Raising Bill Gates

Fascinating article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. "Raising Bill Gates" is an in-depth look at the early life of Bill Gates and what his parents did right and lessons they learned in bringing him up. Here's what I captured and as the father of three will try to put into practice:

1. Don't freak out when children's interests, talents, and desires begin to diverge from your own. This is natural.

2. They will be independent of you at some point, so when that process begins, go with it. It was only when the Gates began to let young Bill follow his hunches (including leaving college) and stopped trying to control him that he really blossomed.

3. A man named Dorm Braman had a huge impact on young Bill Gates, Sr. when he was a child. The lessons he learned from Braman were put to use as he raised Bill Jr. I loved what Sr. had to say about Braman: he had "no sense of personal limitations whatsoever."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124061372413054653.html

What Works in Sales

Famed reality TV producer Mark Burnett is claiming that producers like himself can do a better job selling ad space on these shows than professional ad sales people.

Burnett is producer of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." Maybe I'll write about "The Celebrity Apprentice" next week. Anyway...

During a gathering of reality hitmakers at a Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, Burnett was asked by moderator Jeff Probst what is the most frustrating aspect of dealing with networks.

"The biggest problem is the massive disconnect ... between creative producers and ad sales," the "Apprentice" creator said. "The dumbest thing in the world is that the people who are trying to sell advertising -- the entire reason for this business -- are explaining what the content is after hearing about it third-hand. We're not there to say, 'Here's what the show is, here's my vision, here's the feel of it, and here's how I think some of your products could integrate seamlessly without harming the experience for the viewers.'"

He's right -- I believe he could create a more compelling sales proposition for advertisers because they would be hearing him describe his vision. Not a professional salesman describe Mark's vision as it was described to him (third hand).

More proof that sales and communications comes down to two things: clarity (a clear message) and credibility (an interesting messenger).

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2b46d200e6140dd0146572e6e431f8ef

Obama's "Rounding"

John Baldoni has a very good post on the Harvard Business blog. It deals with Obama's recent efforts to be visible to the CIA employees and his "making rounds" there. Contains some very good morale-boosting tips.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/04/what.html