Strategy in business is one of those phrases that can make a grown person cry....because it is used with such business jargon as paradigm shift, proposition, strategic imperatives.....all of which are totally unemotional and not at all engaging.

Leaders may sound clever using the business jargon but they don't sound passionate, they may sound worldly but they don't sound human! And leaders may have the job title of leader but have they engaged people to follow?

The question is this...would you try and sell your product or services to customers with this kind of slogan

"There is a strategic imperative for you to make a paradigm shift to our value proposition - buy now"

I suggest not.

So why do leadership and management try and sell the brand vision, the business vision in these terms? After all what is a business strategy for other than engaging people's hearts and minds?

Keep business strategy, marketing strategies...any strategy simple

• What are you wanting to change in the world for the better?
• Why are you so passionate about it?
• How will you change the world?
• And by when ...

Marketing in business has grown in complexity - not in terms of the aim but in the array of choices of how we reach the customer.

Digital marketing has grown from blogging to social networking to many more social media marketing tools and of course with the rise of the tablet or smartphone, mobile marketing is becoming another area to consider....

I have been researching mobile for business over the last few years and wanted to share with you this infographic from Slicktext which looks at specifically SMS marketing.

I will ask the guys to come on The Engaging Brand podcast to explain in more depth so any questions let me know!

There has always been an irony for me - that the term 'a business' sounds impersonal, separate and almost intangible!

Yet business is all about people, it is emotive, personal and brought to life through connections and collaboration. When coaching I try and concentrate on the word 'US' in business because if we understand their true value then we grow our business.

Us is wide in definition and covers...

US= How well you collaborate with your colleagues

US= How well you connect the vision to the team and the team to the business vision.

US= How well you connect to the outside world - suppliers, stakeholders

US= How well you understand and communicate with customers

US= How well you see the pivotal role of business within society

US= How well we connect personal values to business value creation

Another US that we often ignore is both sides of our personality! Let me explain....

We have many human behaviors or aspects of business life that need reconciling

Risk vs Secruity

Routine vs Different

Self critical vs self confident

Work vs Home

Decisions vs Consensus

And many more....to ensure that our career's achieve our full potential...our relationship with ourselves gives us the strong base to connect with others.

The Engaging Brand podcast covering social marketing, business ideas and brand marketing tips has a new episode but before we start...The listener winning an Engaging Brand goodie bag - picked from all the people who share, like, tweet about the show to say a BIG thank you from me! - is Jeannie Bolstridge.

Our little weekend thought tries to inspire you to think differently about your life, your career, your business and this week I want you to....relax!

Too often we take life too seriously, we look at meanings behind everything.....we look for hidden meaning in the gestures of others, the words of others, why we are here etc etc

But remember...the only meaning you need to consider is this

What do you want YOUR life to have meant? When you are out in the garden, at the gym this weekend think less about the meaning of life...and focus on the meaning of YOUR LIFE.

Business value is something that I am researching as part of my social business PhD. The valuation of a business has always been linked to adding value  - value through service or value through the combination of raw materials.

Business strategy for creating value used to be "easy" but with the advent of the Internet the consumers have so much more power - they can make, they can access services through social networking, they can even challenge what value you are creating.....

My initial PhD research is showing though that although value creation may be changing...as always the foundation of growing a business has not changed. (Note I will be sharing the PhD research in future newletters - so if you want to know more subscribe to The Engaging Times!)

• Value creation is based on living your values 
• When customers buy into those values, recognising the value of their purchasing, their recommendations, their brand loyalty etc

I often work with entrepreneurs on how to grow their business - in this social age, it is now imperative that you understand this value creation equation

How to grow a business = Living your values in your product/services + Recognising the value of your customers + Undertanding the Values

We can so easily slip into producing, servicing without reflecting on the above....and in a social age, you may ignore...but the customer won't! 

This week on The Engagigng Brand we discussed Innovation with Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg  and as the book gives a great insight into business innovation we have created a little Bob-o-graphic for you to use.

1. Focus beats freedom. You need to focus on ideas that matter to the business.
2. Insights come from the outside. Connect to the outside world to find original ideas.
3. Be ready - in fact want to - tweak as first ideas are usually flawed.
4. Select -  Remember your role is to select ideas, as not all ideas are created equal and you must discard the rest so you can focus on the best.
5. Stealthstorm past the internal politics so they work for you not against. Internal politics of innovation will always exist....your role is to pave the way for the innovation to succeed.

And then add that vital leadership behavior.....Persist - Not for ONE day but EVERY day to move from one successful product launch to a business culture that lives and breath innovation - helping your people bring great ideas to life.

This is based on the HBR book Innovation as Usual - website here

Look at your dairy - full of meetings? I bet there are quite a few in your working day...

I am a read believer in getting rid of meetings that are about compromise, covering your back or delaying a decision! But I love meetings that inspire, are focused and blend deep thinking with action orientated outcomes.

For all the meetings that you have.....when do you meet with yourself? When do you review your progress, brainstorm your business interests, inspire your own self-improvement...create actions that will deliver your personal goals?......

Thought so....

We have one precious resource - time and yet we fail to use our own time to think about our own personal branding plan.

To inspire, engage others...we need to inspire and engage ourselves

So set some time aside one a month and have your own board meeting, invite all sides of your personality - the risk taker, the dreamer, the pragmatist and the action man/woman.

Make an agenda and then set to work on reviewing, exploring, deciding and then actioning your own 'me, inc' business strategy.

Action, action, action - we all know that action is required and we focus our teams on action. However I do believe action needs to stem from a platform of thinking. Thought leadership is often a term that people use without really understanding on what area they truly have thought leadership. 

Thought leadership comes from deep thinking and related business insights. These skills of leadership are often ignored - why? Well it is uncomfortable, hard work and so much easier to hide behind group think or compromise.

Social media is a wonderful tool to develop these skills in leadership. Social media expresses an array of different views, it allows you to read and think. By surfing the social media channel you can develop your thinking skills and create business insights from taking strands of ideas, of data analysis to then allow your thought leadership to evolve.

I use the word surf because ideas come in waves and it is about not riding a wave but understanding what creates waves, the underlying mechanics of waves etc I also think surfing is difficult to master...it needs technique, a desire to learn, a desire to fail in order to succeed. Sometimes your thinking will feel shaky but the more you surf the thinking wave, the more your technique strengthens and the more your ideas make it all the way to the market shore.