On this 246th episode of “Marketing Today,” I speak with Minter Dial, the author of “You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader.” Dial shares what it takes to use your authentic self to lead a successful brand.
We start our conversation by talking about how the ongoing global pandemic has taken away Dial’s source of energy, that being, talking and communicating with other people. Dial then dives into his new book, “You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader,” and how he hopes it will “change the way we lead, not just in business, but within ourselves.” Inside each and every individual, Dial feels “that everybody has leadership potential,” but before a person can lead, they must come to terms with their authentic self.
We then break down the disconnect that exists between being authentic and professional, a lesson that he learned when bringing life to L’Oréal’s brand. “Too often, there’s no real link between who you are legitimately…and what you’re doing professionally.” Ultimately, Dial believes that “if you can dial into the kind of person you want to be, then every decision should be orchestrated around making that happen.”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:
- Minter has hit a point where his energy isn’t always the highest, something he is trying to stay self-aware of. 1:19
- The motivation for Minter’s most recent book is his desire to help others be authentic to themselves. 2:33
- Minter hopes to change the way that we lead in both business and within our own lives. 3:12
- After writing 30k words in Croatia, Minter hit a wall when PBS reached out to put his story on TV. 3:55
- Telling a friend about his book idea while on a walk acted as a catalyst to reignite the book. 4:48
- The initial premise of Minter’s book was getting to know who you are before chasing who you want to be. 5:15
- Once you have established who you are, you can become the kind of person that works better with others. 6:18
- Many people want to be authentic without knowing why they do these things besides that they are good to do. 6:45
- Originally, the name of Minter’s book was supposed to be “Brand NEWS,” as in North, East, West, and South. 8:50
- The ability to tell a story turns takes people from a professional into someone who can spread a real light. 11:14
- In reality, on both a personal and brand level, we aren’t doing enough work on authentically connecting to our story. 12:25
- Beyond life-altering experiences, it takes time to make that connection with your brand or story. 14:30
- With L’Oreal, Minter learned how to take the brand and bring it to life from the inside out. 15:42
- In order to move forward, there are some things that brands need to unlearn, but stay practical with what they choose to unlearn. 17:26
- It was a challenge for Minter to unlearn the thought that home life has no impact on work. 19:08
- Whether you’re the top person or middle management, everyone should carve out some time to figure out who they are. 20:52
- Without a clear vision of who you want to be, it’s very hard to get where you want to go. 22:37
- Chief Marketing Officers must face the challenge of aligning the way the company works internally with how it operates externally. 23:43
- You must make policies within your company that align with how efficiently you want it to operate. 26:00
- It’s safe to say that if you haven’t done the work on establishing who you are, then you’ll find yourself on the fast track to mediocrity. 28:10
- Finding out who you are is a tough process that could take a lifetime of experiences to achieve. 29:27
- Take a look at who you want to be and make the connection with what you are doing at work. 31:00
- Think about your top 3 values out of the roughly 75 to choose from and making those specific to you. 33:33
- Until you’ve established your true North, your authentic self, bad events will always throw you off course. 35:23
- Having conversations with other people, whether in big or small groups, gives Minter great energy. 36:30
- Lunch club is Minter’s favorite way to meet new people and set valuable appointments. 37:45
- Clubhouse is something that piques Minter’s interest as it is based on adding value through solely audio. 40:18
- The United States of America has forgotten what it is supposed to be united around. 41:41
- Minter believes that the biggest threat to marketers right now is burnout, as he sees it all the time. 43:13
Resources Mentioned:
- Minter Dial
- You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader (book)
- Episode 150 – Minter discusses last book
- Heartificial Empathy: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence (book)
- PBS Special Film – The Last Ring Home
- Clubhouse App | Lunch Club
- iRobot
- Rymora Compression Socks
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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.