Leadership

It has been a couple years since I personally promoted a conference through my websites and perhaps even longer since I've attended a conference. This was not an intentional decision by me but simply a recognition that in the past couple years I didn't find a conference I found worthy to promote. After awhile talks covering topics such as content management, digital strategy, and collaboration become noise so over time my interest in conferences waned. Then all that changed last week when Janus Boye contacted me to remind me that's he's rebooted his company and bringing his conference back to the USA.

Communication is ingrained in every facet of life, yet many struggle with fear, insecurity and general ineffectiveness when they find themselves eye to eye with someone to present ideas, address complicated situations, express feelings, negotiate or just “sell them self”—all whether in a personal or professional context.

Ongoing digital transformation has helped leading German publisher Axel Springer become one of Europe’s largest media companies, with almost three-quarters of revenue coming from digital channels.

“Only 10 years ago, just 1% of Axel Springer’s revenue and profits could be attributed to digital,” said Dr. Andreas Wiele, member of the board and president of classified media at Axel Springer. “Today, more than 65% of our revenue and more than 80% of our profits are digital.”

Social media is the perfect platform for turning important discussions into shallow memes. A place where we all live in echo chambers, the cliquiest of all cliques.

In November 2017 Sean Parker, co-founder of Facebook, admitted:

...we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while. It's a social-validation feedback loop...exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology

Ladies and gentlemen, let me paint a picture for you. The year is 1983 and you are a super fit, well geared, and highly trained ultra-marathon runner. You are getting ready for a 544 mile race from Sydney to Melbourne, Australia. You are mulling about with your peers, rubbing elbows with everybody who you know is at least as prepared as you are. You see an array of high end athletic brands on display. It is a stereotypical marathon.

But then you start to hear some murmuring. “He’s how old?” Your interest is piqued. “He’s wearing what?” Okay, now you have to see what the commotion is about.

Technological excellence through leadership and core values is the goal of any organization that hopes to be successful. So, it is no surprise that some of America’s tech firms are not only leading the way in life altering innovation but they are blazing news trail in organizational leadership. From thought leadership to cultural leadership these organizations are changing how the world views everything. But the question is, “How do tech organizations achieve excellence through leadership?

Apple changed how we view phones. Facebook changed how we socialize. Amazon changed how we shop. Microsoft changed how we use computers. Oracle changed how we network. IBM changed how we compute. Google changed how we find information.