INKtalks

Talking to Itay Talgam

Mar 6th, 2012 Leave a comment

I’ve always wanted to be a leader. I think most people would agree. That word has an appealing zing to it. Nina Gannes: Leader of…it almost doesn’t matter what comes next. Almost no noun is as equally coveted in the English language.

Which is why, at some point over the course of your life, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself the question: “How do I become a better leader?” Are you nodding your head, yes? Good. Once you’ve realized that you really don’t know where to start, the follow-up question is “Who the heck can tell me what I need to know?”

In comes INK2011 Speaker Itay Talgam. Talgam uses the orchestra—yes, the classical music kind of orchestra—as a metaphor for business organizational leadership. Let me explain a little.

The only way an orchestra will sound good is if every member is attuned to a clear plan (i.e., the musical score) and the conductor’s vision to interpret that plan. It’s the conductor’s responsibility to connect the musician’s disparate musical statements to create a relevant flow of musical expression. And because each time the orchestra plays a piece the notes are uniquely expressed, the conductor must be always open to changing his perspectives and preconceptions about the directional flow the music might take. In essence, Talgam sees the job of the conductor as creating one storyline of an overarching interpretation of the music from the endless number of small choices the musicians are making each second about Mozart. Sounds a lot like shaping the complexities of business, don’t you think?

Talgam agrees with you exactly. And so by watching videos of expert conductors who are geniuses at crafting musical storylines, we can take tips on how to manage our businesses better. Every conductor has established a leadership style that clearly defines the boundaries of the expected relationship between conductor and orchestra. They could be leading from within—or leading from without. The conductor establishes rules and expectations about the type of control he will assume, and within those guidelines he creates space for the musicians to listen and react to one another. The genius of the best conductors is that they don’t assume total control. By knowing when to step in—and when to step back—they create opportunities for the musicians to lead and interact with one another to create music that is more than the sum of its parts.

In essence, this is exactly the point of great leadership—to enable ideas to blossom. So to become a leader yourself, establish a culture of interactive dialogue, enable exponential collaboration to occur daily, make a coherent storyline of it all, and then get yourself season tickets to the New York Philharmonic.

By Nina Gannes, INK Staff

March  6, 2012

To watch Itay Talgam’s INKtalk, click here, or see below.

Talking to Jennifer Aaker

Feb 16th, 2012 Leave a comment

When watching Jennifer Aaker’s talk, I bet your first reaction was similar to mine. In essence, I pretty much immediately concluded that Aaker is the $#!+. She’s demystifying happiness. She’s re-imagining marketing to make it a social good. And, she’s saving thousands of Southeast Asians by revolutionizing the concept of bone marrow drives? It sounds too good to be true. When I was a five-year old girl, I wanted to wear pink princess dresses and save the ponies. Aaker is pretty much doing the grown-up version of that—and it’s her job!

So on Monday I spent some time talking to Aaker on the phone. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but I think I was subconsciously hoping she would drop me some tips that would enable me to become some sort of adult version of a pony crusader. And my time was well spent. Let me tell you just one of the things I learned.

First of all, here’s a problem in my life. I bet a lot of you feel this way, too. I care about lots of things in this world. I like animals, the environment, social justice, political empowerment, rainbows, cupcakes and sugarplum fairies. I want to help ALL of these causes—but I simply don’t have the cash or attention span to contribute to each and every campaign.

I asked Aaker about this. How can the Environmental Justice Group—or whomever you are—make it easier for someone like me to pay attention and act?

Aaker explained that it’s not so much money—20 bucks, lets say—that organizations should really be striving to compel their donors to give. Instead it’s time. Why? When you contribute time, you get an experience. That hour I spent picking up trash from the park enabled me to personally relate to the Environmental Justice Group, forging a connection between the organization and me. That connection and that experience made me happy. The peaceful, contentment kind of happy. The enduring kind.

Contrast that to the experience of donating 20 bucks on paypal. The process might take 3 minutes, and I have no visceral experience to reward me for my good deed. At best, I’ll get a video in my thank you letter that helps me imagine all the good my money is doing for the environment. That’s just not as satisfying as having the personal experience myself. It’s disconnected enough that it makes me wonder how many lattes I could have bought with the 20 bucks instead. Do I care about lattes or the environment more? Well, obviously I’m going to answer the environment, but…you have to admit, a latte is a more tangible experience in the moment.

Aaker advocates designing moments, experiences, connections, something REAL to encourage people to take action for your org. If you’re not convinced already, she’s shown that once people have had a positive experience, they’re more likely to give money, which makes them want to have another experience, which makes them give money again…and so on and so forth. Aaker calls this the “ripple effect,” and she believes this is a powerful component to the success of any advocacy campaign—or marketing campaign in general, for that matter. As she talks about the 100k cheeks bone marrow drive in her INKtalk, it’s easy to understand what she means.

So how does all this relate to my life? On the one hand, it makes me feel good that I don’t have to blame myself for being an apathetic social justicer anymore. After all, it’s the organizations fault for not creating experiences that make it easy for me to get involved, not my fault for not wanting to give up my lattes! On the other hand, though, next time I think about contributing to a cause, I’m going to search out experiences. Not just because it’s easier on my wallet, but because I know I’m going to be more emotionally fulfilled because of it. And lastly, when I finally get around to my “save the ponies” campaign, you can be sure that the first thing I’m going to do is make a list of 10 easy things you can do to help our cause, and the last thing I’m going to do is outright ask you for your money.

 

By Nina Gannes, INK Program Manager

February 15, 2012

To watch Jennifer Aaker’s INKtalk, click here, or check it out below.