Disruptive leadership

Lessons on risk-taking, changing the game and emotional branding

This is a follow-on from my article last week, which looked at the themes covered in the ASEAN Disruptive Leadership Summit 2018 (which I attended). That article focused on the first two speakers: Jon Steinberg (former President and COO of Buzzfeed and currently, CEO and Founder of Cheddar Inc) and Ram Charan (recognised by Fortune Magazine as the “most influential consultant alive” and best-selling author of multiple books).

In today’s piece, I will recap some of what I believe are the most pressing take-aways from the other three speakers who took to the stage, namely, Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Forbes’ “Most Powerful Women in Sports” and the CEO of Flywheel Sports; Marc Randolph, Netflix co-founder and Silicon Valley entrepreneur; and Scott Deming, author of “The brand who cried wolf” and emotional branding expert.

A conference built around disruptive leadership, I believe, is based on the idea that disruption is increasingly part of our experience, personally and professionally. It is something we need to contend with and have an effective approach to. It is also premised on the idea that we need to work with disruption as an opportunity far more than as a threat if we are to future-proof ourselves and our organisations.

Sarah Robb O’Hagan is an executive, activist and entrepreneur. She became an internationally recognised re-inventor of brands as global president of the US$5 billion sports brand Gatorade, where she successfully repositioned and turned the business around. Subsequently, she reinvented the luxury fitness company, Equinox. Initially a marketing professional, she was formerly Director, Marketing at Virgin Atlantic Airways, VP Marketing at Atari Interactive and also Marketing Director at Nike. Her main points summed up are: • Today, we are all tech companies and the competitor lines are blurring. Our needs are evolving a lot faster than we are;

• We need to play to our specific purpose for which I have five tips : A Make failure your fuel. Step up and stand out. The way to be successful is to crash more because that is where your potential lies; B

Play your specialist game which means you need to be spectacular for a few and not average for the many; C

Change the game. Looking back at her time at Gatorade, all the declines they faced were also an opportunity for change. It was about changing the way they were looking at the issue.

The conventional wisdom was that they were a beverage company but with the shift, they became a sports fuel company; D Bring out the extreme in others which involves, among other things, partnering with those who are least like you; and E

Break yourself to make yourself. That involves making yourself uncomfortable. Look at different categories for inspiration outside of your business model and industry. Do not only look to your immediate competitor. Let it go and be disruptive with yourself. Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor and investor. Cofounder of the US edition of Macworld magazine, he then went on to co-found Netflix and served as its first CEO. He spoke largely about his time at Netflix and these are my take-aways: • You need three things to win i.e. tolerance for risk, an idea and confidence. He quoted William Goldman, “Nobody knows anything”, to support the idea that you cannot look outside for confidence, support or affirmation. These things need to come from within; • Netflix started out in DVD sales and rental and then moved completely to rental before it morphed to its current form. Testing is what helped them move faster. At one point, they were testing various things three to four times a day. Carelessness set in but Marc pointed out that if you have a good idea, a customer would say yes to it no matter how sloppy your testing got. It is not only about having a good idea — you need to create a culture and system to try bad ideas out as well. It is all about validation hacking;

• What worked was not so much the technology or the business model — it was the stories because those transcend delivery; and

• If you have an idea, the only way to know if it is going to work is to simply do it because nobody knows anything. Marc came across so experienced yet authentic about his message and story. Scott Deming brings more than 25 years experience in building a strong consumer base as well as expanding and retaining market share. He argued that all professional and personal success comes from your brand and that branding is not simply about creating awareness, it needs to create an emotional connection. This is based on the experience created. His most compelling question – how do you move from becoming a choice to becoming the only option? • The stuff you sell gets you in the game but the hard part is staying in the game. Harley Davidson is not selling bikes, they are selling a lifestyle; • Questions you need to ask yourself are: What is your brand? What do people feel about your brand? How do you define what you do? Go beyond function to purpose because function is not purpose;

• Most services today are completely transactional. You are not looking to create satisfied customers. They don’t bother with you - they stay till the next deal is discovered. To get loyalty, you are looking to shatter expectations, to create an abyss between those who are satisfied and those who are completely blown away; and

• In all these transactions, there is an opportunity for a sale but likewise, there is also an opportunity to create a relationship.