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Insurgent Leadership in the Age of Trump
How the Seven Principles That Won the White House Can Help You Win in Today’s Hypercompetitive Business Environment Most people around the world—probably including Donald John Trump—were shocked by the outcome of the 2016 general election. We were not. What happened in November was the product of an insurgent candidate in an insurgent campaign led…
Read MoreHow People Decide.
Let’s face it, marketing can’t make people do anything. And though we are swimming in marketing 24/7/365, we usually choose to do nothing that marketing tells us to do. In a way that’s been good for the advertising business. If advertising were more effective, half the agencies in the world would go out of business…
Read MoreThe Rise of the Insurgent Brand
In every marketplace insurgent brands are kicking ass. And right now you have a choice: learn to think, plan and act like an insurgent brand, or learn to get used to watching them pass you in the marketplace. Our company got its start in politics. In the mid-1980’s Steven Jobs called on us: “You guys understand something we don’t really…
Read MoreThe Myth of Angry White Men
Two years ago, Pat Caddell of The Smith Project predicted the rise of a Donald Trump in American politics (you can see that projection from early 2014 here: http://hypeline.org/watch-this-video-predicted-trumps-rise/). At the time, none of us at WeNeedSmith.com knew it would be Trump himself. We did, however, know it would be someone from outside politics. We…
Read MoreWhy Your Company is Whining, Not Winning
Stand up tall! You’re a winner! You’re a leader! You’re empowered! Welcome to the annual sales conference! Okay, now, welcome back to reality. Your company is limping along, stuck on “okay.” And you’ve got this burning itch under the back label of your underpants that says you should be doing a lot better with your…
Read MoreThe Leadership Campaign Training
Change Leadership Training Objectives We wrote The Leadership Campaign because we all live and work in a turbulent change environment. Challenge and opportunity are flung at us constantly. Decisions must be made lightning-fast. It takes a new model of leadership to manage in this change environment. The traditional model has become obsolete—yet it remains the dominant…
Read MoreSanders, Trump, Bush, Cruz, Clinton or Rubio?
What about “none of the above”? (Since 2013 Armada – Patrick Caddell, Scott Miller and Bob Perkins — has been conducting in-depth surveys with American voters. The most recent survey was concluded just before the Iowa caucuses and you can see a detailed summary of the results now at our web site, WeNeedSmith.com.) In brief,…
Read MoreWho Ya Gonna Call?
Okay, it’s officially a crisis. Doors on the executive floor are slamming shut. The CEO, chief counsel, group of senior managers and some lawyerly-looking types are huddled in the board room while the breakfast coffee turns cold. It’s a major screw-up. It’s a rogue trader or regional sales manager. It’s the bad stuff that somehow…
Read MoreThey tell you to act like a leader. Don’t listen.
You hear it all the time. “Act like a leader.” It’s your boss reading this off a script at the annual sales meeting, trying to encourage you in your performance review, or raising a glass of cheap Prosecco in a rambling toast at the holiday party, recounting the greatest advice they ever got. Okay, it’s…
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