Top 4 Strategies From Daymond John To Improve Leadership And Grow Your Business

In June, I got to hear the one and only Daymond John speak at a small private event. You may know Daymond as a successful entrepreneur who has appeared on the hit ABC show Shark Tank - the US ‘Dragons’ Den’. Best known as the founder of the clothing brand, FUBU, he is also the author of The Power of Broke, an insightful look into his life and what he did to find success.

Daymond brought a great deal of that insight to the room. While he had a lot of great things to say, there were four business strategies that really struck a chord with me - strategies any business can learn from to improve that I would like to share.

INVEST IN PEOPLE

This is the most important thing for a business to realise, as Daymond put it. He talked about how he (and the other Sharks) invest in people, not companies. Think about it: companies come and go. In fact, most companies will go. On the other hand, people learn from their experiences (good and bad), and they grow. Many first ventures for highly successful people weren’t initially a success! Putting your people first is what gives companies staying power. Your team matters and your clients’ matter, and you should make every effort to ensure that they know that.

DON’T BE REACTIVE - BE RESPONSIVE

A lot of businesses are reactionary. This was a lesson Daymond learned working with prolific rapper and music producer LL Cool J in the late 1980s. When you react to something, you’re already behind the times. Part of LL Cool J’s success in the rap world was being responsive. He didn’t just jump on trends, he helped create them. He recognised the rap world was constantly changing in terms of sound, lyrics and style.

Daymond was able to market his FUBU clothing because he was doing things other clothing makers weren’t. He was taking risks, working exceptionally hard (another one of Daymond’s points was “always be hustling”) and was willing to respond to changes in the marketplace.

BE TRUE TO YOUR WORD

When Daymond first got the call from Mark Burnett to join Shark Tank, Daymond knew he had to turn down the show. Signing onto Shark Tank meant he couldn’t appear on any other shows, and he was already working with the Kardashians - a family who, at the time, weren’t quite the household brand name they are today.

Daymond told Burnett he was going to stick with the Kardashians because he had given them his word (and likely to have signed a few contracts with them). He wanted to help the Kardashians get their brands moving. He saw their potential. The family got word that Daymond had turned down the Shark Tank deal and said, “No, don’t let us get in your way!”

Daymond also recognised that the Kardashians are savvy businesspeople. As he put it, “They know their analytics.” And that’s true! That’s why they found success on TV, online and in shops around the world where their many products are sold. But he wasn’t about the leave them high and dry for his own gain. Eventually, they found a solution, and he joined Shark Tank, but he wasn’t going to compromise his integrity. A very powerful lesson and something none of us should compromise on.

REMEMBER, YOU ARE THE BRAND

The biggest brands are distilled down to three, four, five words. People know these words by heart, including Nike (Just Do It) and Apple (Think Different). You should have your own 2-5 words. “If you can’t describe yourself in 2-5 words and you walk into a room, you leave it up to us to interpret.”

Another thing to remember is that people associate your social media with your brand - whether you’re a business intentionally posting content related to your brand, or you’re an individual posting about your last holiday or what you are having for dinner. What you share on social media is shared through a lens - your lens. Pictures, posts, you name it - it’s all a part of your brand.

That said, posting something negative will hurt that brand. It’s always important to be mindful of what you post and encourage your team to do the same. Having rules and policies regarding what can and cannot be shared on social media will go a long way in preventing a catastrophe.

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CONFIDENCE

How can you build your confidence as a CEO or business leader? We find that leaders are less confident when they obsess about things they can’t control, rather than taking action in the areas they can control.

Here are the results of a recent survey 16/06/2019 by the Conference Board regarding what is on the minds of 800 CEOs.

External Hot-Button Issues

1. Recession
2. Global trade
3. Politics

Internal Hot-Button Issues

1. Attracting and retaining top talent
2. Disruptive technologies
3. Developing the next generation of leaders

What this survey says is it’s good to be aware of issues that are outside of your control – recession, global trade, politics. But it’s even more brilliant to master the things that are within your control.

HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR TEAM?

If you have a high degree of confidence in your team, then keep doing what you are doing to find, employ and develop them.

But if you don’t have a high degree of confidence in your team, then you should focus on attracting, developing and retaining more of the right people who fit your strategy – who can achieve the results you seek… But how?

You can invest the time to master the skills and best practices around attracting, developing and retaining top talent yourself. Or you can outsource to a specialist recruitment company.

A great way to build confidence in yourself as a leader is to build your confidence in your team.

6 Ways To Protect Your Business From Getting Hacked…Are You Doing All Of These?

1. Know your data AND your risk. What kind of data are you storing? Knowing your data can inform you of your risk, and when you know your risk, you can respond with a plan to secure that data.
2. Have backups. Losing data cripples businesses. Always schedule regular backups and testing so you never have to worry about losing it.
3. Encrypt all of your data. Encryption helps to ensure that only those who have permissions can access and read your data.
4. Use better passwords. Most people use poor passwords or the same passwords for multiple logins. Cybercriminals take advantage of this. Always use strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and using a different password for EVERY website should be mandatory.
5. Maintain defences. Malware lurks in e-mails or unknown links on the web. It can harm your equipment, give hackers access to your data and hurt your business. Anti-malware software coupled with a firewall can help block these threats.
6. Educate. Your team can be your best defence. They should be educated on cyberthreats and what to do/not do when it comes to their “digital responsibility” within your company.

CPO Magazine, 12/06/2019.

3 Ways Working Harder Can Slow The Growth Of Your Company.

1. You’re not delegating. When you work too hard, it becomes easy to “take over” projects. You become a micromanager who loses sight of the team and doesn’t play to the strengths of the experts you hired to carry the load. If you’re not delegating, projects move less efficiently, and you can miss important details.
2. You’re not thinking creatively. Because you miss crucial details, you lack perspective, and a lack of perceptive makes it hard to think creatively, as research confirms. When a problem comes your way, you may not be able to solve it to the best of your abilities and you will end up creating a bigger problem.
3. You need more than 1 person to scale up a business. One person can do only so much, and one person cannot scale a business successfully. If you want your business to grow, you MUST hand over much of the responsibility to others. Your business must be able to run without you in the building.

Small Business Trends, 12/02/2019

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Vermont Systems Thwart a £100,000 Cyber Attack!

We were recently informed that attending a Vermont hosted Cyber Crime Prevention event had saved a local company £100,000 in a sophisticated cyber fraud attempt. The delegate said that the information they had learned at the event prevented the company from being a victim of the fraud. Had they not attended it would have been a very different story.

The next Cyber Crime Prevention event is taking place in Basingstoke on 27th September. It is free to attend but registration is imperative. Register: vermont.co.uk/events/cyber-security-seminar-hampshire/