I attended a breakfast this morning where Sue Adkins an international expert on Cause Related Marketing did a presentation .
See more about her book at Kalahari.net or Amazon.com ISBN 0 7506 4481 8
What struck me was how technology is changing the global consumer . We are now able to view and be made aware of bad behaviour by corporates far away from their consumer base through the internet, television, blog sites, cellphone cameras etc. The statement that who you are will be much more important that what you sell is being defined through a new set of rules that cannot be controlled by governments or the mighty corporates of the past.
This is a great read for anyone interested in making a difference in the 21st century enviroment.
This trend is growing in the UK and around the world. There have been a number of books on the subject – Niaomi Klein’s “No Logo” springs to mind – fueling the anti-globalisation movement, and the media is also highlighting company practices. See this article just this weekend on the BBC website about the supermarket pricing policies and how this affecting South African grape farmers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4145204.stm
An interesting parallel is that the same could be said of an individual – who you are is becoming more important than how you ‘sell’ yourself (flashy clothes, gadgets and cars do not a person make).
Maybe the successful companies of the future will be made up of people who fit this profile. And then it’s a logical extension that the company would reflect the same values.
So then does that mean that when you’re hiring talent, do you focus on the who first (values and integrity of the person) over the what (their talent)?
Great question Anj. My comment is that both are important but with the leaning towards the values and integrity as a first choice for me.
I would add one more to the ‘who’ list and that is attitude. This would cover how the person reacts under stress, if they’re a team player or a team-blamer, and if they have a killer sense of humour.