Brigadoon Weekend
June 5, 2021
One way to fight imposter syndrome
I've been there and will be there again.
Thoughts racing as I approach the podium, enter a well-appointed boardroom, or meet a thought leader I deeply admire.
The soundtrack is on heavy rotation.
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
Do I really know what I am talking about?
Why should this CEO listen to me?
Am I giving this CCO the best counsel?
The dreaded imposter syndrome.
It creeps in from time to time.
Even with a passport full of stamps, multiple degrees, a library that would make Thomas Jefferson jealous, and a global network of doers and makers, it lingers in my thoughts.
One way I have found to suppress this, spend time with a cross-section of subject matter experts.
I have found having conversations with smart people about emerging issues shaping commerce and culture to be essential.
Generating knowledge from others with unique perspectives not frequently seen in my daily life has been a fantastic tool.
It's what you know beyond your unique skills, specialization, education, and experiences that allow you to come up with the ideas necessary to dampen the imposter syndrome and do your job.
Solid advice, good counsel, and leadership skills are most potent when applied with another discipline or two, or even better, three.
I found engaging and speaking with subject experts in some other area - cardiology, cooking, sales, comedy, or urban planning - helps immensely.
Pattern matching, connecting data points, and harvesting knowledge from others has helped me be a better specialist and not an imposter.
-Marc
WHAT BRIGADOON IS WATCHING THIS WEEKEND
Less wolf. More panda. Views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared since 2020, a 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows.
Currently, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China.
And in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Spain, and Canada, negative views have reached their highest points since the Pew Research Center began polling on this topic more than a decade ago.
Xi Jinping is now telling his comrades, be best.
Xi urged Chinese officials to create a "trustworthy, lovable, and respectable" image for the country, in a sign that Beijing may be looking to smooth its hard-edged diplomatic approach.
Too much wolf and not enough panda.
Xi told senior Communist Party leaders Monday (May 31, 2021) that the country must "make friends extensively, unite the majority, and continuously expand its circle of friends with those who understand and are friendly to China," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Bloomberg reports Beijing needed "a grip on tone" in its communication with the world and should "be open and confident, but also modest and humble."
China has increasingly hit back against perceived violations of its core interests by foreign countries with trade measures, travel bans, and diplomatic protests -- an approach sometimes criticized as "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy.
Read the survey: Unfavorable views of China reach historic highs in many countries: Majorities say China has handled COVID-19 outbreak poorly. Pew Research Center
'It's going to be a big summer for hard seltzer': Sales exploded to $4 billion last year, from about $500 million in 2018. Dozens of brands will compete to be the boozy, bubbly drink of the season. The NYT reports while White Claw and Truly — the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of hard seltzer — capture about 70 percent of the market, everyone wants in on the action, drawn by the staggering growth. Old-school beer companies, spirits giants, winemakers, and others are fermenting sugar solutions and adding seasonal flavors like watermelon, black cherry, and strawberry lemonade to create their own buzzy concoctions.
How flavored bubbly water with alcohol became a national phenomenon is partly due to social media videos that went viral and clever marketing that sold hard seltzers as a "healthier" alcohol choice.
Ben & Jerry's with CBD? Bloomberg reports Ben & Jerry's made a bold new flavor announcement in May 2019: CBD ice cream was coming ... "as soon as it's legalized at the federal level." Two years later, the "groovy" treat still isn't available to the public, as snack makers continue to wait for a green light from US officials for cannabis-infused foods. But as demand for edibles continues to rise and the market tops the billion-dollar mark, Big Food is getting ready.
How K-Pop went from niche to global phenomenon: Inside the pandemic-proof empire of BTS: Nikkei reports Hybe, the sprawling entertainment giant behind K-pop phenomenon BTS, is proving more adept than most in taking its business global, after companies for years stumbled in their attempts to find durable popularity outside of Asia. The company's cultivation of a sophisticated online fan base has paid off, particularly during the pandemic. It saw year-on-year sales jump 36% between 2019 and 2020, a period when the entertainment industry was hampered by the inability to tour artists or host theatrical releases.
Inside the ad, ad, ad, ad world of YouTube: Fortune reports Alphabet's online video service has grown from tween pastime to one of the world's largest sellers of digital advertising. Now it's poised to overtake the TV ad market—if it can maintain control of the wild universe of content it created. For context: If YouTube were a stand-alone entity, that would make it the world's fourth-largest seller of digital ads, after its parent company, Alphabet, Facebook, and Amazon. But what really has Wall Street salivating is the question of just how big it might get. YouTube's 2020 revenue was up 31% from 2019, compared with a 12.8% increase for its parent, Alphabet.
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BRIGADOON EVENTS
Thought Leader Communications | How To Workshop
June 8, 2021
Speak Globalization | How To Workshop
June 15, 2021
Adventures with Fiat Pandas + Autogrills + Negronis | Brigadoon Monthly Call
Matt Hranek | Founder + Editor @ Wm Brown Magazine
June 16, 2021
More details and passes - click here.
Thanks for supporting Brigadoon. See you next week.
-Marc
Curation + commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder + Chief Curator @ Brigadoon
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