The Mark of a Leader
VOLUME 9

Well the holidaze are upon us. It has been a wonderful year for us at The Mark of a Leader, and we thank you all for being part of our incredible journey.

We're particularly grateful to those of you who are our clients. Over the past 15 months since we hit the market, you’ve taken a chance and brought a new product to your conference to change it up, shake it up, and get your people motivated.

We're thrilled that many of you have real, measurable results in sales and performance improvement as a direct result of The Mark of a Leader. We're also thrilled at the incredible number of audience members who have told us that they have changed aspects of their lives as a result of being part of The Mark of a Leader program.

These are the reasons we're doing what we’re doing.

In 2006, The Mark of a Leader book will be out. We'll also be adding a range of new products to our website, including audio and video programs to inspire and help people improve their leadership skills.

If you haven't visited our website recently, we have updated it and added more samples and a new demo video, which we think you’ll enjoy. www.themarkofaleader.com

Thanks again for your support.

We wish you all a safe and happy holiday with your friends and families, and tremendous success in everything you do in 2006.

All the best from all of us:


Doug Keeley
FEATURE

DID YOU KNOW?

Half the world's population earns about 5% of the world's wealth.



The names of all the continents end with the letter they start with.



Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing.

SANTA CLAUS:
BRAND LEADER EXTRAORDINAIRE

In Western society, few leaders can compare for impact at this time of year with good old Santa Claus.

While often not thought of as such, Santa is in fact a great and powerful leader, from whom we can all learn.

Let's look at a few of the secrets to his success.

First of all, TEAMWORK. Let's face it, this guy surrounds himself with a great team. From the size-challenged elves to those light-of-feet reindeer, Santa is a team player through and through.

And he's not afraid to let them share the glory. Santa is an equal opportunity employer. In fact, one of the most requested songs of the Christmas season is about the reindeer with the unfortunate nose abnormality — Rudolph.

Rudolph may be disadvantaged, but when crisis happens, Santa looks to him to pull off the miracle. And Rudolph doesn't let him down... because the Santa culture is all about delivering the goods.

Then there are the elves.

The Seven Dwarves had names like Grumpy and Sleepy — not exactly inspirational. You'll never hear names like that in Santa's workshop. In fact, they're such good team players they just refer to themselves as "The Elves". And apparently Santa keeps the team pretty happy. Has there ever been an elf strike? Did they ever sit out a season? Not to our knowledge. Name a sport that can say that!

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.

Unknown



Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.

Bill Vaughan



What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic.

Unknown

While he is a good team player, Santa is at the same time very clear about roles and responsibilities. He is the CEO, the elves are the toymakers. Absolute clarity.

He seems to be a tough but fair boss. One presumes the elves work hard. But Santa definitely pulls his load, and I don't mean just in the sled. Come December 24th, Santa is the one doing the all-nighter while the elves party. That's leadership by example.

And he isn't afraid to get dirty to get the job done. You don't see any elves or reindeer climbing down a filthy chimney and landing on a hot fire. But there is Santa, chimney after chimney, laughing all the way, with little to show for it but some warm milk and cookies.

His second leadership secret is CUSTOMER FOCUS. The whole Santa organization is completely customer centric. For them, it's all about the customer. Santa keeps his eye on each of his customers, even in the off season. He sorts out the good from the bad (or naughty and nice, in the corporate lexicon) and then recognizes their loyalty with gifts. This may sound like a headache for corporate governance... but even in today's world of political correctness, you don't see any policies forbidding gifts from Santa.

He is a great and patient communicator, and, because of that, delivers outstanding customer service. Somehow every year he (OK, his elves) sort millions of letters and emails. And for the most part, his customers get exactly want they want. How many organizations can claim that? (OK, he blew it with my Lamborghini request last year, but...)

More to the point: unlike many global leaders, he makes every customer — no matter how small — feel that they are important. No ego trip going on with Santa. He knows that every customer should be a customer for life. He understands that if he nurtures them when they're young, they'll stay with him when they grow older and have kids of their own.

That's smart business. Santa's customers pass him on from generation to generation by word of mouth. There can be no better reward for doing a good job than that.

The third secret to Santa's success is SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY. While the North Pole is kind of a touchy feely operation, geared only to complete customer happiness, it is a very sophisticated machine that never fails, year after year. It uses technology that's so good it is magical.

Competitors have tried to copy the flying reindeer trick for a century, and nobody has managed it. And if FedEx or UPS could figure out how to get that many parcels into just one small sled, they'd revolutionize their business overnight!

Finally and perhaps most important: like all great leaders, Santa clearly understands the power of a clear, consistent BRAND.

The Santa brand is so powerful that he totally dominates the media from Thanksgiving until the end of December. And rumor has it he does it with no media budget.

The brand guidelines are defined and clear.

  • Red suit, black boots and trim, white beard and glasses. No hoodies, tank-tops or sandals.
  • Rotund — fat is good, no matter what Dr. Phil says.
  • Jolly — always a big ho ho ho, never just a giggle or a snicker, no matter how dopey the request.
  • Reindeer-powered sled with big sack of gifts. No cosy corporate jet here: wrong image.

The key: consistent delivery of the brand, everywhere you see it. And it WORKS!

Just try using red and green text on a summer ad. Everyone will say "It's too Christmassy!"

Bottom line: whether you believe in him or not, Santa is a great leader. I think we can presume that this brand is secure for a long time to come.

OK, back to the Christmas list. How many R's in Ferrari?
 

Please visit us at www.themarkofaleader.com.

Copyright 2005 Mark of a Leader