Linda's Marketing Leverage Blog

Yahoo Has it Wrong: Showing Up Is More than Physically Being There

New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has stirred up controversy with her edict that all Yahoo employees need to physically show up and be in the office. No more telecommuting for Yahoo. Remote employees? You're likely out of luck. What's next? Attendance sheets like in elementary school?

While I understand the need to shake things up at a company that is trying hard to reinvent itself, in this case Mayer is missing the boat.

Here's why:

• Interestingly, it's the technology that Yahoo helped champion in its glory days--the Web, email, even social media--that allows increased productivity for those who aren't subject to travel to/from and within the office.
• Yes, there's more of a chance that people will have informal interactions when they're physically in the office. But there's also more of a chance of long, extended meetings for meetings sake, people closing themselves up in their cubes and ignoring their neighbors, and lots of other non-useful behavior.
• It's disturbing to see a movement back to equating butts in seats as the metric for how well an organization is doing. If we have information workers who are mature and responsible for their own careers and workload, why does it matter where they are located? And if there are workers who use telecommuting as an excuse to not get their work done, they should be fired. What makes you think the slackers will be any more productive *in* the office anyway?

Value your employees. Give them something they can rally around and feel part of that's important. Make them feel like showing up with their best game matters--regardless of their physical location. Make them feel like what they do matters--it's whether the heart and the brain are engaged, not where the body resides that makes a difference.

 

Unexpected and Unconventional: The Undeniable Advantages of the Unconference

Latest podcast: Linda Popky interviews Jen Berkley Jackson, Owner, The Insight Advantage, on the unconference and the advantages of this new type of gathering. Learn more.

Unexpected and Unconventional: The Undeniable Advantages of the Unconference

Jen Berkley Jackson
Owner
The Insight Advantage
www.theinsightadvantage.com

Jen Berkley Jackson is the owner of The Insight Advantage, a full-service research firm that helps organizations implement a variety of customer feedback tools, including phone and online surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. She is the organizer of Product Camp Silicon Valley, which is one of the biggest unconferences in North America.

In this podcast, Jen introduces the concept of the unconference and talks about the advantages of this new type of gathering.

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Listen to this podcast.

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Just a Moment for Marketing: What on Earth Were They Thinking

Linda advises: Take control of the situation and do the right thing.

Far-Reaching Yet Well-Grounded: A Conversation with Justice Sonia Sotamayor

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking at Wells Fargo, San Francisco

 

I had the opportunity to hear US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotamayor discuss her new bestselling book My Beloved World, in late January at a Watermark event in San Francisco. The Justice has been on a book tour, with several stops in the Bay Area. The previous evening she had spoken to a sold out crowd of about 5000 at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City.

This presentation was different—it was a small group of about 200 people, mainly executive women. The Justice, who says she prefers to be called Sonia, talked about her roots, coming from the projects in the Bronx, and how she felt both privileged to be able to attend Princeton but also so totally different from the other students.

She told us she identified as a Latina first and that it was years later that she first began to think of the implications of being a woman in her field—particularly when other attorneys passed her by as the support staff rather than the Assistant District Attorney.

She told us that her motto is never give up—and that means that sometimes you have to hold out till you’re the last person standing. She told us she’s sure women can have it all—but perhaps not at the same time. That having principles and a sense of our own integrity is critical. That we need to treat each other fairly, honorably and with dignity and respect.

She noted that the nine members of the court do respect each other –because they know each of the others brings a passion for their cause and commitment to doing the best they can for their country—even though they may strongly disagree with the others’ opinions on judicial matters.

Sotomayor said the greatest obstacle to our success is our own doubt. She has been very open about living with Type 1 diabetes for the last 50 years, since she was diagnosed at age 8. I asked her what advice she would give to my 21 year old daughter, diagnosed with Type 1 nearly twenty years ago, as she prepares to enter the work world. “Take care of yourself. Watch what you eat, get good exercise, and always take time for yourself,” she said. “And tell your daughter there is nothing in the world she can’t do…nothing in the world she can’t be.”

Good advice for all of us, whether or not you have Type 1 diabetes.

A Gardener's Guide to Growing Your Consulting Business

Want recommendations for an annual marketing calendar, designed to grow your business and produce rich harvests in the future?

My article, co-written with consultant Robbie Kellman Baxter, was published on Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss's Contrarian Consulting Blog.

We find that it helps to have a plan so that you don’t try to harvest right after you’ve planted. Developing a rhythm around the business of your consulting practice can help you grow and thrive.

Read here for more.

Take the High Road: How Non-Profit Organizations Can Benefit from Effective Fundraising Auctions

Kathy Kingston
Benefit Auction Strategist, Consultant & Professional Auctioneer
Kingston Auction Company
www.kingstonauction.com

Award-winning thought leader in fundraising auctions, professional auctioneer and consultant, Kathy Kingston has raised millions of dollars for non-profit organizations across the country for over 25 years. Whether providing training and coaching to auctioneers, consulting to not-for-profit executives or their boards, or deploying one of their award-winning team of professional auctioneers, Kingston offers one-stop shopping to organizations who want record-breaking auction results.

In this podcast, Kathy talks about the most important strategies to market a successful fundraising event, as well as the most common mistake non-profit organizations often make when it comes to fundraising.

Download Kathy’s free article: 10 Deadly Sins of Benefit Auctions: How to Wreck Your Charity Fundraiser.

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Listen to this podcast.

Take the High Road: How Non-Profit Organizations Can Benefit from Effective Fundraising Auctions

Kathy Kingston
Benefit Auction Strategist, Consultant & Professional Auctioneer
Kingston Auction Company
www.kingstonauction.com

Award-winning thought leader in fundraising auctions, professional auctioneer and consultant, Kathy Kingston has raised millions of dollars for non-profit organizations across the country for over 25 years. Whether providing training and coaching to auctioneers, consulting to not-for-profit executives or their boards, or deploying one of their award-winning team of professional auctioneers, Kingston offers one-stop shopping to organizations who want record-breaking auction results.

In this podcast, Kathy talks about the most important strategies to market a successful fundraising event, as well as the most common mistake non-profit organizations often make when it comes to fundraising.

Download Kathy’s free article: 10 Deadly Sins of Benefit Auctions: How to Wreck Your Charity Fundraiser.

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Listen to this podcast.

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