In This Issue:
How Would Walt Disney Market in 2009?,
Five Characteristics of Intuitive Leaders,
Last Laugh: You Know You're Stressed When...
How Would Walt Disney Market in 2009?
Walt Disney, famous founder of the Walt Disney Company, knew how to leverage many different methods to engage his customers. He reinvented stories that spoke to our humanity and told them in memorable ways. As companies struggle to be heard in the overcrowded world of 2009, companies should take some notes from Disney and utilize all relevant media to get the message across the global information network.
1. Story is king. Nothing captures human attention better than stories about humans themselves. Whatever the product you are selling, every message must have a story that speaks to human emotion and uses human condition at its core.
2. Utilize the newest technology to tell the ancient story in a new way. For example, if your business to business firm is lacking messages that can be seen on a blackberry or your consumers are unable to upload your company’s application from the Apple App Store, you’re out of touch.
3. Coordinate the message across the media. Walking through one of Disney’s parks, you are inundated with dolls, shirts, hats and media that all are there to remind you of the pleasant experience you had there. Likewise, executives must reinforce key messages by having multiple, consistent and coordinated touch points for the same idea.
4. Have the courage to innovate. Walt Disney funded both Disneyland and Disney World out of his own pocket, then sold them back to the Disney corporation because the corporation did not want to take the first risks.
5. Stay on message. With Disney, you only had to catch a glimpse of the Castle before you could imagine the whole set of thoughts and dreams.
In times of downturn, when it is essential to get your message heard and remembered, companies can draw wisdom from Walt Disney, who understood the multi-media, multi-channel and multi-experience world.
A certain number of leaders within an organization have a tendency towards wisdom, trend anticipation, pattern recognition, personnel insight, and confidence, while others do not. Those who display these talents have the kind of intuition which can be relied upon when it comes to successful decision making. These attributes can be recognized by surveying the things they rely on and the traits they exhibit versus the typical characteristics that others often display.
Experience versus Luck
Author Douglas Adams writes that, "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." Having a wealth of experience to draw from is a key factor in being an intuitive leader. While less experienced employees may come up with or luck into a good decision, those who have experiences with both successes and failures are an asset to your organization.
Wisdom versus Smarts
Don’t necessarily associate having great intuition with being smart. Instead, rely on those that exhibit wisdom in decision making. Having this wisdom rather than pure intelligence helps guide intuition.
Second Gear versus Second Guessing
Those who effectively display intuition will reach decisions quickly based on assessing the situation and confidently proceeding into second gear to move things forward. Those who do not trust their own instincts will hesitate, second guess themselves, and overanalyze choices.
Connection versus Detachment
Those who are connected are in tune with those around them. They have a good understanding of personality types, body language, and are able to anticipate how others will react in certain situations. An employee who is connected will likely be intuitive in making personnel decisions and effectively manage projects. Those who have a tendency to isolate themselves will be out of touch, not only with their coworkers, but with the organization as well.
Awareness versus Inattentiveness
Many employees might disregard the world around them to concentrate on the most insignificant aspects of their job description. The intuitive individual successfully fulfills their role, and yet can step back and view the organization as a whole. This type of employee will have a natural ability for making the right choices in future company decisions.
You say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.
You can see individual air molecules vibrating.
TV infomercials entertain you.
You wonder if brewing is really a necessary step in the consumption of coffee.
You can hear mimes.
You say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.
You believe that if you think hard enough, you can fly.
You ask the drive-thru attendant if you can get your order to go.
You keep yelling "STOP TOUCHING ME!" even though you are the only one in the room.
It appears that people are speaking to you in binary code.
Antacid tablets become your sole source of nutrition.
You discover the aesthetic beauty of office supplies.
You begin to talk to yourself, then disagree about the subject, get into a nasty row over it, lose, and refuse to speak to yourself for the rest of the night.
Teddy bears begin to bully you for milk and cookies.
You say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.
Walt Disney, famous founder of the Walt Disney Company, knew how to leverage many different methods to engage his customers. He reinvented stories that spoke to our humanity and told them in memorable ways. As companies struggle to be heard in the overcrowded world of 2009, companies should take some notes from Disney and utilize all relevant media to get the message across the global information network. 
A certain number of leaders within an organization have a tendency towards wisdom, trend anticipation, pattern recognition, personnel insight, and confidence, while others do not. Those who display these talents have the kind of intuition which can be relied upon when it comes to successful decision making. These attributes can be recognized by surveying the things they rely on and the traits they exhibit versus the typical characteristics that others often display. 
