Entries from July 2009 ↓

You are Precious

P is for your Presence and for your Peaceful Nature, Pure Love and Personality.

R is for your Royal Regard for Self Respect, Respect for All and for the Living Natural World and Mother Earth around us.

E is for your Energy of Giving and Creating a Loving Atmosphere filled with Warmth and Gentleness.

C is for your Child-like Nature of Lightness, Playfulness and Cheerfulness.

I is for your Innocence with your Inner Glow, Inner Diamond and Intuitive Heart.

O is for Being at One with Wonder, Life, Thoughts, Feelings, Living Powers and simply Who you are. U is for You – Just being wonderful you full of an Inner Beauty that shines on the inside and shows itself on the outside,
and

S is for you being so, so, so special – a spirit, a soul – with an inner and outer smile.

Amanda Dentler and Peter Williams who wrote the above text are in Mauritius delivering seminars. May all attendees benefit from their precious teachings of both of them.

Intuitive Hearts offer another way of seeing life.

Ps 23(22),1-2.3-4.5.6.
Le Seigneur est mon berger : je ne manque de rien.
Sur des prés d’herbe fraîche, il me fait reposer. Il me mène vers les eaux
tranquilles et me fait revivre ; il me conduit par le juste chemin pour l’honneur de
son nom.
Si je traverse les ravins de la mort, je ne crains aucun mal, car tu es
avec moi : ton bâton me guide et me rassure.
Tu prépares la table pour moi devant mes ennemis ; tu répands le parfum sur
ma tête, ma coupe est débordante.
Grâce et bonheur m’accompagnent tous les jours de ma vie ; j’habiterai la
maison du Seigneur pour la durée de mes jours.

Mc 6,30-34.
Les Apôtres se réunissent auprès de Jésus, et lui rapportent tout ce qu’ils
ont fait et enseigné.
Il leur dit : « Venez à l’écart dans un endroit désert, et reposez-vous un
peu. » De fait, les arrivants et les partants étaient si nombreux qu’on
n’avait même pas le temps de manger.
Ils partirent donc dans la barque pour un endroit désert, à l’écart.
Les gens les virent s’éloigner, et beaucoup les reconnurent. Alors, à pied,
de toutes les villes, ils coururent là-bas et arrivèrent avant eux.
Jésus, voyant une grande foule de gens sur le bord du lac, fut saisi de
pitié envers eux, parce qu’ils étaient comme des brebis sans berger. Alors,
il se mit à les instruire longuement.

En ce jour des obsèques du Cardinal Margeot que j’ai eu l’occasion d’assister à  la télévision, la cérémonie à Marie Reine de la Paix, une paix et une joie profonde habitent en moi. Dans la lecture proposée de la liturgie du jour, je retiens la notion de repos et Le Seigneur Berger.

J’imagine à cet instant, l’apparition du Cardinal devant notre Dieu pour ‘lui rapporter tout ce qu’il a fait et enseigné’. Le Seigneur lui adresse les paroles « Venez à l’écart dans un endroit désert, et reposez-vous un peu ».

Pendant toute sa vie, Cardinal Margeot ne fut il pas le berger du troupeau de lui avait confié notre Seigneur ? Ses œuvres qui laissent en héritage, resteront pour témoigner de l’amour du Christ qu’il a vécu. Ainsi, il reste présent dans nos cœurs et notre vie.

Aujourd’hui comme dans le psaume 23, il se repose dans la béatitude de notre berger suprême. Grace et bonheur accompagne tous les jours de sa vie ; il habite la maison du Seigneur pour la durée de ses jours.

Louange à toi Seigneur et merci pour le cadeau de la vie féconde et exemplaire du Cardinal que Tu nous as donné. Je te demande de m’accorder la grâce de pouvoir l’imiter dans ma vie.

I most certainly would think of Mgr Margeot as a charismatic leader. Whilst watching the acknowledgments made to this great Mauritian and seeing unreeling his works presented to us today by the press and TV through persons of all walks of life who had the chance to have interacted with him I asked myself the question: What the deeds of Mgr Margeot that made him such a great charismatic leader? He may have physically left us; his spirit still dwells.

I searched through my documents on leadership to be able to single out qualities and attributes which I would be able to name and model. I struck John C Maxwell’s article on Leadership which I found fitting. Since Mgr Margeot has achieved all seven attributes named by Maxwell I may safely say that Mgr Margeot was a charismatic leader.

William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli were two of the fiercest political rivals of the 19th century. Their epic battles for control of the British Empire were marked by intense animosity that spilled over from the public arena into their personal lives. Ambitious, powerful, and politically astute, both men were spirited competitors and masterful politicians.

Though each man achieved impressive accomplishments, the quality that separated them as leaders was their approach to people. The difference is best illustrated by the account of a young woman who dined with the men on consecutive nights. When asked about her impression of the rival statesmen, she said, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.”

What distinguished Disraeli from Gladstone was charisma. Disraeli possessed a personal charm sorely lacking in the leadership style of his rival. His personal appeal attracted friends and created favourable impressions among acquaintances. Throughout his career, Disraeli’s charisma gave him an edge over Gladstone.

Of all leadership attributes, charisma is perhaps the least understood. At first glance, charisma appears to be an invisible energy or magnetism. There is no denying its presence, but it’s hard to put a finger on its source. Some mistakenly believe charisma is a birth trait—embedded in certain personalities, but completely absent in others.

I believe charisma is learnable and helps to boost a leader’s influence. John Maxwell in an article examines the causes of charisma and suggests how to increase the charisma you display as a leader.

Charisma is “the ability to inspire enthusiasm, interest, or affection in others by means of personal charm or influence.” Leaders who have this ability share seven things in common:

1. They love life. Leaders who attract a following are passionate about life. They are celebrators, not complainers. They’re characterized by joy and warmth. They’re energetic and radiant in an infectious way. Look no further than the smile to illustrate the power of charisma.

2. They value the potential in people. To become an attractive leader, expect the best from your people. I describe this behaviour as “putting a 10 on everyone’s head.” Leaders see people, not as they are, but as they could be. From this vantage point, they help others to build a bridge from the present to a preferred future.

3. They give hope. People long to improve their future and fortunes. Charismatic leaders connect with people by painting tomorrow brighter than today. To them, the future is full of amazing opportunities and unrealized dreams.

4. They share themselves. Charismatic leaders add value to people by sharing wisdom, resources, and even special occasions. They embrace the power of inclusion, inviting others to join them for learning experiences, brainstorming sessions, or simply a cup of coffee. Such leaders embrace team spirit and value togetherness.

5. They cultivate other-mindedness. For leaders, the greatest satisfaction is found by serving. They find great pleasure celebrating the successes of those around them, and the victory they enjoy the most is a team triumph.

6. They find and use their voice. One expression bandied about by political commentators has been of a candidate “finding a voice.” Seemingly every candidate found his or hers.

7. They use their charisma to boost their influence for good. Charisma compounds a leader’s influence. Without it, leaders have trouble inspiring passion and energizing their teams. With it, leaders draw out the best in their people, give the best of themselves, and find the greatest fulfillment.

Charisma is not manipulative energy or a magical gift given to select personalities, but an attractive blend of learnable qualities.

Source: article written by John C Maxwell published in November 2008

Je l’ai toujours appelé toujours Monseigneur Jean Margeot quoique je l’ai connu Père Margeot dans ma tendre jeunesse. Il est partit pour la maison du Père ce matin.

Je jouais au football dans la varangue de grand père à la rue Joseph Rivière à Port Louis quand les deux Peres Margeot nous visitaient. J’avais peu être que 8 ou 9 ans, ils rendaient visite à nos parents qui étaient très impliqués dans les activités du diocèse. Ce soir la, le père Robert Margeot n’a pu s’empêcher de faire un tir de but vers mon frère cadet qui était dans les buts. C’est mon plus ancien souvenir de Monseigneur Margeot tout habillé de sa soutane blanche.

Au fil des années , nous nous sommes rencontres à maintes reprises. Un grand moment qui restera indébilement dans ma  mémoire : son homélie à la cathédrale pour les funérailles de Maman. Il connaissait tres bien Maman, d’autant plus que Maman participait à ses sessions de Méditation Chrétienne qu’il animait à sa retraite. Mgr Margeot faisait un hommage du travail de Maman auprès de la famille et de son entourage : il disait de Maman la cheville ouvrière pour la conversion de la famille YIPTONG et des nombreuses personnes à la vie chrétienne.

La relation de la famille avec Mgr Margeot était proche. Jusqu’au départ de Papa vers le Canada, chaque année nous recevons à diner chez nous Mgr Margeot pour la fête du printemps.

Peu avant sa maladie en 2005 encore, Mgr Margeot avait animé chez le cousins Jean et Annette des séances privées de prières à l’occasion du Carême.

J’ai une admiration pour lui, ce saint homme pour sa simplicité et son esprit d’avant garde. Pour ses 90 ans, il était encore tres averti et un utilisateur féru de l’informatique. Il avait encore des projets a mettre en place. Louanges aux Seigneur de nous avoir offert le cadeau d’une vie féconde de Mgr Margeot, un guide, un pasteur, un modèle et un grand mauricien.

Mgr Margeot nous accompagne autrement de la maison du Père.

I had a session of Reiki on me by my nephew who is receiving there on in Singapore. This is not my first encounter with this type of alternative health treatment. Some years back an old colleague took me to a Reiki Center in Quatre Bornes for two sessions. I did not experience any improvement of my health conditions then. I am of opinion that transfer of energy is possible from a person to another but I have yet to see any healing. Some psycho somatic conditions may find cure from alternative medicine, why not try? Is it the placebo effect that works? In any case no harm could be done, why not give it a try?

I am still very amazed by the amount of rituals that are performed during the session. As a patient I would feel the warmth of the practitioner on my body when he laid his hands. Did he heal me? My immediate answer is a definite ‘no’.

At least this session has given me the opportunity to search on the subject and to sharpen my knowledge on the subject.

I found that in the US, the Catholic Church has taken position recently.

In March 2009, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a decree (Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy, 25 March 2009) halting the practice of Reiki by Catholics, including Reiki therapies used in some Catholic retreat centers and hospitals. The conclusion of the decree stated that “since Reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for Reiki therapy.”

I would like to understand more about the Reiki therapy that renders it not compatible with Christian teaching.Is it the practice and rituals used or is it the esoteric back ground or belief thereon?  I would more easily accept that no scientific evidence has yet been found. I believe that after all only God heals.

After a refreshing session today with the APM group, using paintings as a methodology to access insights in leadership I feel in the mood to go back to Warren Bennis writings on Leadership.

I recall the two acronyms used by Warren Bennis to move to and  from control mode and the empowerment mode. Cops and Aces. The effective leader uses both modes depending of the situation of the environment and the persons in question. As an outstanding musician, the leader should be able to play in the high pitch registry as well as in the lower bass chords depending on the score.

Control Order Predict or Acknowledge Create Empower

Maybe we’ve got to move from macho to maestro in the way we’re thinking about leading our organizations. Maestro is an interesting metaphor because an orchestra, a symphony orchestra, is not a bad metaphor to think about with contemporary organizations. They are filled with specialists, but have a flattened hierarchy. How does the leader transcend what appears to be dilemmas? are people supposed to be zealously committed to visions and missions, and yet remain agile, flexible, adaptable? So the new game of change creates all sorts of tough dilemmas for management and leadership to take into account.

I have been reminded again today, that a leader or entrepreneur in the  face of a problem sees the solution of the problem in the problem itself by a twist of his vision. A speech or music is a succession of sound and silence is not it? What makes a successful speech or music? The orderly and sensible patterns of sounds and silence in the appropriate set that yield sense.

Should you be interested in Warren Bennis’ s  work read the article from the economist written on him last year.

This morning I am so full of blogging items.

I wanted to blog on the Eiffel tower which celebrated its 120^th anniversary and the X^th adieu concert of Johnny Halladay in Paris whilst the remnant of my last night reading of Kishore Mahbubani of the unconscious pressure that the Americans have placed on the Islamic world prior to 9/11, still occupied my mind and I am having all my wits in the preparation of Christian Monjou’s arrival for his seminar.

Who is Christian Monjou?

Professor of ‘Ecole Normale Superieure’, he will be discussing Power, Legitimacy and Authority in organisation with a group of CEO’s.

As defined by William Oncken

What is Authority?

I define authority as follows: “Authority is whatever you possess at the moment that causes someone else to do what you want him to do at the moment.”

If you as a supervisor, manager, or executive have enough authority, as defined above, to get done what you want done, you have all the authority you need at the moment.

The authority you need is made up of four components:

First, Competence. Authority of competence has to be acquired. It evokes confidence. The more competent the other person knows you are, the more confident he will be that you know what you are talking about and the more likely he will be to follow your orders, requests, or suggestions. He will think of you as an authority in the matter under consideration and will feel it risky to ignore your wishes. If he does not have this confidence, he will, at best, give you lip service or, at worst, ignore you or sabotage you.

Second, Position. Authority of position has to be delegated. It evokes deference. This component gives you the right to tell someone, “Do it or else.” It has teeth. “The boss wants it” is a bugle call that can snap many an office or shop into action. His position carries authority that demands deference. Only the “gambler” will capriciously ignore it.

Third, Personality. Authority of personality has to be developed. It evokes rapport. The easier it is for the other fellow to talk to you, to listen to you, or to work with you, the easier he will find it to respond to your wishes. The harder you are to do business with, the harder it will be for him to find satisfaction in doing what you want him to do.

He already has one full-time problem—to succeed in his own job. If, in addition, he finds you difficult to talk to, listen to, or work with, he has two full-time problems. If both combined are too much for him, he will not solve either problem well. At worst, he may fail at solving the first problem because he is too preoccupied with the second. In that event he certainly will not be doing what you want him to do. If, on the other hand, he has no “second problem,” he may do more than you expected. It takes a lot of effort to say “no” to someone with whom it is easy to do business.

Fourth, Character. Authority of character has to be cultivated. It evokes respect. This component is your “credit rating” with other people as to your integrity, reliability, honesty, loyalty, sincerity, personal morals, and ethics. Obviously you will get more and better action from a man who has respect for you character than from one who hasn’t. He acquires this respect (or lack of it) from the trail you leave behind you of promises kept or broken, expectations fulfilled or forgotten, statements corroborated or shown to be false.

You get no credit for being honest when it costs you nothing to be honest, for being dependable when it costs you nothing to be dependable. The measure other people place upon your character is how far you have been willing to put yourself out to maintain your record of honesty and dependability. This tells them at once how far they will want to put themselves out for you when the chips are down. The greater their respect, the farther they’ll go, and the greater is the component of character in your overall authority.

Why doesn’t higher management usually delegate complete authority of position to do the job? It’s simply a matter of risk.

How much authority will you, yourself, delegate to a man for whose character you do not have complete respect, or with whose personality you do not have complete rapport, or in whose competence you do not have complete confidence? Less than complete authority. And this will be less than he needs to do the job for which he is responsible!

However, as he earns more respect, rapport, and confidence from others, you will delegate to him correspondingly more authority. Eventually he may acquire from you all the authority of position he needs. I say “may” because he will, no doubt, be promoted before that happens and will have to start all over again with his new boss. This is one of the frustrations of success!

Three Immutable Laws

In getting others to do what you what them to do when you want them to do it, follow three immutable laws. First, lead from that component of your authority appropriate to what you want done, whom you want to do it, and the situation within which it must be done.

For example, let us say that you are drawing up your budget requirements for the upcoming fiscal year. Your aim is to get your boss to approve your budget estimate and make it stick when the budget committee finally meets to put the overall company budget together.

From which of the four components of your authority will you lead? Obviously not from position, as this is effective only on the men under you. So you decide for the moment you’d better lead from competence. You begin your presentation at “A” with every sign of not stopping until you get to “Z,” which appears to be an hour away at least. Realizing that he won’t be able to take it much longer, he interrupts you:

“This looks fine, Joe. A lot of work behind it. Characteristic of your approach to everything you do. Give me the ‘approval form.’ After all, you’ve never let me down in the past on these matters so I’ll be happy to sign it now.”

Caught unprepared for this immediate approval, you insist that he hear your argument to the bitter end. As you plod your pedantic way through your charts and tables, he becomes inwardly more and more annoyed. Finally he decides to beat you at your own game. Rising from his chair he purposely mistakes a flyspeck for a decimal point and asks why you take up his time with material that hasn’t even been proofread. With that he unceremoniously leaves for the club and a long weekend.

You had all the authority you needed to get his approval the moment after you entered the office. You won it on character but then lost it because you insisted on winning it on competence.

You did the right thing in coming fully armed with facts and figures. You did the wrong thing in not being willing to sense the man’s mood, the timing, and the situation—and in not switching immediately from one component of your authority to another.

The professional manager is both willing and able to make the required shift on the spot and takes pride and satisfaction in being able to do so. This way he usually has enough of the right kind of authority on tap to get his boss to do what he wants him to do when he wants him to do it. Second, be careful not to lead from one component to camouflage a weakness in another.

Suppose, for example, you are in a conference where a matter of policy is being debated. Before long you find yourself a one-man minority fighting with your back to the wall. Your one reply to the pleadings and the arguments of the others is that you are against the proposition “as a matter of principle.” This only aggravates them more, but you remain adamant. Eventually communication between you and them breaks down completely and the meeting is recessed. You console yourself by laying the entire impasse to your own strength of character, identifying yourself with the early Christian martyrs.

Without realizing it, you may have feigned strength of character to cover up a deficiency in personality. There need be no conflict between gaining the other man’s respect and, at the same time, maintaining rapport with him. The man who cannot conquer this conflict within himself, loses much of the authority his character may already have provided him. Moral: “Learn to disagree agreeably.” Third, do not lead from one component of your authority in such a way as to create a false impression about another component.

A person who is easy to listen to, easy to talk with, and easy to do business with (strong on personality) may be creating the impression that he is strong in competence. By picking up a few technical terms and borrowing a few statistics, he can double as a Ph.D. in economics to the point of fooling even the pros—for a while—but he loses his authority over the long run.

From time to time every supervisor, manager, and executive has to choose between being liked and being respected. The choice, then, is between leading from personality or from character. Lose a man’s respect, and it’s a long uphill pull to regain it if it can be regained at all. Lose a man’s liking for you, and it is a relatively easy matter to win him back. This is particularly important in management. The manager who is out to win a popularity contest will lose his authority in the quicksand of the compromise. If he is out primarily to win their respect, he can then go as far as he wishes in winning their friendship through effective human relations.

While you have not knowingly committed these errors, you may have been erroneously perceived by others as having committed them. This is just as damaging to your career as having intended to commit them. This is why it is so necessary to develop a sensitivity to choose the right component of your authority to use on the right person at the right time. It pays off in your ability to get the person to do what you want him to do when you want him to do it. It is this ability that constitutes your authority to manage.

Character Never Faileth

I have listed these four components of authority—competence, position, personality, and character—intentionally in a particular order. From the top down they follow the order in which they are critical to success in our careers.

When we apply for our first job we are asked, “What can you do?” Thus competence is the earliest component of success. We also get our first raise on this basis, if not our first promotion. Having demonstrated our competence, we are eventually selected for promotion to a supervisory position. Having demonstrated success as a supervisor, we are selected for promotion to middle management in the hope that we can succeed in a situation where personality carries more authority than position. Having achieved success as a middle manager, we are now considered for an executive position. At this level, the trail we have left behind us both inside and outside the company is the critical factor. In short, what is being looked for is a person of integrity who has the authority of character—in the eyes of scores, if not hundreds, of people.

At this point, it is of little importance how honest and full of integrity we and our colleagues think we are. Many an honest man has seemed to be dishonest merely because of a careless, though possibly well-intentioned, act. He suffers just as much as if he had been dishonest. The trail he has left behind him has already been interpreted by others as they have seen fit.

The most valuable component of your authority is documented in the trail you leave behind you—your character. Happy is the person who makes certain that his trail does not have confusing or misleading patterns which may look crooked to others, regardless of how they may appear to him. His own opinion about this doesn’t count at this crucial juncture. The Board wants a person in whom others respect the authority of character. His or her trail must already have spoken “loud and clear” to all whom he or she will be expected to lead and influence.

Hence, if we are selected for an executive post, we will want to continue to cultivate breadth and depth of character while being careful also to continue striving for excellence in competence and personality in the position.

The latest I found interesting on the web on Christian Monjou

Christian Monjou : « Barack Obama a mis l’accent sur le renouveau du pacte démocratique »

Propos recueillis par Marie-Amélie Fauchier-Magnan

21 janvier 2009

Christian Monjou, agrégé d’anglais et professeur à l’École normale supérieure a accompagné l’équipe de Ségolène Royal, présente hier à Washington lors de l’investiture du 44ème président des États-Unis. Il revient pour France- Amérique sur les moments forts du discours.

Certains présidents sont passés à la postérité, notamment grâce à leur discours d’investiture. Qu’avez-vous particulièrement retenu de celui de Barack Obama ?

Ce que j’ai trouvé remarquable dans le discours d’Obama, c’est la précision clinique du diagnostique qu’il a établi sur la situation des États-Unis, à la fois à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de leurs frontières.

À Berkeley, les étudiants qui assistaient à la retransmission de la cérémonie, ont sifflé le nom de l’ancien président, George W. Bush, que Barack Obama a remercié au début de son discours. Qu’en pensez-vous ?

Barack Obama a bien fait de rendre hommage à George W.Bush. Il a reconnu que ce dernier avait au moins créé des conditions favorables à la transition présidentielle. (…) Mais il a également critiqué certains échecs de l’administration Bush : par exemple lorsqu’il a parlé des habitants de la Nouvelle-Orléans qui avaient recueilli ceux dont les maisons avaient été inondées au moment de l’ouragan Katrina (« La gentillesse d’accueillir un étranger quand les digues s’effondrent »). C’était une manière subtile de rappeler la très mauvaise gestion de la crise par le gouvernement précédent. Obama a voulu montrer que les 8 ans de républicanisme conservateur de l’administration Bush n’étaient qu’une parenthèse dans l’Histoire des États-Unis.

Barack Obama a beaucoup insisté sur les notions de responsabilité et de sacrifice.

Oui, selon lui, face aux défis qui attendent l’Amérique, les citoyens vont devoir retrousser leurs manches. Il a donc fait appel au retour de la démocratie traditionnelle faite d’individualités fortes. Obama a mis l’accent sur le renouveau du pacte démocratique, à savoir que l’État soutiendrait ces responsabilités individuelles mais ne pourrait jamais agir à la place des individus. Obama est remonté aux origines de la démocratie américaine telle qu’Abraham Lincoln l’avait définie dans son discours de Gettysburg, le gouvernement « du peuple, par le peuple et pour le peuple. »

Sur le plan de la politique extérieure, Barack Obama semble s’être très clairement démarqué de son prédécesseur.

Obama a en effet totalement redéfini la politique étrangère des États-Unis. À plusieurs reprises, il a employé le mot « humble ». Il a appelé au retour du dialogue avec les amis traditionnels des États-Unis mais il a également parlé de renouer des liens avec le monde musulman.

Ce discours d’investiture a été moins lyrique que celui qu’Obama avait prononcé le soir des élections, pourquoi ?

Obama a tout de même fait allusion à son histoire personnelle à plusieurs reprises. Il a cité son père de façon très émouvante à la fin du discours (« C’est le sens de notre liberté et notre credo (…) la raison pour laquelle un homme dont le père, il y a moins de 60 ans, n’aurait peut-être pas été servi dans un restaurant local, se tient devant vous, pour prêter le serment le plus sacré. ») Il a ainsi voulu rappeler qu’il était l’incarnation du rêve américain.

Marketing has been my favorite subject for years and I am still very keen in keeping watch of the latest developments thereon.  During the last weekend, I had an interesting short discussion with a marketer who is faced with the new challenge since the start of the year, to promote alcoholic beverages without being able to use any media advertising. A ban has been placed by the authorities on alcohol advertising.

Technology has certainly morphed the consumer decision journey. The Alcoholic beverages marketer was telling me how the internet is helping to attain her goals.The tenets of the marketing theory, the purchase funnel is evolving fast. How do you get the social media to work for you?

Here is one of the recent article I have been able to lay my hand on.

The consumer decision journey

Consumers are moving outside the purchasing funnel—changing the way they research and buy your products. If your marketing hasn’t changed in response, it should.

June 2009 • David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik

If marketing has one goal, it’s to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions. That’s why consumer electronics companies make sure not only that customers see their televisions in stores but also that those televisions display vivid high-definition pictures. It’s why Amazon.com, a decade ago, began offering targeted product recommendations to consumers already logged in and ready to buy. And it explains P&G’s decision, long ago, to produce radio and then TV programs to reach the audiences most likely to buy its products—hence, the term “soap opera.”

Marketing has always sought those moments, or touch points, when consumers are open to influence. For years, touch points have been understood through the metaphor of a “funnel”—consumers start with a number of potential brands in mind (the wide end of the funnel), marketing is then directed at them as they methodically reduce that number and move through the funnel, and at the end they emerge with the one brand they chose to purchase (Exhibit 1). But today, the funnel concept fails to capture all the touch points and key buying factors resulting from the explosion of product choices and digital channels, coupled with the emergence of an increasingly discerning, well-informed consumer. A more sophisticated approach is required to help marketers navigate this environment, which is less linear and more complicated than the funnel suggests. We call this approach the consumer decision journey. Our thinking is applicable to any geographic market that has different kinds of media, Internet access, and wide product choice, including big cities in emerging markets such as China and India.

The consumer decision journey—an interactive

Consumers are changing the way they research and buy products. Here’s how marketers should respond. We developed this approach by examining the purchase decisions of almost 20,000 consumers across five industries and three continents. Our research showed that the proliferation of media and products requires marketers to find new ways to get their brands included in the initial-consideration set that consumers develop as they begin their decision journey. We also found that because of the shift away from one-way communication—from marketers to consumers—toward a two-way conversation, marketers need a more systematic way to satisfy customer demands and manage word-of-mouth. In addition, the research identified two different types of customer loyalty, challenging companies to reinvigorate their loyalty programs and the way they manage the customer experience.

Finally, the research reinforced our belief in the importance not only of aligning all elements of marketing—strategy, spending, channel management, and message—with the journey that consumers undertake when they make purchasing decisions but also of integrating those elements across the organization. When marketers understand this journey and direct their spending and messaging to the moments of maximum influence, they stand a much greater chance of reaching consumers in the right place at the right time with the right message.

How consumers make decisions

Every day, people form impressions of brands from touch points such as advertisements, news reports, conversations with family and friends, and product experiences. Unless consumers are actively shopping, much of that exposure appears wasted. But what happens when something triggers the impulse to buy? Those accumulated impressions then become crucial because they shape the initial-consideration set: the small number of brands consumers regard at the outset as potential purchasing options.

The funnel analogy suggests that consumers systematically narrow the initial-consideration set as they weigh options, make decisions, and buy products. Then, the post sale phase becomes a trial period determining consumer loyalty to brands and the likelihood of buying their products again. Marketers have been taught to “push” marketing toward consumers at each stage of the funnel process to influence their behaviour. But our qualitative and quantitative research in the automobile, skin care, insurance, consumer electronics, and mobile-telecom industries shows that something quite different now occurs.

Actually, the decision-making process is a more circular journey, with four primary phases representing potential battlegrounds where marketers can win or lose: initial consideration; active evaluation, or the process of researching potential purchases; closure, when consumers buy brands; and post purchase, when consumers experience them (Exhibit 2). The funnel metaphor does help a good deal—for example, by providing a way to understand the strength of a brand compared with its competitors at different stages, highlighting the bottlenecks that stall adoption, and making it possible to focus on different aspects of the marketing challenge. Nonetheless, we found that in three areas profound changes in the way consumers make buying decisions called for a new approach

Brand consideration

Imagine that a consumer has decided to buy a car. As with most kinds of products, the consumer will immediately be able to name an initial-consideration set of brands to purchase. In our qualitative research, consumers told us that the fragmenting of media and the proliferation of products have actually made them reduce the number of brands they consider at the outset. Faced with a plethora of choices and communications, consumers tend to fall back on the limited set of brands that have made it through the wilderness of messages. Brand awareness matters: brands in the initial-consideration set can be up to three times more likely to be purchased eventually than brands that aren’t in it.

Not all is lost for brands excluded from this first stage, however. Contrary to the funnel metaphor, the number of brands under consideration during the active-evaluation phase may now actually expand rather than narrow as consumers seek information and shop a category. Brands may “interrupt” the decision-making process by entering into consideration and even force the exit of rivals. The number of brands added in later stages differs by industry: our research showed that people actively evaluating personal computers added an average of 1 brand to their initial-consideration set of 1.7, while automobile shoppers added 2.2 to their initial set of 3.8 (Exhibit 3). This change in behaviour creates opportunities for marketers by adding touch points when brands can make an impact. Brands already under consideration can no longer take that status for granted.

Empowered consumers

The second profound change is that outreach of consumers to marketers has become dramatically more important than marketers’ outreach to consumers. Marketing used to be driven by companies; “pushed” on consumers through traditional advertising, direct marketing, sponsorships, and other channels. At each point in the funnel, as consumers whittled down their brand options, marketers would attempt to sway their decisions. This imprecise approach often failed to reach the right consumers at the right time.

In today’s decision journey, consumer-driven marketing is increasingly important as customers seize control of the process and actively “pull” information helpful to them. Our research found that two-thirds of the touch points during the active-evaluation phase involve consumer-driven marketing activities, such as Internet reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, as well as in-store interactions and recollections of past experiences. A third of the touch points involve company-driven marketing (Exhibit 4). Traditional marketing remains important, but the change in the way consumers make decisions means that marketers must move aggressively beyond purely push-style communication and learn to influence consumer-driven touch points, such as word-of-mouth and Internet information sites.

The experience of US automobile manufacturers shows why marketers must master these new touch points. Companies like Chrysler and GM have long focused on using strong sales incentives and in-dealer programs to win during the active-evaluation and moment-of-purchase phases. These companies have been fighting the wrong battle: the real challenges for them are the initial-consideration and post purchase phases, which Asian brands such as Toyota Motor and Honda dominate with their brand strength and product quality. Positive experiences with Asian vehicles have made purchasers loyal to them, and that in turn generates positive word-of-mouth that increases the likelihood of their making it into the initial-consideration set. Not even constant sales incentives by US manufacturers can overcome this virtuous cycle.

Two types of loyalty

When consumers reach a decision at the moment of purchase, the marketer’s work has just begun: the post purchase experience shapes their opinion for every subsequent decision in the category, so the journey is an ongoing cycle. More than 60 percent of consumers of facial skin care products, for example, go online to conduct further research after the purchase—a touch point unimaginable when the funnel was conceived.

Although the need to provide an after-sales experience that inspires loyalty and therefore repeat purchases isn’t new, not all loyalty is equal in today’s increasingly competitive, complex world. Of consumers who profess loyalty to a brand, some are active loyalists, who not only stick with it but also recommend it. Others are passive loyalists who, whether from laziness or confusion caused by the dizzying array of choices, stay with a brand without being committed to it. Despite their claims of allegiance, passive consumers are open to messages from competitors who give them a reason to switch.

Take the automotive-insurance industry, in which most companies have a large base of seemingly loyal customers who renew every year. Our research found as much as a six fold difference in the ratio of active to passive loyalists among major brands, so companies have opportunities to interrupt the loyalty loop. The US insurers GEICO and Progressive are doing just that, snaring the passively loyal customers of other companies by making comparison shopping and switching easy. They are giving consumers reasons to leave, not excuses to stay.

All marketers should make expanding the base of active loyalists a priority, and to do so they must focus their spending on the new touch points. That will require entirely new marketing efforts, not just investments in Internet sites and efforts to drive word-of-mouth or a renewed commitment to customer satisfaction.

Aligning marketing with the consumer decision journey

Developing a deep knowledge of how consumers make decisions is the first step. For most marketers, the difficult part is focusing strategies and spending on the most influential touch points. In some cases, the marketing effort’s direction must change, perhaps from focusing brand advertising on the initial-consideration phase to developing Internet properties that help consumers gain a better understanding of the brand when they actively evaluate it. Other marketers may need to retool their loyalty programs by focusing on active rather than passive loyalists or to spend money on in-store activities or word-of-mouth programs. The increasing complexity of the consumer decision journey will force virtually all companies to adopt new ways of measuring consumer attitudes, brand performance, and the effectiveness of marketing expenditures across the whole process.

Without such a realignment of spending, marketers face two risks. First, they could waste money: at a time when revenue growth is critical and funding tight, advertising and other investments will be less effective because consumers aren’t getting the right information at the right time. Second, marketers could seem out of touch—for instance, by trying to push products on customers rather than providing them with the information, support, and experience they want to reach decisions themselves.

Four kinds of activities can help marketers address the new realities of the consumer decision journey.

Prioritize objectives and spending

In the past, most marketers consciously chose to focus on either end of the marketing funnel—building awareness or generating loyalty among current customers. Our research reveals a need to be much more specific about the touch points used to influence consumers as they move through initial consideration to active evaluation to closure. By looking just at the traditional marketing funnel’s front or back end, companies could miss exciting opportunities not only to focus investments on the most important points of the decision journey but also to target the right customers.

In the skin care industry, for example, we found that some brands are much stronger in the initial-consideration phase than in active evaluation or closure. For them, our research suggests a need to shift focus from overall brand positioning—already powerful enough to ensure that they get considered—to efforts that make consumers act or to investments in packaging and in-store activities targeted at the moment of purchase.

Tailor messaging

For some companies, new messaging is required to win in whatever part of the consumer journey offers the greatest revenue opportunity. A general message cutting across all stages may have to be replaced by one addressing weaknesses at a specific point, such as initial consideration or active evaluation.

Take the automotive industry. A number of brands in it could grow if consumers took them into consideration. Hyundai, the South Korean car manufacturer, tackled precisely this problem by adopting a marketing campaign built around protecting consumers financially by allowing them to return their vehicles if they lose their jobs. This provocative message, tied to something very real for Americans, became a major factor in helping Hyundai break into the initial-consideration set of many new consumers. In a poor automotive market, the company’s market share is growing.

Invest in consumer-driven marketing

To look beyond funnel-inspired push marketing, companies must invest in vehicles that let marketers interact with consumers as they learn about brands. The epicenter of consumer-driven marketing is the Internet, crucial during the active-evaluation phase as consumers seek information, reviews, and recommendations. Strong performance at this point in the decision journey requires a mind-set shift from buying media to developing properties that attract consumers: digital assets such as Web sites about products, programs to foster word-of-mouth, and systems that customize advertising by viewing the context and the consumer. Many organizations face the difficult and, at times, risky venture of shifting money to fundamentally new properties, much as P&G invested to gain radio exposure in the 1930s and television exposure in the 1950s.

Broadband connectivity, for example, lets marketers provide rich applications to consumers learning about products. Simple, dynamic tools that help consumers decide which products make sense for them are now essential elements of an online arsenal. American Express’s card finder and Ford’s car configurator, for example, rapidly and visually sort options with each click, making life easier for consumers at every stage of the decision journey. Marketers can influence online word-of-mouth by using tools that spot online conversations about brands, analyze what’s being said, and allow marketers to post their own comments.

Finally, content-management systems and online targeting engines let marketers create hundreds of variations on an advertisement, taking into account the context where it appears, the past behavior of viewers, and a real-time inventory of what an organization needs to promote. For instance, many airlines manage and relentlessly optimize thousands of combinations of offers, prices, creative content, and formats to ensure that potential travelers see the most relevant opportunities. Digital marketing has long promised this kind of targeting. Now we finally have the tools to make it more accurate and to manage it cost effectively.

Win the in-store battle

Our research found that one consequence of the new world of marketing complexity is that more consumers hold off their final purchase decision until they’re in a store. Merchandising and packaging have therefore become very important selling factors, a point that’s not widely understood. Consumers want to look at a product in action and are highly influenced by the visual dimension: up to 40 percent of them change their minds because of something they see, learn, or do at this point—say, packaging, placement, or interactions with salespeople.

In skin care, for example, some brands that are fairly unlikely to be in a consumer’s initial-consideration set nonetheless win at the point of purchase with attractive packages and on-shelf messaging. Such elements have now become essential selling tools because consumers of these products are still in play when they enter a store. That’s also true in some consumer electronics segments, which explains those impressive rows of high-definition TVs in stores.

Sometimes it takes a combination of approaches—great packaging, a favorable shelf position, forceful fixtures, informative signage—to attract consumers who enter a store with a strong attachment to their initial-consideration set. Our research shows that in-store touch points provide a significant opportunity for other brands.

Integrating all customer-facing activities

In many companies, different parts of the organization undertake specific customer-facing activities—including informational Web sites, PR, and loyalty programs. Funding is opaque. A number of executives are responsible for each element, and they don’t coordinate their work or even communicate. These activities must be integrated and given appropriate leadership.

The necessary changes are profound. A comprehensive view of all customer-facing activities is as important for business unit heads as for CEOs and chief marketing officers. But the full scope of the consumer decision journey goes beyond the traditional role of CMOs, who in many companies focus on brand building, advertisements, and perhaps market research. These responsibilities aren’t going away. What’s now required of CMOs is a broader role that realigns marketing with the current realities of consumer decision making, intensifies efforts to shape the public profiles of companies, and builds new marketing capabilities.

Consider the range of skills needed to manage the customer experience in the automotive-insurance industry, in which some companies have many passive loyalists who can be pried away by rivals. Increasing the percentage of active loyalists requires not only integrating customer-facing activities into the marketing organization but also more subtle forms of organizational cooperation. These include identifying active loyalists through customer research, as well as understanding what drives that loyalty and how to harness it with word-of-mouth programs. Companies need an integrated, organization-wide “voice of the customer,” with skills from advertising to public relations, product development, market research, and data management. It’s hard but necessary to unify these activities, and the CMO is the natural candidate to do so.

Marketers have long been aware of profound changes in the way consumers research and buy products. Yet a failure to change the focus of marketing to match that evolution has undermined the core goal of reaching customers at the moments that most influence their purchases. The shift in consumer decision making means that marketers need to adjust their spending and to view the change not as a loss of power over consumers but as an opportunity to be in the right place at the right time, giving them the information and support they need to make the right decisions.

About the Authors

David Court is a director in McKinsey’s Dallas office, Dave Elzinga is a principal in the Chicago office, Susie Mulder is a principal in the Boston office, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik is a principal in the Oslo office.

Last night was a great celebration night for the Oy King Sar Chan Society at the Imperial China Restaurant. Three Chan were praised and given all honors by the  Chan community for their distinction in their respective fields  following their official recognition by the Nation recently.

What is the purpose of Oy King Sar Chan society? As in many countries where Hakkas have settled, it is customary for the migrants to form benevolent organisation to look after the needs of the poorer members. Solidarity and assistance to the poor are Confucian values that the community of Hakka have always lived amongst the other values. Oy King Sar Chan society which has always been present received a legal status in Mauritius in 1945. This society restricted to members of the Chan clan aims to nurture good relationship amongst the clan members, defend its members and provide social services to the community.

Interestingly enough the Hakkas have always respected the equal rights of the gender: Hakka women were given the nick name of big footed woman, as in the older days the Hakka women supported by their male counter parts refused to have their foot bound . It was traditional for the Han women to bind their feet to keep them small, as a small footed woman was then a sign of distinction.

Of the three Chan’s celebrated last night, the common thread was most importantly the acclamation of these leaders’ perseverance in attaining success through education. This is again a essential Confucian value.

Denise Chan Youn Sen was awarded National recognition for her hard work and dedication as a government civil servant. At a low entry level, Denise joined the service as a temporary accounts clerk; she retired from her service as the Chief finance officer of the ministry of social services.

Yves Chan Kam Lon was awarded by the high distinction of the 2009 US state Alumni a title given to American University student who have outstanding performance in their career. He is now heading the National library and archives of Mauritius, the guardian of the heritage of the country.

As for young Benoit Chan Sui Ko, he won the Economics award Laureate 2008. This will be the start of his career.

The Chan have to be proud of these distinctions. More importantly may the Chinese community continue to contribute to the building of the Mauritian nation.

Evangile de Jésus-Christ selon saint Marc 6,7-13.
Jésus appelle les Douze, et pour la première fois il les envoie deux par deux. Il leur donnait pouvoir sur les esprits mauvais,
et il leur prescrivit de ne rien emporter pour la route, si ce n’est un bâton ; de n’avoir ni pain, ni sac, ni pièces de monnaie dans leur ceinture.
« Mettez des sandales, ne prenez pas de tunique de rechange. »
Il leur disait encore : « Quand vous avez trouvé l’hospitalité dans une maison, restez-y jusqu’à votre départ.
Si, dans une localité, on refuse de vous accueillir et de vous écouter, partez en secouant la poussière de vos pieds : ce sera pour eux un témoignage. »
Ils partirent, et proclamèrent qu’il fallait se convertir.
Ils chassaient beaucoup de démons, faisaient des onctions d’huile à de nombreux malades, et les guérissaient.

La réflexion de Saint Gregoire le grand sur ce texte, reprise en partie, par mon curé de matin est intéressante : ‘Notre Seigneur et Sauveur, frères très chers, nous instruit tantôt par ses paroles, tantôt par ses actions. Ses actions elles-mêmes sont des commandements, parce que, lorsqu’il fait quelque chose sans rien dire, il nous montre comment nous devons agir. Voici donc qu’il envoie ses disciples en prédication deux par deux, parce que les commandements de la charité sont deux : l’amour de Dieu et du prochain. Le Seigneur envoie prêcher ses disciples deux par deux pour nous suggérer, sans le dire, que celui qui n’a pas la charité envers autrui ne doit absolument pas entreprendre le ministère de la prédication.’

Les événements de ma vie de famille, cette dernière semaine, m’a fait beaucoup penser à ce renvoi vers une mission à deux. Un parcours à deux pour le mariage de mon fils Olivier et de Kristel n’est il pas une mission à vivre ? Semer la charité à deux. La prescription du Seigneur de partir sans les encombrants soucis matériels n’est il pas indiquée. Dans ce monde où nous côtoyons des esprits mauvais, notre Seigneur nous donne le pouvoir sur l’esprit du mal, pourquoi ne pas se revêtir de cette espérance qu’Il nous fait don ?

Je remercie le Seigneur, qui continue d’avoir un regard sur ma famille. Je m’efforce d’être toujours en marche sur la mission qui m’a été confiée et garde l’onction qu’Il m’a comblé.