Creative Leadership: Building a Business is an Art by Corey Blake

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Brace Yourself: A Brand-Building Reality Check

I’ve talked before (and will continue to talk about) my growing impatience with clients and potential clients who think we’re ready to call Oprah because the first draft of their manuscript is written. Not only is this expectation both naïve and grandiose, it’s completely based in fantasy. This childlike look at the book industry would be completely laughable if it weren’t so frustrating. What people need to understand is that, yes, it’s possible to get Oprah’s attention. Yes, it’s possible to get on the bestseller list. But it will not happen overnight. It won’t happen in a year. Give it five years of real effort, and then you have a chance. Ten years is more practical. Let me illustrate.

What I’m seeing is that when building a brand that someone is looking to launch on a national level, it takes 100 smaller victories (local) to generate a medium-sized victory (state level). It takes 10 medium sized victories to gain a large victory (national). So, while the medium-sized victories do come more quickly after the first one, you’re still looking at 300 – 500 local victories that need to occur before you get that first piece of national exposure.

This isn’t meant to be pessimistic—in fact, knowing what it takes to achieve a national victory (and then many national victories) is empowering. I’m seeing it with Robert Renteria and our work together. We’ve done a ton of work at the local level before we finally reached the state level in terms of political support, with the endorsements of IL Secretary of State, Jesse White, Illinois Director of Literacy Dr. Jodi Martinez, State Rep Linda Chapa LaVia and others. This week, we have our first real opportunity for national exposure through LULAC, the largest Hispanic organization in the country, with 500,000+ members. We’ve been invited to present our program at their national board meeting in Los Angeles.  This is an opportunity for exposure and endorsement at the national level. And we would be honored.  LULAC is an exceptional organization with the ear of the Obama administration among other powerful decision makers.

At the same time we are pursuing these political outlets, we’re repeating the smaller/medium-sized victories process now with corporations and schools. As a result, we have achieved more local victories with IBM and McDonalds at the corporate level and with the Chicago Public School District with schools. If we repeat this process over and over again, we’ll build up to national deals with corporations and school systems. And, very importantly, we’ll publicize each victory along the way so that, together, these victories can generate the momentum we’re after.

Robert’s story is a great example of possibility—of what a book, an author, a career, a dream can look like with all the work behind them that they deserve. Frankly, anyone fantasizing about a national brand who isn’t willing to work toward this series of smaller and medium-sized victories first probably isn’t someone who is ready to be successful at it.

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Corey’s Book: From the Writer’s Perspective

Hello! I’m the third member of Corey’s book-writing, storytelling, epiphany-creating team—Katie, the writer. Corey has asked me to contribute one blog per week describing our unique process from my point of view, and I’m happy to do it. The truth is that, to many, the writing part of this equation is quite mysterious. I’d like to shine some light. But, first, a little history.

Corey and I have been collaborating on projects since fall of 2007. That was when he hired me to proofread Robert Renteria’s wonderful book, From the Barrio to the Board Room. Because of the subject, Robert and Corey specifically wanted feedback from a Latino or Latina editor. I fit this bill, and I was also thrilled to work with and support a project—a cause—by a fellow Latino. That brief project (the proofreading took maybe two weeks) quickly parlayed into dozens of small assignments and several large ones, including writing two books with The Table. In the last two years, Corey and I have established mutual respect and trust. He’s one of the most fun and brilliant people I’ve had the pleasure of working with!

Now for his book: He approached me several months ago about the possibility of co-writing his own book, his own story. This is a big deal. For a guy who spends his life helping others tell their stories, and championing those tales to the world, telling his own was never going to be a light undertaking. I knew he’d give the process the same dedication and fire he brings out in his clients, and I was honored and excited to be a part of it.

My calls with Corey and Annie are different every week. Mostly, I listen as Annie leads Corey into telling the stories that compel him most in that moment. Sometimes I’ll ask questions, if the answers won’t get too tangential; otherwise, I’ll bite my need for detail back and insert those questions in the manuscripts I send Corey each week. But the cool thing in these calls is that they’re rarely what any of us expect. The only real structure is a deliberate unstructure, a kind of stream-of-consciousness storytelling that Annie always maintains invisible hold over. Because we’re all creative people and we’ve all been a part of this process before, we’re rarely bothered by the seeming lack of concrete goals; instead, we enjoy the stories and realizations that are made this way. Of course, there are times when we feel we’ve gone off track, even if we haven’t, but we trust in our process and our guide.

Here’s where I’d like to talk about the writing—but this post is long already! So I think I’ll leave you hanging here, but next week, come back to see what new discoveries we’ve made, and what it’s like to translate oral storytelling to the written word . . . and all the beautiful complications that arise in the process!

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Fierceness

My big take away from today was an attribute that I have recently labeled about myself as impatience, but that my story guide Annie Hart redirected this morning as fierceness.  As my business is growing and our authors and company are gaining more popularity, more and more people are contacting me to help them with their branding. That has created a serious bottleneck for me, because it often translates into hours each week of free consultation, where I’m having to describe the reality of what it takes to make a brand successful to people who have rose colored glasses on about the process.  Constantly being pulled away to have those conversations frustrates me, because I have so much work to do not only for our clients, but for our employees.
 
The lack of patience increases when I’m on the phone with someone who is looking at this industry from the idealistic perspective of a child.  Hollywood has trained most people to believe that if you have a great idea, it’s worth a fortune.  I used to sit in on workshops where agents and managers and producers would tell writers to never pay anyone to help them with their careers.  “Hollywood should be paying you.”  But Hollywood opens its doors to only .00001% of those people.  So what does everyone else do?  In the eyes of those producers, agents and managers, they should spend their time trying to be part of that .00001%.  THAT’S ABSURD!
 
Everyone has a story worth telling.  Everyone has many stories worth telling.  I am cursed with that knowledge.  I am cursed with knowing that our storytelling process is life changing for the people who tell their stories. And yet, I have to decide who we’re going to work with.  I have to turn people away from that opportunity if they come to me with those rose colored glasses on.
 
I felt bad about being impatient.  But I feel good about being fierce.  This world needs change and change does not happen until we choose to see the world for what it is.  When we take off those rose glasses, we leave the realm of the idealistic child and we begin to play in the arena of the powerful adult who can impact others.  So forgive me if I come across as impatient…what I’m really doing is pushing to find the bravest of people who will go to battle for their cause.

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Got Courage? Then You're in Business

I blogged recently about how important-no, invaluable-integrity is in business. As you may know, I believe that integrity should be the linchpin of every business, no matter how large or small. But tied up in integrity is something else: courage.

In business, every day requires courage: courage to tap into a new market; courage to create a new product; courage to prevent and correct unethical decisions; courage to empower employees; courage to take risks; courage to keep performing, keep achieving, keep dreaming. Without this very important quality (and skill, for courage can be learned) at its helm, a business is doomed to mediocrity. 

So, what does courage look like in business? It takes many forms, and can be embodied and exemplified by employees at every level. For example:

• The woman who believes in her vision enough to educate herself, aggressively but calculatedly pursue funding, and leave her steady job to become an entrepreneur;
• The employee who knows that his colleague (or boss) has done something unethical and takes steps to rectify the situation, either by encouraging confession or by reporting him to a superior;
• The mid-level manager who steps outside her duties for the benefit of the client;
• The CEO who asks his employees for feedback, addresses concerns, and incorporates some of the information to create new policies, positions, or products; AND
• The employee who believes in a cause and encourages the company to become involved

How have you showed courage (or failed to show it) in your business lately?

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The weight of Story

This morning on my call with Katie and Annie I spoke mostly about my recent trip with Daniel Cardwell and our work together on “A Question of Color”.  I told them about my first trip to the grocery store with Dan to stock up our cabin in preparation for our five days together and how unusual it was to go shopping with someone for the first time.  The experience opened my eyes to how stories are often told between the lines.  Imagine how much I learned about Dan when he reached for a dozen tins of sardines, four boxes of Nutrigrain bars, two cans of beans and three onions.
 
As we worked, which we did for an average of 18 hours each day, Dan would cook so I could keep my fingers working on the computer keys and it was through his cooking that I learned more about his life, about his journey.  He was a farmer and a survivor who had lived on his own on a farm from the age of 14.  He knew how to throw whatever we had in the fridge together in such a way that it was tasty, nourished us, and kept our minds focused as we toured his life.
 
I also learned about myself this trip.  About my creative process.  Working 18 hours a day was difficult for me.  At home I flip flop between projects every few minutes, but here I had to remain intensely focused for long stretches, both in listening to Dan’s stories and in then capturing them on the page. Listening for long stretches taxed me emotionally; I knew that only 10% of what I was hearing was going to end up in the book, and yet I had to sift through the other 90% to find those gems. My mind clouded over numerous times and yet as soon as we came across a nugget, I would find myself invigorated, inspired and attentive again.
 
Because Dan’s book focuses on his search for his mother that spanned more than 25 years, in many ways we were putting together a detective story.  That was his role as he travelled around the world, searching for his origins, accumulating about 24 inches worth of documents that we had to pull the greatest pieces from. Dan’s story and his struggle for survival in a world that wanted to throw him away was heartbreaking.
 
At the end of our trip, as we said our goodbyes at the airport, we had a “dude” moment as Annie called it on the phone this morning.  We had shared this intimate journey of Dan’s life and his love for his mother and when we shook hands, we knew we had been through a special experience together.  The moment turned a bit awkward as we tried to navigate letting go of the week we had spent together.  Part of me wanted to hug Dan and cry with him – to release all the pain of his story, but we settled on a fist-bump and a nod.  When I walked into the airport I became overwhelmed with emotion as it all finally hit me. His story is both beautiful and tragic, and he walks away the hero having overcome adversity beyond measure. He had the strength to not only search for 25 years but to then share that story (the good the bad and the ugly) for the sake of others.   That’s a hero.
 
In the days since we have parted, I have dreamed of Dan and his book every night. In those dreams I always wake up started, feeling like I was searching and so close to something.  That tells me we’re on the right track here and I’m excited to bring this story to the world.

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Day 3: A Question of Color

Because we are at the bottom of a small valley in the Solomon Islands, the rain from behind us and from across the street in front of us was all flowing beneath our cabin on day three of this tropical storm.  Not the best week to choose to hang out on an island off the coast.  The water was raising on us so quickly, that we were forced to put garbage bags over our boots and walk through the foot deep water to get to the car. See Dan’s German born; he likes German cheese and he drives a Mercedes. But he’s also a farm boy, so we drove out of this low land to his farm about an hour away and switched out the stylish ride for the super duty truck.  It felt like half of our day was eaten up by travel and that had me discouraged for a while; creativity and survival don’t co-exist well, so the book was put on hold as we (primarily Dan) ensured our safety (anyone who really knows me will have a good laugh over that one).  Around 4:30 pm we were back at the cabin and back to work.  The second half of Dan’s story is his search for his family which spanned more than 25 years and half a dozen countries worth of detective work.  Last night was all about laying out the facts as Dan put them together over time so that I can reconstruct the path he took to each nugget of information that revealed more and more about who he was, where came from, and where his mother might be. This morning, I’ll be hot at the keys bringing all this to life in real time for the reader.  Stay tuned!

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Day 2: A Question of Color

Yesterday began early again and was one of those creative days that flowed from the get go.  Dan and I hit a groove and Erin was awesome about getting me back transcribed material we were recording. We had a couple of striking epiphanies about origin vs. destination, about Dan’s experience in the military, and I figured out how to fit his unprecedented work with cancer into the story in a way that drives it forward. Today we are heavy into the searching portion of his story – his journey to find his mother and his origin.  I’ve been at it for a couple of hours already, but only have the bare bones of it together.  We have a lot of work ahead of us. And the rain still falls.  Moments after we arrived on Tuesday night it began and it hasn’t let up for a minute. Good thing we didn’t come here to go fishin!   

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A Question of Color

Yesterday was day 1 of a 6 day trip working with Daniel Cardwell on A Question of Color. I found myself reading the manuscript in the taxi on the way to the airport, creating a new vision of the opening at the airport and then continuing in that direction on the plane.  More story, less commentary!  Thank you Annie Hart!  When I arrived, Dan took me to some of the places we’re writing about in the book.  We traveled to Stuckey Road, where the big fight occurred, over to the farm where Dan had lived alone for years as a teenager, and past the house he had been plowing where a little five year old white boy who used to wave to him every day had told him that he couldn’t talk to him anymore. As we drove, Dan told me stories of the area and a few more gems for the book that I recorded.
 
Later in the evening we got to the place we’re renting with more than enough food to feed a small army.  We loaded up the house, got settled in and then the work began.  Didn’t get to sleep til 3am (okay I napped from 10 to 11:30)!
 
We discussed Education in America and the conversation of Color and its importance with our youth. How we all spend so much time trying to figure out who we are, its difficult to be able to learn in school.  That was his experience and I’m certain there are a few kids who kids and adults who can relate.  Dan shared another story of how he became addicted to education after being considered a dumb kid for so many years.  He told me of how he created his own positive peer pressure when he returned to College. How he felt cool when he got good grades. If we can make education cool – like cigarettes used to be and like cell phones now are – then we all stand a chance.  I like that.

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Alesia Shute and Everything’s Okay: Another Story Inspiring Change

As some of you know, our client, Alesia Shute, was diagnosed with cancer when she was seven years old. At a time when most kids are learning to ride bikes, Alesia was overcoming obstacles that knock adults to their knees. As a child, she survived six major surgeries and several minor ones and endured years of pain and uncertainty. But Alesia didn’t want to tell a story that focused on the pain and struggles of her journey; she wanted to tell a story about overcoming, a story that would inspire other patients and survivors to live openly and joyfully.

Among the amazing things about Alesia is that she is donating 100% of the profits from her book, Everything’s Okay, to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which is where she was treated as a child. In itself, this is an awesome way to give back, but Alesia wasn’t stopping there. Like Robert Renteria, she has a mission, and we are thrilled to be on board. After all, we’ve already seen through Robert’s book the awesome difference story can make on a national scale, and that’s the path we’re on with Alesia.

In the three months since her book was published through us, Alesia has formed the Alesia Shute Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to make hospital stays more comfortable for patients and fund research that will help prevent childhood diseases. Through the Foundation, she is donating books to hospitals, support groups, and more. As a result, Alesia is all over the media for her efforts to inspire children and families facing catastrophic illness and to help find a cure for the diseases that affect so many.

Alesia and Everything’s Okay is another example of why we at the Table are so passionate about the power of story. There simply is no better way of connecting with others, of inspiring change, of giving hope where once there was none.

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From Mission to Marketing, How to Show Integrity in Everything You Do—and Why You Should

Businesses
that operate without integrity—by cutting corners, overcharging,
underpaying, or otherwise devaluing clients and employees—don’t last
long. Because of these cheap tricks, they may soar in the short-term by
fooling people into thinking they’re something they’re not, but
eventually, they will fall. And most of them will fall hard. The reason is simple: You can’t sustain a business on a foundation of sand.

To create a business with integrity, start at the beginning. What’s the mission of your business? Think big on the what and get specific on the how. For example, our mission at Round Table Companies is to  help
build our clients dreams (the what) through the power of exceptional
strategy, writing and design (the how). Think hard and get creative
about the ways in which you’ll accomplish your mission and, perhaps
most importantly, why this mission matters to you.

Another huge step is to figure out your core values, both as an
individual and a company. Ours at the Table are Integrity, Brilliance,
Joy, Synergy, and Creativity. (Need help determining your core values?
Contact us at lauray@writersoftheroundtable.com
for a free workbook.) We work hard to infuse everything we do with our
core values. If a process, a team member, or a client isn’t matching
up, we immediately try to resolve the problem.

Defining your core values and presenting them to the world—on your
website or mission page, for example—immediately ensures that you’re
held accountable to them. If one of your core values is expediency, for
example, you probably won’t let yourself get lazy with returning client
calls. In other words, make sure that everything, from client and
employee relationships to the brochures you make to the speeches you
give, mesh with your core values. In doing this, you will constantly
operate with integrity. And it will show.