This world of technology is both abrupt and fast, humans need a break, but our focus is to be there for the future.

Your Leadership in 2022 it's everything, protect it!

Defining leadership is not easy. Nor is leading any easier once in the role, some are promoted others were thrust in the role willingly or unwillingly. However few really understand the importance of guarding their leadership from being tarnished. That doesn't mean taking no risks. Leadership is a very fragile and often blamed as the cause for underperformance in an organization. Skills in communication, (which includes listening) and influence are paramount to be effective. And so is experience in leading teams and having had successes to back up your credentials. Every function from human resources, marketing to operations are all looking for direction, vision, and inspiration especially in challenging times. You need to be courageous and willing to go to the line and even face failure. The business world has no time for self-protectionists or self-promoters to head up organizations. Leading requires us to define ourselves and sometimes that means taking on the roles and making decisions that are not popular. Learning to stand alone is, believe it or not, a strength of character. To lead you must earn respect, once you have it guard it like your life depends on it. Because it does.?

Elon Musk is Times Person of the year for 2021. No surprise. Like him or not, what he has done is moved the world forward. This is an authentic leader, who does protect his leadership and image by being himself and true to his nature and beliefs.

You might be interested in reading this on Leadership from my personal website.

When e-commerce get's physical

There is no question that e-commerce players are opening stores. And a few experts will have you believe that this is some sort of rebirth to physical retail. It is certainly a sign that consumers are not living in the metaverse. However, we also have to understand that there are many other reasons to open stores especially for publicly traded companies, the least of which is that e-commerce players want to incur higher costs. However, when those costs are low in comparison to the value it can increase the stock price by, its slightly different math. So yes I am saying some of this for show. Then the decision makes sense to me. As far as I am concerned Wayfair is an example of that, I don't see 1,000 locations in their future. I would be surprised if it gets near 50. However, I must also add when e-commerce players resort to stores you either have reached your potential online, or you're responding to competitive threats. Remember consumers started shopping online because they wanted more personal convenience, value for their money and faster service. This is counter intuitive for many of these retailers. They can sing and dance all they want around this one, this isn't about a renaissance of physical retail, its about stock price and taking share from weaker physical retailers.

Economic recovery, our options are not exciting.

A friend of mine a doctor once told me, "the problem with intelligent people is that we can't turn it off and we will venture into dark places and try to unravel the unknown." The doctor went on to say, "most will call that negative thinking, they preferred to call it intellectual curiosity."

Intellectual curiosity is what draws most of us to this dilemma of the economy because there isn't really a best case scenario as most of us see it. I did quip on a post this week that one solution is to stop spending on things we don't need and are over paying on, and we can solve at least the supply chain and inflation issues. Maybe? This isn't a question of which door is better (no combination is good) it is about understanding the pending risks and opportunities related to each and all of them combined. Yes I said, opportunities and each person and business will have to dig in deep to understand the situations above and how to adapt to them. By the way all of this is about keeping the economy moving however I for one can't believe that worst case scenarios were not considered by central banks. And if they did why didn't we get out in front of this faster? What do consumers think? Payments.com has some insights. For more on the impact on workers and consumers read this WSJ or this from the Bank of Canada

Do installment payment plans democratize the borrowing system and bring a new life to shopping?

My parents told me that when Visa was first introduced it was an invitation to go shopping anywhere at any brand. Can paying in installment plans do the same? It might. If you consider that banks are jumping in on this, it is clearly a game changer. Paybright seems to have the winning hand, 0% interest and no impact on credit scores. Banks can't match that or won't. However the timing for this during the holiday season seems to have setup expectations that this is going to accelerate. More on payment plans growth .

Nevertheless, installment payments should be an automatic payment option within most purchasing environments. It could build more loyalty and retailers today can use all the help they can get. Retailers need to provide multiple payment options. However one caveat. Zero interest and no personal credit suggests risks that if any of these organizations default the retailers could lose. I can certainly see regulations coming in, pressured by banks who have more to lose.

Digital Marketing - Is a hybrid model enough to save businesses?

I am very big believer in strategic marketing and the need to use all the communication assets a business has to reach, retain and grow their customer base. So I never ask why? I always ask, how? How are we going to execute this plan? And how are we going to secure the resources to achieve our objective. How long can we fund this strategy?

Over the last two years and in writing my recent book (The New Bricks & Mortar) I began to review how effective retailers are at digital marketing and what makes a good digital marketing agency. You need a great deal of money and luck to hit the jackpot in this game to become recognized and drive new traffic to your brand. That's what a few business owners and leaders have told me. If you really want to take aim getting a higher level of market recognition it could cost you in the range from $100-500K annually. One firm claimed that they spent $200K a year to deliver $4.0M in sales that's 5.0% of sales. Most agencies will tell you that the reason businesses never reach their objective is because they stop spending. That's not hard to believe when you consider that 30% of businesses that are classified as small have revenue under $2.0 Million per year. So $100K is a significant investment that comes with a lot of risk. So I developed the digital marketing check list . The biggest challenge in being successful is all about asking the right questions and making the right choices in hiring an expert.

From Web1.0 to Web2.0 to Web3.0 to Metaverse, is business ready and are consumers ready?

The metaverse is all the buzz today and there are different views about its timing. And experts are growing out of virtually reality themselves. Many in the technology world clearly tell us that there will be plenty of applications and business opportunities with the metaverse. That is very true. However so much more needs to happen for all of this to come to fruition. For example the metaverse will be very different, instead of interacting with a flat screen we will theoretically be immersed in that world. If you listen to some developers you need Web3.0 before the Metaverse can come to life. And will the metaverse replace the internet? Not in the ways some have speculated and I want to emphasize the word speculation. Nevertheless the business thesis around this tends to be sound. The expectation is that the metaverse will reach some $400-$600 Billion in revenue by 2024-2025. And as I have mentioned often to others, right now this is territory for wealthy premium and luxury brands like Nike and here are fashion brands that have ventured into the Metaverse world . Nevertheless, what we need to be ready for is a potential game changer that will virtually (pun intended) leave a lot of retailers (businesses) big and small behind because this is about behaviour and experience.

Explainer on the metaverse video if you are looking for a fast intro the link to a video helps.

Personal Log

I wonder if we have thought through the implications of technology enough? We keep adopting and adapting. Most of the technology I come across I find fascinating and with many applications. However, have we asked when will it be too much? And is there a risk that we evolve from a world where we threaten the environment to one where we are threatened by our own ingenuity to simplify life. A good strategist asks these questions. My mother who was mathematically very smart, taught me to always ask, "what if?" I believe that we owe it to ourselves. I know what electric cars are about to do to the oil and auto industry. Are we taking about it and have a fallback plan for all the businesses that will be impacted? I am not sure there is enough transparency around that. And that is the tip of the iceberg, we haven't even begun to discuss how everything else we are developing will change work, lives and society. The question is what happens if we don't?

About George: I have held Senior executive positions as a Country General Manager and CEO, Board Director and Chair. I've had CEOs report to me, hired them, recruited board directors and lead boards. Today I preside on a board of an Electric Utility as its Chair. I run a consulting firm called Inception Retail Group Inc. Have written three books, and am invited to speak about retailing, consumers, governance and leadership.