#Hash Tag -- you're it#

Note: Following was originally distributed as a client letter on February 6, 2015.

 

Dear Clients and Colleagues:

 

Did you know that more than half of the ads in the most watched, highest socially engaged Super Bowl earlier this week contained a hash tag? If you ask, “What’s a hash tag do?” then you’re behind the curve. If you don't care then you're somewhere in the safe middle. Good news is a potential antidote for media saturation follows should you choose to keep reading.

 

Social media is now a fully developed norm despite generational gaps that are closing pretty quickly. While some continue to compartmentalize lives on Facebook, a majority of business professionals have either used LinkedIn or have instructed someone else to improve their profile and add connections to get a better job. Twitter, a micro-blogging service, gets credit for inventing hash tags, which are generally tag lines set apart by hashes or number signs to describe something product-driven happening in real time. For an easy reference guide, turn on any network show in prime time and look down in the right hand corner of the screen for the tag otherwise known as Hash.

 

Here are three appropriately tagged issues that are going to define 2015 from (a leadership) POV:

 

#Transparency# is the most vexing issue facing leaders of major companies and institutions today. In another five years, whether information is conveyed freely, voluntarily and without hesitation will define brand reputations. Private is now public, and the reverse also is sometimes true. This issue can be complex, controversial and challenging to old legacy and new brands alike. Consider the NFL, Sony Corp. and Uber for recent examples. Transparency has a darker side, too, as evidenced by brutal tactics employed by terrorists.

 

#Authenticity# drives transparency. The opposite of authentic is phony. Space between these two points can create a challenging chasm at times, particularly when crises hit. To re-define an old saying -- you know leadership when you see it – authentic is self evident as long as you’re looking for the right cues. Great example: Chris Kyle played brilliantly by Bradley Cooper in "American Sniper."

 

#Selflessness# is defined as being able to set aside self-interest long enough to listen to, help and serve the needs of others. Selfless leaders are in short supply and on limited display, which may be intentional. Truett Cathy, the late founder of Chick-fil-A, is difficult to beat for an example of great selfless leadership. Pope Francis is another selfless leader. There are no brand name examples in current domestic political circles -- or at least none that leap to mind. Serve or be served will define #selflessness#.

 

Look forward to hearing your views on these topics and more -- either on-line or off line. More on these tags in the previously mentioned social networks. No Instagram or YouTube yet so you're safe for now. Exhale,

 

JG

Jeremy C. Garlington
Point of View LLC
4060 Peachtree Rd./Suite D-#117
Atlanta, GA, 30319
Phone: 404-606-0637
Web site: www.pointofviewllc.com
TGR web log:  www.povblogger.blogspot.com