How do you interact with others? What is your leadership style? How does that affect the team around you?

I find that I interact with others by finding common ground and/or shared experiences.  This allows people to better relate to what you saying and understand the points you are trying to make.  I think that if a person cannot relate to you and thinks you are different from them, then they believe you will not understand them.  Its like speaking to someone who does not know your language...its hard to put effort into the conversation when you know they can't understand you.
I think I am a very participative leader that likes to lead by example.  I would never have someone do something that I would not do myself.  I think this is more in my nature rather than a style that I have learned.  I think I am a good communicator and can read people well.  This helps as a leader because I can usually spot personality conflicts in the team and address them specifically before the affect the dynamic and/or effectiveness of the entire team.
I usually find that teams respond positively to my leadership style as I like to incorporate ideas from all team members and encourage discussion and debate amongst the team.  There are no stupid questions or suggestions (almost none ;-))  I find that I am demanding from my team especially if I know they are slacking.  I like to keep people honest but also like to have fun while working in teams.  If you can succeed as a team and have fun at the same time then I am happy....life is too short not to have some fun at whatever you are doing. 

Story - SmarkIt Parking

I was recently driving into downtown Boston, specifically Post Office square, for a 1 hour meeting with the Verizon Outside Plant Engineering group.  Since it was an 11am meeting, we would also be providing lunch for the group as well.  Since I am a cost conscious employee, I drove around the financial district looking for a on-street parking space to avoid paying $20 for a parking garage spot for 2 hours.  Being that Boston is an old city, navigating the myriad of one-way streets can be difficult looking for a on street parking spot that may or may not exist.  Often drivers find themselves turned around and far from their intended destination without finding a parking spot.  On this day, trying to find on street parking, I became this driver.  I also found myself stuck in traffic because construction shut down a major cross-street.  So to my dismay I ended up parking in the parking garage and being late to my meeting.  Being a tech savvy sales professional I am able to check traffic, weather and get emails from my smart phone.  However what I could not do was find or reserve inexpensive parking and be on time for my 2 hour meeting.  What I needed was an easy way to find and reserve an on street parking space for my meeting.  I could then take away the frustration of finding a meted parking spot and scrambling for change. The whole transaction could be handled through my SmarkIt app on my iPhone and I would have the assurance of having a parking spot for my meeting.

Market Size - Smart Parking

1) We have estimated that smart parking is in high demand as the technology for paying for metered parking lags behind other convieniences in urban areas.  The demand for parking remains strong in dense urban areas.  Metered parking which is less expensive than parking garages is strong as well.

2) The addressable market that we are focusing on is cities/towns with 100,000+ population.  There are approximately 250+ cities in the United States that meet this criteria.  We will be focusing on cities in the Eastern part of the US which tend to have an older infrastructure and higher population densities and tend to have a higher demand for metered parking.

3) Realistically, we are a late entrant into the market but few cities have adopted smart parking technology in general. What differentiates us from the competition and provides us an advantage is that we offer both a reservation and bidding system for metered spots. Our competition does not have these features currently.

4) We have targeted 4 Cities (population).  All of these cities

• Boston, MA (625k)
• Providence, RI (180k)
• Bridgeport, CT (145k)
• Cambridge, MA (106k)

Can a company today survive on inbound marketing?

Realistically, in most circumstances, I don't think that a company cannot survive on inbound marketing alone.  In most markets inbound marketing is one of many tools a company uses in order to attract and keep customers. Carlton Vaz posted a great picture using a football field as an analogy to content marketing. In this picture inbound marketing only gets you to the 35 yard line.  Sales and other post sale activities are highlighted in retaining customers.  I think they key is that inbound marketing will only passively attract customers to your product.  There are markets where it is essential for sales teams to close deals.  I see inbound marketing as a compliment to outbound marketing and to an effective sales team.
Being in telecom equipment sales, there are instances where we use inbound marketing techniques to bring customers to us and our projects.  Seminars, Trade-shows and our web-site draw in customers but its our inside and outside sales groups that close deals and creates personal relationships with customers.  Inbound marketing techniques keep customers at a certain distance.  There are opportunities and information missed relying solely on these techniques.  In a consultative selling environment we would not survive based on inbound marketing alone. 

Why Big Companies Can't Innovate

In reading the HBR Blog about Why Big Companies Can't Innovate and the Gerber example I tend to disagree with the post.  While Gerber Singles failed I don't see it as a big company not being able to innovate; I see it as a branding and marketing problem.  It is perfectly feasible for Gerber to introduce healthy food options for adults, but having the Gerber brand name on the packaging was the mistake.  Gerber is a well know brand known only for making baby food.  Although baby food tastes good, (I have a 1.5 yr old and have tried it) it is not visually appealing and is not appetizing to most adults.  If they would have tried to re branded under a different name, I think they could have been successful.

I agree with he blog that larger more mature companies are always looking to drive costs out of the business by being more efficient and streamlining existing processes.  There are also examples of large mature companies still being able to successfully innovate. Companies like 3M and DuPont have built innovation into their culture and are constantly coming up with new innovative products.  I think the main issue for larger companies that have trouble innovating is that the culture of the company never fostered innovative spirit and it is not something that can be changed overnight. 

Persona Pain Map - Smart Parking Grid: Daily Commuter

The Daily Worker commuting to Boston has a bad day when they cannot find any parking and have to pay for an expensive parking spot in a parking garage.  They are also afraid of being late to work or meetings because of the lack of available parking spots or having to find change to the pay the meter.  The thought of driving around looking for a parking spot and being late for a meeting keeps them up at night.  The Daily worker is responsible for getting to work or a meeting on time.  Most of the time traffic and lack of parking or the main obstacles.  The daily commuter wants to be able to drive into Boston and easily find an inexpensive parking spot.  For the the daily commuter a successful commute is measured on the ease of finding a parking spot.  We can offer the daily commuter an easy way to find and pay for parking spaces in Boston which will simplify the parking process.

Toyota's A3 Report

In reading the details of Toyota's A3 report process for introducing innovative solutions to company problems, I really like the simple template.  The template helps focuses employees on not just identifying a problem, but truly understanding the entire problem and possible solutions.  The template also requires the author to be able succinctly describe the problem and solution.  This allows for uniformity across the organization and simple platform to share ideas.  The template also creates a distinct way for attacking a problem.  It is like the scientific method for attacking business problems.

In working for a Japanese company (Fujitsu), the A3 report process is very similar to some of the processes our company has in place and aligns with the Kaizen (continuous improvement) philosophy in Japan.  This mindset and approach to manufacturing is at the heart of Japanese culture and is applied in many current business ideologies...Lean, Six Sigma etc.  The A3 report is a great way to strengthen the continuous improvement culture within Toyota.