Ask an Expert
Replay highlights from round table discussions as leaders from around various industries impart tools for managing business more effectively.
- The Core of Culture: Marvin Figaro
- Mastering the Perfect Pitch: Travis Spencer
- Navigating Public Relations: Karen Dumas
- Top 5 Secrets to Success: Jacqui Munson Gaines
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The Core of Culture: How Values Shape Talent Management and Retention
An organization's culture reflects its core values and impacts how it manages and retains talent. This includes factors like leadership, development opportunities, and fostering an equitable and inclusive environment. -
The Quest for Purpose: Why Employee Engagement Depends on Connection and Meaning
In today's workplace, employees seek a sense of connection and purpose, wanting their work to be impactful and aligned with their values. This segment highlights these desires, emphasizing the importance of employee engagement. -
Building Culture from the Top Down: The Role of Leadership in Employee Engagement
Marvin shares how company culture is shaped by both its guiding principles (mission, vision) and the behaviors of its people, especially leaders at all levels. Effective leadership that models desired behaviors is key to employee engagement and thriving within the company culture. -
Listening to Lead: How Employee Feedback Drives Organizational Success
The speaker emphasizes the importance of listening to employees in organizations. Leaders should gather data to understand employees' needs and take action on their feedback. Employees want to feel heard and valued as whole people, not just workers. The speaker then switches to a personal story about career development. -
DEI Starts with You: The Role of Individual Awareness in Promoting Inclusion
The speaker emphasizes that everyone in an organization, regardless of position, can contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. A key starting point is individual awareness of unconscious bias and taking steps to mitigate it. -
Beyond Experience: Why a Growth Mindset is Key to Future Success
The speaker acknowledges the importance of past performance as a foundation for future challenges. However, they believe an even stronger indicator of success is a growth mindset, where the ability to learn and adapt is valued over simply relying on past experiences. -
Reimagining Job Descriptions: How Managers Can Attract Top Talent with Compelling Roles
Traditional job descriptions are static and focus on HR requirements, failing to capture the essence of the role. Here's why managers are crucial for crafting compelling messages that showcase the true experience of working on the team. -
Employer Branding Beyond Competitor Analysis: Harnessing Employee Reviews for Talent Attraction
In a competitive talent market, employer branding is key. This speaker suggests looking beyond competitor data and considering how your company is reviewed by current and past employees, as candidates research companies similar to how they research products. -
Balancing Business Goals and Human Capital: Navigating Tough Decisions in Talent Management
Balancing business goals with human capital needs can be a constant struggle. Business needs often take priority, as exemplified by tough decisions like layoffs, but there are ways to navigate this complex situation. -
Closing Thoughts: Reflecting on the Future of Work and Employee Engagement
The speaker wraps up the conversation by expressing appreciation for the interesting questions and the opportunity to share insights. They hope the discussion was helpful.
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Does and Don’t on Pitch Deck
Landing a contract with Ford as a diverse supplier requires a well-crafted approach. Let's dive into key things to avoid and what information strengthens your pitch. -
Most Important Things When Pitching
The speaker emphasizes that the most important element in a pitch is understanding how your product or service aligns with Ford's specific strategy. They recommend avoiding generic presentations and instead tailoring your message to showcase a clear fit within Ford's existing plans. -
Most Important Pitch I’ve Heard
The speaker highlights successful pitches that demonstrate how the product or service directly benefits Ford's manufacturing process, the end customer, or cost efficiency. They emphasize that highlighting cost savings, weight reduction, and time savings resonates strongly. -
Recovering From a Bad Pitch
The speaker advises that after an unsuccessful pitch, it's crucial to understand why it failed. Was it the presenter's delivery, lack of specificity, or simply bad timing? Don't waste time refining a perfect pitch that wasn't rejected on its merits. -
Common Mistakes in Pitch Decks
The speaker identifies the most common mistake in pitch decks as being generic and failing to clearly explain why the company is the ideal supplier. -
Pitching Ideas Effectively
The speaker emphasizes the importance of design thinking for crafting a successful pitch. This involves understanding your audience's needs and tailoring your message to showcase how your product or service directly benefits Ford's manufacturing or the customer experience. They recommend using storytelling and highlighting cost savings, weight reduction, and time savings to grab attention. -
Best Advice I’ve Received
The speaker highlights that the best pitching advice is to be the most informed person in the room. Confidence built on thorough research and belief in your idea is key to convincing investors or buyers. -
Travis Spencer Final Thoughts
The speaker concludes by stressing the importance of a clear and comprehensive pitch deck that outlines your offering, its value proposition, customer benefits, accessibility, and trustworthiness (through case studies or testimonials). They emphasize that showcasing a commitment to continuous improvement resonates with large corporations.
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Intro: Navigating Public Relations
Karen Dumas, founder of Images and Ideas Incorporated, has extensive experience in communications, including PR, public service as chief of communications for Detroit, and journalism across various media. -
A Conversation About PR
Karen Dumas, founder of Images and Ideas Incorporated, has extensive experience in communications, including PR, public service as chief of communications for Detroit, and journalism across various media. -
The Advantages of Using a PR Agency
The speaker stresses that PR is crucial for businesses of all sizes and should be used proactively. PR helps build a positive brand image and prevent crises, offering services beyond just crisis management like strategic planning and community engagement. -
Marilyn & Karen Personal Experiences
Marilyn & Karen describes two key experiences that shaped their understanding of PR. The first was a personal realization in college about the communication signals companies send through everyday interactions. The second was being mentored by industry giants who encouraged them to pursue a career in PR. -
Changes In the PR Industry
Marilyn & Karen highlights two main changes in the PR industry: 1) an influx of people who see PR as an easy fallback career, and 2) the rise of social media and a 24-hour news cycle. These factors require PR professionals to adapt and navigate new challenges and opportunities in a fast-paced digital landscape. -
Gleaning from Mentors
Marilyn and Karen emphasize the importance of learning from your mentors, both their strengths and weaknesses, and highlight the value of mentorship for young professionals. -
The Best Way to Serve Clients
Despite facing challenges like public scrutiny and a lack of early mentorship, Marilyn & Karen find their greatest professional difficulty came from understanding how to best serve clients with creative PR strategies. -
Client Services
Marilyn & Karen emphasizes the importance of client selection and collaboration. They look for honest, responsive clients who actively participate in their PR strategy, understanding that a successful partnership is key to achieving communication goals. -
Marketing & PR Differences
Marilyn & Karen clarifies that while marketing and PR are separate disciplines (marketing sells, PR builds reputation), they must be aligned. Negative PR can sabotage marketing efforts, so a strong brand image built by PR supports successful product or service sales. -
Social Media and AI in PR
Marilyn & Karen highlights the rise of social media and digital platforms as a major change in PR. People can now control their own narratives and access information instantly, diminishing the role of traditional media and requiring PR professionals to adapt to this new competitive landscape. -
Lifelong Learning
The speaker emphasizes lifelong learning and the importance of building strong relationships with clients and media. They highlight the decline of traditional media and the rise of social media platforms where anyone can control their own narrative. PR professionals must focus on having clients with valuable stories to tell. -
Keys to Success in PR
Marilyn & Karen highlights honesty, integrity, and strategic self-promotion as key to success in PR. Media coverage is no longer the sole measure of a campaign, with social media engagement and audience response playing a larger role. -
Differences between Earned and Paid Media
Marilyn & Karen discuss earned media, which is media coverage gained through merit, like being a subject matter expert, rather than through paid advertising. They then use themselves as examples of earned media by highlighting their professional accomplishments and contact information.
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Top 5 Secrets to Success with Jessica Medford Garrett | JMG Connects’ Insider Tips
JMG Connects' Jessica Medford Garrett shares her top 5 secrets to success. From doing your research to focusing on continuous improvement, learn how to stand out from the crowd. -
Master Networking Like a Pro: Confidence, Connections, & Success Strategies
Mastering a networking event requires confidence and adaptability. Learn how the speaker approachs a room, identify targets, and leverage technology to turn those connections into success. -
The Power of Champions: Building a Network That Advocates for You | JMG Connects’ Growth Strategy
The speaker emphasizes that their top growth strategy is building a strong network of champions and mentors who advocate for their business, JMG Connects, even when they're not around. This positive word-of-mouth has been key to their success. -
The Opportunity Trap: Finding Clarity in Chaos
The speaker admits to initially chasing any opportunity as a new business owner. They now advise new entrepreneurs to have a plan, be selective about partnerships, and focus on impactful work that delivers value. -
Letting Go to Grow: The Journey of Trust and Team Building
The speaker identifies their biggest challenge as delegating and letting go of control. They initially felt the need to do everything themselves but learned the importance of building a team that represents their brand well. -
The Mentor Effect: Why Patience and Visibility Matter
The speaker highlights the importance of patience and visibility learned from a mentor. Building relationships and success can take time, and perseverance is key. -
Profit vs. Principles: Why Values Should Lead Your Business
The speaker emphasizes the importance of staying true to your values. They believe in taking a stand and walking away from opportunities that don't align with their principles, even if it means sacrificing potential financial gain. -
The Networking Advantage: Leveraging Social Media When It Counts
The speaker acknowledges that JMG Connects isn't the most active on social media, but they leverage it during events to monitor activity, identify networking opportunities, and engage with others' success. -
Jacqui Munson-Gaines Final Thoughts
The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of planning for new and established business owners. They recommend scheduling your week in advance to stay organized and highlight the value of mastermind groups for learning new concepts like the 12-week year.
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