Strange Management Tip; 4th Stakeholder; Performance w/ Purpose; Epic Content Marketing

"…keeping you great"

HEADLINES: (Happy Year of the Horse)

Epic Content Marketing — named one of the top 5 biz books in 2013, Joe Pulizzi's book Epic Content Marketing does the best job I've seen in outlining concrete steps companies can take to use content to attract customers – the idea that customers don't want to be sold, they want to be educated. Go directly to Chapter 2 and read the quick history of content marketing, starting with John Deere in 1895 – history which provided me an insightful context I never had before. Then come hear Joe keynote the Leadership Summit by Fortune in Orlando May 13 – 14. Book club and GazellesPro members will receive the book next week.

CEO Writes Employee's Parents — yes, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, wrote the parents of her senior leaders (direct reports). This is just one of many interesting management ideas this leading CEO has used as she's driven the stock price from $50 to $80 during the crisis. Take 7 minutes to read this lengthy Fortune interview from Davos – or scroll down the article quickly and just read about why she wrote the parents of her senior leaders (the question references this). BTW, Pepsi is sponsoring the halftime show at the Super Bowl – Go Broncos!!

4th Stakeholder — I'm thinking of revising the One-Page Strategic Plan to add a fourth stakeholder. Evidence is clear that a company must equally balance the needs of the employees, customers, and shareholders (top left of one-page plan), but Indra Nooyi speaks deeply about the importance of the broader community — a 4th stakeholder that can't be ignored. This aligns with the overall "megatrend" of Conscious Capitalism. If you only read one biz article this week, read the Indra interview. Lots of lessons about going global, doing what's right, and caring about people.

"Performance with Purpose" — and if this phrase interests you at all, check out this Pepsico landing page including a letter from Indra. The whole page and message is nicely crafted. Always worth learning from some of the better big companies.

Co-CEOs? — speaking of leadership, one of the pieces I wrote for Fortune over the holidays was about co-CEOs and if this really works (rarely!). Co-founders, family-owned businesses, and professional service firms are especially susceptible to this arrangement. If you're facing this situation, please take one minute to glance through this article and see how you might handle.

FYI, Hotel Rooms Running Low — we know many of you register for the Summits later since we don't give early bird discounts (everyone pays the same tiered pricing – breaks for bringing teams or GazellesPro member), but hotel rooms for the Summit are going quickly again – so at least make reservations at the Orlando World Center Resort — $169/night. The rate extends 3 days before and after if you want to stay the weekend. And a $250 deposit is all that's needed to register – first come first served on seats – like a rock concert – so register now for this gathering of "gazelles."

COACHING:

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