In our current economic/business environment, many see only through the lens of 
being competitive or combative rather than strategic or synergistic, resulting in their looking through the wrong end of their binoculars and focusing on the much smaller picture. They faithfully fashion facades as they fear facing facts and try to influence by image rather than character. Seth Godin, an internationally acclaimed marketing thought leader, recently wrote a blog post that addresses this in a simple and straightforward manner. If you’re not familiar with Seth’s work, you may want to check it out. He can be found at http://sethgodin.typepad.com . I’m sharing his post with you below, and encourage you to let it stimulate your own thought, growth and success. Enjoy!
“One way that marketers (of any stripe) make an impact is by displaying confidence. Consumers figure that if a marketer is confident in their offering, they ought to be confident in the marketer as return. We often assume that confidence means that something big is on offer.
“The problem with swagger is that if you’re the swaggering marketer, you might run into a competitor with even more swagger than you. When that happens, it’s time to show your cards, the justification for your confidence. And if you don’t deliver, you’ve done nothing but disappoint the person who believed in you.
“Substance without swagger slows you down. But swagger without substance can be fatal. Right now, we’re seeing more swagger than ever—but it’s rarely accompanied by an increase in substance…
The rule is simple: it’s essential to act the part. And it’s even more important for it to be real.”
