What is the Role of the Leader?

The commercials aired during the Madnesses might be better than those featured with much greater aplomb (and co$t!) during the professional football championship game.

The stock market seems to like the news coming out from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; question is, do ordinary Jane and Joe?

Why such resistance to predominantly good macro economic news?

What is the future for artificial intelligence?

If you know, please teach the rest of us.

We know it’s probably going somewhere, but the data seem to suggest fewer than 3% are significantly invested or affected as of yet.

What would be a good analogy?

Remember when Texas Instruments rolled out the first handheld calculator 52 years ago?

• Oh, and this might be a parallel thought:
  • I was prepped for a new crown on a molar last week (the old one broke!) and the new tooth is being manufactured by artificial intelligence, all robotic.
• If you were taking a macro view of today’s toy industry you might be thinking Barbie was crushing the competition.
  • But, if you are a member of the Step on them with your bare feet in the middle of the night Club, you might want to think about the resilience and the indestructibility of Legos.
    • And, the sharp corners and edges of those torture pieces; some finding their way between your sensitive and precious toes.
  • That’s right, Legos.  Not only resilience, but meteoric rises from previous meteoric achievements.
  • Over the last seven years, Lego has doubled its revenue while Mattel has held steady on average; Hasbro hangs in there nearby, too.
  • It seems there is no three dimensional object — real or fantasy — that can’t be constructed using Lego pieces; amazing success.  (S & P Capital IQ, 2024)
  • What can we learn?  How about a Lego Barbie?
• We don’t quite understand the broo-ha-ha about realtor fees, but it must have something to do with price fixing — or the appearance thereof — we’re guessing?
  • Otherwise, why wouldn’t a realtor be able to charge a reasonable price for whatever the market will bear?
• Members of the younger generations are hosting 1950s era dinner parties — a throwback to when?
  • But these dinner parties are different.
  • No days and days of preparation, cleaning, polishing the silver, choosing wine, visiting the butcher, folding napkins, dressing to the 9s, and meticulously plating hors d’oeuvres.
  • Simplify, simplify, simplify — and order in — leave the food to the pros.  And, maybe the setting is at a park or on the beach or in the back storage room of a storefront?
  • Singles mixed with couples mixed with fun people who contribute lots of vibe and energy.
  • For the host:  It’s all about a theme, color, splash, funk, creativity, TikTok worthy settings, tradition with a new twist on the vibe.  (Ghani/ Axios)
  • And then, of course, publish the whole event on social media platforms… and probably no formal thank you cards…  (Kantar)
• We find this very thought-provoking… and actionable:
  • “One way to sharpen one’s product sense is to obsess over the customer problem, not over the solution.
  • Most people focus too much on the solution and how to build it; they don’t live the customer problem enough.”  (Rajaram, 2024)
    • Good, huh?  Really good.
• How’s your web site?  (Informed by Murray)
  • Test it against these important standards — really important:
    • Who decided yours was good (or great)?  If it was (is) the CEO or other high-ranking internal folks, it’s pleasing the wrong people.
    • Grunt test:  Could a Neanderthal get your message in two seconds:  “What do you do?  How will it help me?  How do I buy some?”  (Miller)
    • Speed, speed, speed… no one wants to wait, nor will they wait…
    • If you’re trying to sell something, put the transparent price where it can be seen; make it EASY to buy.
    • Research the competition, see what’s working for them, learn from the best — and then make yours even better.
• What is the role of the leader?
  • Dewar, Keller, and Vikram (CEO Excellence…, 2022) boil it down to six absolute imperatives:
  1. Set the direction (Our take:  Vision)
  2. Align your organization on that direction (Our take:  Shared vision and Strategic Imperatives)
  3. Mobilize your team to deliver on that direction (Our take:  Transform vision into action)
  4. Work with your Board (Our take:  Collaborate/ Celebrate/ Anticipate)
  5. Connect with stakeholders (Our take:  Reach out beyond your inner circle and comfort zone)
  6. Manage your personal effectiveness (Our take:  Stay humble, never believe your own publicity)
• More on this next week… IOHO, it’s among the better books on leadership.
  • There are millions of them, but this one rises cream to the top.