or they need to save money – that disenfranchise customers.<br />
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If your goal is customer happiness, what makes you think you can do anything that frustrates them?<br />
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If you're customer-centric, why are you causing customers to jump through hoops for <i>you</i>?<br />
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If you want to create customers for life, why are you making it so hard for them to want to come back?<br />
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<b>One Industry Example</b></h2>
Anyone who has owned a car has been notified of a recall every now and then. Some are trivial, but others are potentially life-threatening. Some even come with warnings: DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR. LEAVE IT PARKED IN YOUR DRIVEWAY.<br />
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It's great to know that an automaker (or OEM) is so interested in the well-being of its customers. And they typically tell you that your dealer will take the car and fix it, at no cost to you.<br />
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No <i>monetary </i>cost, that is.<br />
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Because inevitably, it'll cost you in other ways, as you run into issues like:<br />
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<li>They're booked solid for the next two months, because everyone with the same model is trying to get the service done; or</li>
<li>The part is back-ordered and the supplier won't have it for another three weeks; or</li>
<li>You need to bring your car in and leave it for some period of time (a day, two days, a week...);</li>
<li>The dealership is 35 miles away and needs you to bring it in at 11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday.</li>
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I guarantee you almost every OEM has a Customer Experience practice and they're in their meetings, talking about being "customer-centric" or wanting happy customers. And yet we run into the above.</div>
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Do any of the above challenges sound customer-centric?</div>
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Of course not. Because the <b>culture </b>at the company isn't aligned up and down to revolve around customers. It's designed to meet the needs of shareholders and management, who mainly look at profitability, or risk mitigation, or market share.</div>
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The funny thing is, while there's a cost to doing things for the customer, if you're making customers happy, you'll spend less on new customer acquisition. You'll have a sterling reputation. They'll even refer other customers to you. Yes, it may cost a little more up front, but you'll become unassailable.</div>
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Taking the above situation, here are some remedies:</div>
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<li>Use the data within your company (perhaps even an app, if your customers use one) to do a phased roll-out of the announcement; recommend customers go to other dealers to have the service done, to spread out the volume.</li>
<li>Align the communications with the supply chain (this is where that newfangled blockchain might come in handy) to eliminate gaps.</li>
<li>Pick their car up for them, or provide a free loaner for as long as they need it (something that luxury automakers already do).</li>
<li>See above, plus provide additional staffing to keep service center open 24/7, rather than maintaining regular hours of operation.</li>
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Most of those are being done in one place or another. But it's inconsistent and it's loosely patched together.</div>
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If the <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/08/the-fuller-brush-credo.html" target="_blank">culture is clear to all employees</a>, there should be no doubt about doing the right thing for the customer.</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better." – Jeff Bezos</span></i></b><br />
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There's a reason Amazon's logo has a smile in it. They recognize the role of a good host. And they also know they're eating your lunch.<br />
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The question is whether you <b><i>really </i></b>want happy customers.</div>
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Because if you do, it's going to take more than words.</div>
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<i>Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=183029" target="_blank">The Voyage of Life - Childhood</a> by Thomas Cole via the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., online collection (Public Domain)</i></div>

That Word Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

Do you want happy customers? It's hard to imagine anyone answering "no" to that question. And yet, every single day, we s...

Change Your Leaves, Not Your Roots

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We're all driven by something – a goal, an inner desire, a set of objectives. This applies to you as an individual and to the company you work for.<br />
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You need to decide what's the most important to you and what you want to be known for. It can be any number of things (and there's no judgement here): volume of customers, the quality of your product, profitability, ethical practices, creativity, customer experience, etc.<br />
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Everything you do should reflect back on your number one priority and should underscore your values.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Change your opinions, keep your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots." – Victor Hugo</span></i></b></div>
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[<b><i><a href="https://ctt.ac/7aYh8" target="_blank">Tweet this quote</a></i></b>]</div>
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Facebook recently announced a slowing of growth – of users, of revenue, and of profit. Its stock tanked on the news as <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-07-25/facebook-fb-earnings-financial-facade-develops-serious-cracks" target="_blank">reality finally caught up with it</a>. Facebook has backed itself into a corner, having spent the last 10 years becoming the biggest social media platform on the Internet, where it could bring in the most money: $40.6 billion in 2017.<br />
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Facebook's priorities were simple: users, revenue, and profit. And now that it wants to try to address the problems it has caused, the market doesn't like it.<br />
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Meanwhile, Twitter reported earnings and said it <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-results/twitter-to-prioritize-fixing-platform-over-user-growth-shares-plunge-idUSKBN1KH17X" target="_blank">decided to improve its platform rather than focusing on growth</a>. It is removing suspicious accounts and reducing hate speech and other abusive content, instead of choosing other projects that could attract more users, and lost one million active users as a result.<br />
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The reward? Its stock dropped by 20 percent.<br />
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Twitter is doing the right thing as it attempts to make the platform less harmful. But again, the market values growth over societal improvement.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Sin is a queer thing. It isn't the breaking of divine commandments. It is the breaking of one's own integrity." – D.H. Lawrence</span></i></b></div>
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[<b><i><a href="https://ctt.ac/5V768" target="_blank">Tweet this quote</a></i></b>]</div>
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Makes you wonder what might have happened if Facebook and Twitter had each been forthright and focused on creating a platform that adhered to the Hippocratic Oath: first, do no harm.</div>
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This midstream about-face that they're taking shows that they realize what's at stake. But the market already placed bets on their first priorities of growth and profit.</div>
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Integrity has a price.<br />
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And we're seeing how it's valued every day.<br />
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<i><b>You can listen to this update as well. It's part of <a href="https://www.fullmontyshow.com/p/show-archives.html" target="_blank">The Full Monty podcast</a>:</b></i><br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/479528160&color=%232a77af&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Change Your Leaves, Not Your Roots

We're all driven by something – a goal, an inner desire, a set of objectives. This applies to you as an individual and to the compa...

The Barrenness of a Busy Life

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As you return to work on Monday, amid the flurry of emails, calls, meetings, and general catching up, remember that busyness can mask priorities.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Beware the barrenness of a busy life." – Socrates</span></i></b></div>
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Take the time you need for an ordered mind and a calm, rational approach to your week. And take time to reflect on what matters most to you.<br />
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It could be family, work, goals, a project you're working on – whatever. But if you're mired in distractions, frivolous activity, or things that are keeping you from concentrating on what matters, perhaps it's time to step away. Put down the phone. Turn off the notifications. Shut the laptop.<br />
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There's meaning in self-reflection and time alone.<br />
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Go just be with yourself for a bit.<br />
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And enjoy the quiet.<br />
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The Barrenness of a Busy Life

As you return to work on Monday, amid the flurry of emails, calls, meetings, and general catching up, remember that busyness can mask pr...

That Which We Are, We Are

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We all inhabit some kind of personality when we're online, and probably at work too. It's about fitting in, and making it clear who we are.<br />
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But here's the thing: if you're not being the true you – your authentic self – it can be exhausting. And you may find there are cracks in the surface that allow people to tell when you're not being yourself.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Authenticity
isn't about being someone else. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">It's about being the best version of yourself. </span></i></b><br />
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<b>[<a href="https://ctt.ac/mdLOJ" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Tweet this quote</a>]</b></div>
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Did you ever take the time to step back and wonder about the various personas you meet online? They could be long-lost friends, bloggers that you admire, or people in your Facebook network whom you may have never met before. But what do you really know about them?<br />
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How many of these folks are truly themselves when they're online? I mean, how many are perhaps bolder in their assertions or less cautious with the language they use because of the less personal nature of the medium?<br />
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We spend a lot of time talking about authenticity as one of the tenets of social media – how businesses, brands and the people behind them need to be seen as real. There's no doubt that the masses will sniff out a fraud.<br />
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I worked for an executive whose authentic and genuine nature were the hallmark if his leadership. It's strange (and a little sad) that it was unique and different, but it made him stand out. When one of his lieutenants – who was anything but authentic – started to ape that behavior, it stood out to me, but for the wrong reasons. The mimicked authenticity was completely inauthentic.<br />
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So just how do you go about being authentic?<br />
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I saw someone in my LinkedIn network pose the following question: "<i>What disciplines should marketers be training within to ensure authenticity?</i>" My first thought, was, "You've got to be kidding, right? You want to teach authenticity?"<br />
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It reminded me of the old George Burns quote:<br />
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"Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made."</blockquote>
That one-liner often sums up all the stereotype of advertising, marketing and public relations – giving lip service <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/20/media/facebook-infowars-false-news-misinformation/" target="_blank">without following through with actions</a>. Can you blame the public for distrusting companies?<br />
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<b>Brands and Authenticity</b></h3>
Many of the other respondents to that LinkedIn question also noted that authenticity is more of <b><i>a state of being</i></b> rather than a skill – it's something that has to be part of your personality rather than taught as a course. Authenticity represents who we <b>are</b>, not what we <b>do</b>. And when we use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_speak">marketing speak</a> to address our audience, are we being truly authentic, or simply following a corporate protocol out of some outdated tradition?<br />
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It's time to step out of those corporate roles and leave behind those traditional templates and speak to our customers as if we're real people talking to other real people. As David Ogilvy once famously said,<br />
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"The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife."</blockquote>
Hopefully you're with your spouse, not because of some dating ritual or puffed up version of yourself. They choose you because of who you authentically are.<br />
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Ultimately, it's worth asking how your customers or your community view you. I hope you're prepared for the answer, because we live in an age where they'll tell you and expect to be heard.<br />
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As a closing thought, let's return to the title of the post. It's from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Ulysses</a>. Here's the final stanza:<br />
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Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'<br />
We are not now that strength which in old days<br />
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;<br />
One equal temper of heroic hearts,<br />
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will<br />
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.</blockquote>
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Typically people quote the last line to demonstrate some kind of determination and resolve to power through, headwinds be damned.</div>
<br />But in reality, this poem is about Ulysses, the legendary king, trickster, and inventor of the Trojan Horse, in his declining years. He is remembering his adventures throughout the years and still cleaving to the wanderlust that is simply his nature. <br /><br />He is an authentic figure, unapologetic about his desire to abandon his home and family, even at the end of his days.<br /><br />That's what it means to be authentic – because to be anything else simply wouldn't be true.<br />

That Which We Are, We Are

We all inhabit some kind of personality when we're online, and probably at work too. It's about fitting in, and making it clear w...

Five Skills That Young Marketers and Communicators Should Develop

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As the marketing and communications industry continues to change and to adapt to digital environments, these are some key skills/specialties that are important for marketers and communicators who are building their careers. While you can pay attention to more than one, I think you'll be appreciated for being a specialist with deep knowledge rather than a generalist with only superficial knowledge.<br />
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<b>Analytics</b></h3>
The ability and necessity to measure results in a digital environment is stronger than ever. By understanding how to think about, measure, and interpret data, communicators need to be able to draw inferences and understand trends by analyzing the data.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Visuals</b></h3>
Traditionally, communicators have been trained in writing. Interviews, profiles, employee updates, press releases - all are based on writing. The digital age requires that the communicator be a better storyteller in a variety of media, and that includes visuals. Video, photos, infographics and the like are necessary in a mobile and digital world.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Coding</b></h3>
A strong understanding of the technical side of the profession is helpful. While the communicator doesn't necessarily need to know how to code (although some basic HTML is certainly helpful), they should understand the basic elements of coding and building sites and apps so that they can make recommendations and u<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Social / Digital</b></h3>
Without a doubt, social is a key element in anything digital today. But more than understanding how to use the platforms, it is helpful to understand the offerings to brands, how paid promotions fit in, and how to build an effective program that includes social from the beginning, rather than adding it on after the plan is fully developed.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Strategy</b></h3>
It's a rather vague term, but strategy is a key element to being successful. You should have a keen knowledge of market forces, competition, the parts of a business other than communications or marketing, and how they all come together. Doing so will make you valuable as an adviser, rather than just as a tactician.<br />
<br />
<br />
The market will continue to evolve and we'll likely see better definition of others fields (such as A.I.) and their application to marketing and communication. But it stands to reason that good marketers and communicators should be eternally curious and lifelong learners.<br />
<br />
Is there anything else that you'd add?<br />
<br />

Five Skills That Young Marketers and Communicators Should Develop

As the marketing and communications industry continues to change and to adapt to digital environments, these are some key skills/specialt...

The 5 Cs of Earning Loyalty In a Sea of Commodity

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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HFrCHct6vI0/W0eaIkjSI_I/AAAAAAAA-As/TRAq7Wp1YNEkXTo9Hs2_oNrTUFHo_LBMwCLcBGAs/s1600/S%2526H_Green_Stamps_sign_close-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1224" height="428" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HFrCHct6vI0/W0eaIkjSI_I/AAAAAAAA-As/TRAq7Wp1YNEkXTo9Hs2_oNrTUFHo_LBMwCLcBGAs/s640/S%2526H_Green_Stamps_sign_close-up.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
In the fickle world in which we live, loyalty is one of the most sought-after and hard-won aspects of customer experience.<br />
<br />
After all, it's likely that you're selling a <b>commodity</b>. It doesn't matter whether it's a product or a service, consumer-facing or business-to-business, brand new or a century old. Someone else can offer something just like it—or at least something similar enough to it that a customer will gladly switch brands if you can't meet their need.<br />
<br />
Acquiring these customers and retaining them is the challenge. How do you differentiate yourself from the ever more crowded market?<br />
<br />
Certainly it's about paying closer attention to <a href="http://www.sixpixels.com/blog/archives/the-future-never-comes-when-you-cant-nail-the-present/" target="_blank">how you treat them and deliver on your promise today</a>. It's fruitless to try to execute on "futurizing" your business if you haven't paid proper attention to current operations.<br />
<br />
Loyalty comes from establishing trust. You can't take shortcuts to loyalty with deep discounts, unless that's your brand and you deliver on it every time. The best brands establish trust in a variety of methods—methods that are commodities themselves. You don't necessarily need to perform every one of these, but some combination of them could make your brand unstoppable.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>The Five Cs of Loyalty</b></h2>
If you want loyalty, it's essential to deliver on what really matters to customers. There are a handful of things to consider, but there's really one that matters in the end.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>Confidentiality / Clarity</b></h4>
With recent technology news, you might think that they care most about <b>privacy</b>. But consumers <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/users-have-little-faith-in-social-networks-privacy-protections" target="_blank">still use social networks despite not trusting them</a>. And what's their privacy worth to them? About <b>$150</b>. That's what <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/for-150-most-users-will-sell-personal-information-to-brands" target="_blank">the price they'd sell their personal data for</a>. They expect some degree of confidentiality in a transaction, unless they explicitly agree to something else. It's part of what's behind the GDPR push. They need transparency or clarity about what's happening with their data. That's an important part of building trust.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>Cost</b></h4>
Okay, so if it's not personal information, what about <b>money</b>? We know everyone likes to save money, and the price point about the data exchange above reflected some sort of value that they'd realize. That is, what kind of <b>value </b>is there in such an exchange? Amazon is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/business/amazon-the-brand-buster.html" target="_blank">driving everyone to its own off-brand merchandise</a> by under-pricing the competition. And the promise of free two-day shipping for a flat rate has been what's driven Prime from the beginning. Bottom line: customers love knowing they can get a deal and that you're helping them save money.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>Certainty</b></h4>
The thing with cost is, someone can always lowball you and try to attract customers in the short-term. As stated above, it comes down to whether that's a sustainable strategy. Ride-sharing services have offered lower prices than cab fares, but they've added something else: predictability. When you open your Uber or Lyft app, you can see where the cars are and how long it will take for them to arrive—and you're able to inform friends and family when you'll arrive. In our over-scheduled, time-fraught lives, we can all benefit from more certainty.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>Convenience</b></h4>
So you've nailed the other elements above, giving customers peace of mind about their data, saving them money, and being reliable. But they're in a hurry. Customers need to do things more quickly and in a way that hews to <b><i>their</i></b> schedule, not yours. You need to give them back <b>time</b>. Interestingly, Uber recently announced that they'll be giving customers an option of <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/19/cheaper-uber-fares/" target="_blank">paying less if they're willing to wait longer</a>, acknowledging that customers' time is an important commodity.<br />
<br />
Imagine if your company, rather than saying "we're available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday for an appointment," said, "When would you like to have it done?" That could go beyond normal business hours too: if I'm not out of work until 7:00 p.m. and then need to get to a Little League game, maybe it's not convenient for me to bring my product in until 9:30 p.m. When Amazon is promising same-day delivery for goods, it means every brand—products or services—needs to be thinking about similar behavior.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>Cachet</b></h4>
This is a very special category, which is why I saved it for last. All of the above items are about business processes. You've made decisions about pricing, about the availability of your goods and services, about providing predictable and repeatable results, and about data security.<br />
<br />
But there's one other thing that you can develop with your customers that will not only keep them coming back, but will also make them shout from the rooftops about what you've done.<br />
<br />
Status.<br />
<br />
Status makes them feel special. Status gives them cachet. It's more than being able to say they're Titanium Level in your rewards program. You need to give them experiences that make them feel like they're unique. It means a move toward personalization—no more "Dear Valued Customer" emails (or God forbid "Dear <firstname>").</firstname><br />
<br />
Delta has very specific tiers for their SkyMiles program. They call them "Medallions" and they come in Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. But as you see more passengers accruing the 'status' of Medallions, it decreases in its uniqueness. So Delta upped the ante, and among other things, offered Diamond Medallion members the ability to be driven between connecting flights, <i>on the tarmac</i>, <b><i>in a Porche</i></b>.<br />
<br />
Now <b><i>that's</i></b> cachet!<br />
<br />
<br />
Don't give your customers a reason to look elsewhere. Make them trust you to the point where they're completely loyal to your brand. In order to accomplish that, you need to be diligent about every touchpoint with them. Execute flawlessly. And ultimately, make them feel like no one else can.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/9FLULY">the original reward's program</a> [sic] by frankieleon (Flickr)</i><br />
<br />

The 5 Cs of Earning Loyalty In a Sea of Commodity

In the fickle world in which we live, loyalty is one of the most sought-after and hard-won aspects of customer experience. After all,...

Four Leadership Lessons from Mister Rogers

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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MVee5Hvyz9o/UzOQ-O6d06I/AAAAAAAASNw/0XFXQxr5IYQ/s1600/Mister+Rogers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fred Rogers was an inspirational leader and a hero to many" border="0" height="390" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MVee5Hvyz9o/UzOQ-O6d06I/AAAAAAAASNw/0XFXQxr5IYQ/s1600/Mister+Rogers.jpg" title="Fred Rogers hero" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
It may seem odd to look at the mild and kind Mister Rogers as an example for leadership. After all, most leaders we admire have traditionally been those who are forceful, deeply charismatic or visionary in some way. A simple Google image search of those terms picks up the likenesses of John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, and Captain Kirk (!) in one grouping.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers" target="_blank">Fred Rogers</a> (1928-2003) was a minister and a television personality who, over the course of his three decades on PBS, touched the lives of millions of children and adults alike. With his gentle demeanor ("a voice that sounds adult to the ears of children and childish to the ears of adults," according to Tom Junod), sneakers and cardigan,<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;"> </span>he doesn't seem to fit the mold of what we typically think of when we imagine a leader.<br />
<br />
And yet...<br />
<br />
I recently had the occasion to read a profile of Mister Rogers by Tom Junod in the November 1998 issue of <i>Esquire</i>, titled "<a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/can-you-say-hero-esq1198" target="_blank">Can You Say...Hero?</a>" I'm not one who takes to hyperbole, but I can honestly say that Junod's piece is one of the most well-written and touching long-form articles I've read in a long time. If ever.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-slr1ynOHk-0/UzN4iqP94dI/AAAAAAAASNY/Z6AXxLhePHI/s1600/Esquire-mister-rogers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover of November 1998 Esquire with Tom Junod's profile of Fred Rogers" border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-slr1ynOHk-0/UzN4iqP94dI/AAAAAAAASNY/Z6AXxLhePHI/s1600/Esquire-mister-rogers.jpg" title="Fred Rogers cover Esquire November 1998" width="296" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As I've grown, both as a professional and as an individual, I've come to appreciate Mister Rogers and his teachings more deeply. When I graduated from Boston University, Fred Rogers was there <a href="http://exhibit.fredrogerscenter.org/advocacy-for-children/videos/view/971/" target="_blank">to give the invocation</a>, and at the time, I enjoyed his presence with something of a happy nostalgia for my childhood. But since I became a father, I came to appreciate the simple yet deep wisdom of Mister Rogers as I think about the world that my children will inherit.<br />
<br />
The <i>Esquire </i>profile made me reflect on all of those things and more: who I am as a person - a husband, a father, a son - and as a professional. It struck me that Mister Rogers, in his gentle, caring way, had attributes that made him a truly great leader.<br />
<br />
We can all take a page from the book of Mister Rogers by looking at the way he showed and shared his true self with others.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>Four Characteristics Essential for Leaders</b></h2>
<h3>
<b><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b>
Respect</b></h3>
It didn't matter whether you were a child, an adult, a captain of industry or a thief; Mister Rogers respected everyone. He listened to people and made it clear that he heard them. By all accounts, he was thoughtful and personal, and he gave of his limited time freely. From the fan mail that he answered himself – every single letter – to the routine of praying for other people daily, to Mister Rogers, everyone deserved his attention and respect.<br />
<br />
It was impressive to see the reaction he got when, during his Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award speech, he requested the audience to take 10 seconds of silence to think of those who helped them achieve what they did:<br />
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<h3>
<b>Empathy</b></h3>
When he was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcNxY4TudXo&t=135s" target="_blank">inducted into the Television Hall of Fame</a>, he was greeted by a surprise visitor - Jeff Erlanger came out onto the stage in his electric wheelchair. This is the same person who was on <i>Mister Rogers' Neighborhood</i> as a guest some two decades prior, for whom Rogers had shown such compassion and feeling.<br />
<br />
When some ophthalmologists asked him for help with a chapter on how to treat children who might be scared by a procedure, closing their eyes, or simply the dark, he avoided all of the technical jargon or child psychology that he could have so easily relied upon. He simply tapped into the feeling within them, writing, "You were a child once, too."<br />
<br />
But the story that does an even better job of demonstrating this extraordinary gift of empathy is a longer one from the <i>Esquire</i> piece. Junod tells us of a boy who didn't like himself very much:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"He was born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is something that happens to the brain. It means that you can think but sometimes can't walk, or even talk. This boy had a very bad case of cerebral palsy, and when he was still a little boy, some of the people entrusted to take care of him took advantage of him instead and did things to him that made him think that he was a very bad little boy, because only a bad little boy would have to live with the things he had to live with. In fact, when the little boy grew up to be a teenager, he would get so mad at himself that he would hit himself, hard, with his own fists and tell his mother, on the computer he used for a mouth, that he didn't want to live anymore, for he was sure that God didn't like what was inside him any more than he did. He had always loved Mister Rogers, though, and now, even when he was fourteen years old, he watched the Neighborhood whenever it was on, and the boy's mother sometimes thought that Mister Rogers was keeping her son alive. She and the boy lived together in a city in California, and although she wanted very much for her son to meet Mister Rogers, she knew that he was far too disabled to travel all the way to Pittsburgh, so she figured he would never meet his hero, until one day she learned through a special foundation designed to help children like her son that Mister Rogers was coming to California and that after he visited the gorilla named Koko, he was coming to meet her son.<br />
<br />
"At first, the boy was made very nervous by the thought that Mister Rogers was visiting him. He was so nervous, in fact, that when Mister Rogers did visit, he got mad at himself and began hating himself and hitting himself, and his mother had to take him to another room and talk to him. Mister Rogers didn't leave, though. He wanted something from the boy, and Mister Rogers never leaves when he wants something from somebody. He just waited patiently, and when the boy came back, Mister Rogers talked to him, and then he made his request. He said, "I would like you to do something for me. Would you do something for me?" On his computer, the boy answered yes, of course, he would do <i>anything</i> for Mister Rogers, so then Mister Rogers said, "I would like you to pray for me. Will you pray for me?" And now the boy didn't know how to respond. He was thunderstruck. Thunderstruck means that you can't talk, because something has happened that's as sudden and as miraculous and maybe as scary as a bolt of lightning, and all you can do is listen to the rumble. The boy was thunderstruck because nobody had ever <i>asked</i> him for something like that, ever. The boy had always been prayed <i>for</i>. The boy had always been the <i>object</i> of prayer, and now he was being asked to pray for Mister Rogers, and although at first he didn't know if he could do it, he said he would, he said he'd try, and ever since then he keeps Mister Rogers in his prayers and doesn't talk about wanting to die anymore, because he figures Mister Rogers is close to God, and if Mister Rogers likes him, that must mean God likes him, too."</blockquote>
<br />
<h3>
<b>Passion</b></h3>
His legendary fight for the funding of public broadcasting is an example of Rogers being able to share his passion to others through storytelling. He used personal anecdotes, songs and stories of progress in his chosen profession. It moved Senator Pastore to restore funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on the spot. <a href="https://youtu.be/yXEuEUQIP3Q">Watch the video</a> to see Fred Rogers' full impact on a United States senator.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Optimism</b></h3>
For Fred Rogers, the days in his neighborhood were truly beautiful. He looked for the positive aspects of everything, including of others. His encouragement and cheerfulness, which to the disaffected might seem saccharine, were genuine and thoughtful, yet were far-removed from the Land of Make Believe and more closely aligned to the realities that we all live with.<br />
<br />
For example, during the school shooting in Newtown, CT and the bombing at the Boston Marathon, we saw <a href="http://www.fredrogers.org/parents/special-challenges/tragic-events.php" target="_blank">a quote from Mister Rogers</a> that seemed to give us - particularly those of us with children - the ability to look at the world with hope rather than dread:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."</blockquote>
<div>
<br />
We were fortunate to have Fred Rogers with us as a role model that shaped young minds. He was, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM" target="_blank">in his own words</a>, someone who "helped you become who you are...who cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life."<br />
<br />
His lessons are equally as applicable for adults inside and outside of the business world. When you're a leader who is trying to make a change – whether it's organizational, operational, or technological – all that really matters is the culture you set. You set the culture of an organization by the behavior you demonstrate every single day.<br />
<br />
There will only ever be one Mister Rogers. But we can model aspects of his behavior to become our best selves and show that to others.<br />
<br />
After all, it's what he wanted.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Bonus</b>: <a href="https://youtu.be/FhwktRDG_aQ">the trailer</a> for the documentary <i>Won't You Be My Neighbor?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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<i>Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/kBZo6w" target="_blank">Bo Gordy-Stith (Flickr)</a></i><br />
--

Four Leadership Lessons from Mister Rogers

It may seem odd to look at the mild and kind Mister Rogers as an example for leadership. After all, most leaders we admire have tradition...

Customer Loyalty: You Had One Job

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<br />
There's typically one thing we're looking for from the companies with which we do business.<br />
<br />
Make life easier for me.<br />
<br />
Now, "easier" may mean a number of things, but typically it comes down to one or two: make it more convenient for me or make it less expensive for me.<br />
<br />
And these days, we've seen the accent on convenience. But when there are <a href="https://www.l2inc.com/daily-insights/mcdonalds-app-mishap">slip-ups in the experience</a> that make it less convenient, we're more likely to abandon the brand or app.<br />
<br />
Companies that are <a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2018/4/9/dominos-cdo-right-internal-structure-to-be-digital-innovator.html">built for innovation</a> and customer experience know how to make people want to come back again and again — even if it's more expensive.<br />
<br />
If a customer makes the effort to hand over their valuable time to you, don't make it hard for them to get your product and give you their money.<br />
<br />
It really is that simple.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />

Customer Loyalty: You Had One Job

There's typically one thing we're looking for from the companies with which we do business. Make life easier for me. Now, &qu...

Membership Has Its Privileges

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<br />
You may not remember this, but back in the 'Nineties, the slogan of American Express was "membership has its privileges." It meant that if you paid the annual fee to have an Amex card, there were benefits to be had.<br />
<br />
Well, I don't have a membership tier on this site (although I'd encourage you to support my newsletter <a href="http://fullmontyshow.com/">The Full Monty</a> on <a href="http://patreon.com/scottmonty">Patreon</a>). But if you're a regular subscriber or reader, there are benefits.<br />
<br />
The first is that we get to know each other a little more. That's not exactly fair – I should say that <i>you</i> get to know <i>me</i> a little more; I can't say I know much about you unless you reach out to me. Which you're always welcome to do.<br />
<br />
But the other thing is that if you're a regular reader, you notice patterns. For instance, over the last five posts, each one contained a painting by Thomas Cole. Check them out on the <a href="http://scottmonty.com/">home page</a> again. There, on <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/05/in-shift-from-channel-to-customer.html">May 14</a>, <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/05/oh-humanity.html">May 17</a>, <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/05/with-great-power-comes-great.html">May 29</a>, <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/06/the-fault-is-in-ourselves.html">June 5</a>, and <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/06/our-terms-of-service-have-not-changed.html">June 12</a> you'll see them.<br />
<br />
They aren't just any random paintings by Cole. These were the five-part series <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Course_of_Empire_(paintings)">The Course of Empire</a></i>. According to Wikipedia,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is notable in part for reflecting popular American sentiments of the times, when many saw pastoralism as the ideal phase of human civilization, fearing that empire would lead to gluttony and inevitable decay."</blockquote>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kgKIUI0OCM/WygfpLhRH3I/AAAAAAAA9JA/ByabNgTZXFYR9qBHYekYZeUWbNly-0VqwCLcBGAs/s1600/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B3%2B-%2BThe%2BConsummation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1200" height="135" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5kgKIUI0OCM/WygfpLhRH3I/AAAAAAAA9JA/ByabNgTZXFYR9qBHYekYZeUWbNly-0VqwCLcBGAs/s200/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B3%2B-%2BThe%2BConsummation.jpg" width="200" /></a>  <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8_8jsSRW4c/Wygfpz816iI/AAAAAAAA9JI/Z3kt5_ugMaQGBjdVJdrQ-J-JCgZMJ6MigCLcBGAs/s1600/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B4%2B-%2BDestruction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1200" height="123" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8_8jsSRW4c/Wygfpz816iI/AAAAAAAA9JI/Z3kt5_ugMaQGBjdVJdrQ-J-JCgZMJ6MigCLcBGAs/s200/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B4%2B-%2BDestruction.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l2rN9Jkdl3Q/Wygfp6FwZiI/AAAAAAAA9JM/Jslz9OctuwkAXhaKXHIuaHuwvCm8xa_6QCLcBGAs/s1600/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B5%2B-%2BDesolation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1200" height="124" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l2rN9Jkdl3Q/Wygfp6FwZiI/AAAAAAAA9JM/Jslz9OctuwkAXhaKXHIuaHuwvCm8xa_6QCLcBGAs/s200/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B5%2B-%2BDesolation.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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And so my intent was to use each of these phases in Cole's series (<i>The Savage State</i>,<i> The Arcadian or Pastoral State</i>,<i> The Consummation of Empire</i>,<i> Destruction</i>, and<i> Desolation</i>) as a look at how we've evolved technologically in the last couple of decades, and how we need to reflect on the direction we're going. That we need just as much attention on the human and sociological impact of our decisions as we do on the technical.<br />
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Were you among the few who picked up on the subtlety in each image selection? Or on the overall series?<br />
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It's a subtle nod to Alfred Hitchcock, who famously made <a href="https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Vertigo_(1958)_-_Hitchcock%27s_cameo">cameo appearances</a> in nearly every movie he directed. It took him six years and three films to pull off his cleverest gag: in <i>Spellbound </i>(1945) , he was seen carrying a <a href="https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Spellbound_(1945)_-_Hitchcock%27s_cameo">violin case</a>; in <i>The Paradine Case</i> (1947), he had a <a href="https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/The_Paradine_Case_(1947)_-_Hitchcock%27s_cameo">cello case</a>; and in <i>Strangers on a Train</i> (1951), he struggled to bring a <a href="https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock%20Gallery:%20image%208831" s_cameo="">double bass</a> onto the train.</div>
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Over the course of his directing career, Alfred Hitchcock was exacting and knew precisely what he wanted to convey. He wasn't always easy to work with, because of his high standards and vision for the finished product. But movie-goers knew that if they saw a Hitchcock film, it was likely to be suspenseful and a good story. Viewers came to expect his cameo appearances, but true aficionados were able to appreciate his long game, as with the instruments. </div>
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And that's the other part of the payoff of loyalty and attention: the results can be enormously gratifying and rewarding, but in some cases, it takes a quite a while to manifest. Along the way, you need to keep the interest and attention of your customers, fans, employees, or anyone else whom you'd like to reach. </div>
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If that's the case, the parts must be of equal if not higher quality than the whole.</div>
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Membership Has Its Privileges

You may not remember this, but back in the 'Nineties, the slogan of American Express was "membership has its privileges." I...

Our Terms of Service Have Not Changed

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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EOjJ8pf-Auo/Wx_dEHVsIxI/AAAAAAAA82w/-eVEnu98HSQOVod-9rCC32DpySfGQFJggCLcBGAs/s1600/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B5%2B-%2BDesolation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1200" height="398" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EOjJ8pf-Auo/Wx_dEHVsIxI/AAAAAAAA82w/-eVEnu98HSQOVod-9rCC32DpySfGQFJggCLcBGAs/s640/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B5%2B-%2BDesolation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The <b>Facebook / Cambridge Analytica</b> news has brought quite a bit of the unrealized or unspoken of the tech world into national consciousness. Collectively (and individually in some cases), we've been talking about <b>data</b>, <b>privacy</b>, and what we're willing to give up for our beloved free services.<br />
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But it strikes us that there's an element that's been with us all along which could have saved us from ourselves — a functional piece of each and every app and service that we use that should have been a talisman, but was instead a nuisance at best or an impediment at worst.<br />
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We're of course referring to the <b>Terms and Conditions</b>.<br />
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Ts and Cs (or ToS for "Terms of Service" on some platforms) are what we're typically greeted with when we sign up for new apps, platforms and services. Before you can dive in and share your photos from last night's party, your political opinion on the hypocritical politician of your choice, or message someone, you need to make your way through the legalese of the 20-thumb scroll to find the "I Accept" button that you press, having read none of the Terms.<br />
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And is it any surprise that <a href="https://tosdr.org/">you haven't read them</a>? With some of them <cough><b>PayPa</b>l</cough> being longer than <i>Hamlet</i>, who has time to read them in their entirety? This is how some Londoners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/29/londoners-wi-fi-security-herod-clause">were tricked into signing over their firstborn children</a>. With this kind of easy slip-up, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/terms-of-service-didnt-read/">simplification is needed</a>.<br />
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The real function of these dense, jargon-filled policies and agreements — which most of us universally ignore — isn't for companies to inform users of our rights, but <a href="https://people.howstuffworks.com/the-real-reason-website-app-terms-service-are-confusing.htm">to establish legal grounds for collecting and sharing our information</a>. That's it. Plain and simple. It's a way to ensure that business models stand because we're too lazy or stupid to read and understand the terms.<br />
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But now, thanks in part to the advent of <b>GDPR</b>, meant to return control of <b>personal data</b> to the individual by ensuring companies follow a new set of <b>data protection compliance</b> rules, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-20/uber-paypal-face-reckoning-over-opaque-terms-and-conditions">companies are scaling back and simplifying their terms of service</a>. Why? Because users' consent would be legally invalid if they don't understand the agreement they're signing. But you might ask: <i>if they can simplify to adhere to regulations, why couldn't they have simplified for the sake of customers in the first place?</i> To which we'd answer: <b>see the above paragraph</b>.<br />
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Facebook is no exception, and the company <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-agrees-to-follow-gdpr-strict-new-european-privacy-law/">initially said that it would adhere to GDPR standards</a> around the world – not only in Europe. <b>However</b>, the company quickly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-privacy-eu-exclusive/exclusive-facebook-to-put-1-5-billion-users-out-of-reach-of-new-eu-privacy-law-idUSKBN1HQ00P">changed its position to mean <i>only</i> in Europe</a>, meaning that the other <b>1.5 billion Facebook users</b> around the world would be governed by the looser U.S. standards.<br />
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U.S. regulators have an opportunity to step up and create the same level of data protection for Americans that have been created in Europe. Certainly, multinational companies will need to create a single standard that complies with GDPR. Facebook should step up and meet this need before regulation is required.<br />
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Then again, perhaps consumers should step up and demand more accountability from the tech companies. But we'd have to show that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-09/web-privacy-is-important-for-gmail-not-facebook">we actually care about issues of privacy</a> first.<br />
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<i>Top image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=183020">The Course of Empire - Desolation</a> by Thomas Cole (public domain)</i><br />
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Our Terms of Service Have Not Changed

The Facebook / Cambridge Analytica news has brought quite a bit of the unrealized or unspoken of the tech world into national conscious...

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Our Terms of Service Have Not Changed

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