THE INFORMANT: A Second Chance at Life

THE INFORMANT: A Second Chance at Life

A TRUE STORY

Is there any more captivating, loved or inspiring story than of someone that works their way up from humble origins to the top of their profession, achieving more than they ever imagined? The monomythic “Horatio Alger” type story? A true story that lifts the vision of others to what can be accomplished in life—no matter what station in life you come from?

No.

EXCEPT …

… when that same person, through bad choices, bad luck or flawed character comes crashing down. Flames out. Loses everything. Now that’s a story that captivates and inspires—in a negative way. For that story, we crave all the sordid  details. How could anyone in their right mind do something like that? Risk everything? Were they nuts? We zero in with smug self-righteousness, confident that it could never happen to us.

Yes, the crash and burn story is much more powerful and alluring. We love it more than the first type of story because it exposes the flaws of human nature. Other people’s flaws that is. We love that scandalous-type story more than anything …

EXCEPT

… when that self-same person, after being drug into the pits of a living hell, losing everything,  picks themselves up, dusts themselves off, accepts responsibility for their actions and … a  miracle happens. They overcome. They start winning again, against almost insurmountable odds.

THE SUBLIME BEAUTY OF A SECOND CHANCE

This is one of those stories. Ugly. Messy. Full of greed, madness and psychosis. But also the sublime redemptive beauty of a second chance.

FULL DISCLOSURE:

I know this person. We grew up together. Went to Junior and High School together.  Hung out together. Got in trouble together. I remember when he met his future  wife of 30+ years – in the 8th grade. We recently connected after many years traveling radically different roads in life. At a high school reunion no less.  After too many glasses of wine, we both affirmed our love of life’s trials and the great hopes for the future. And then, he quite possibly said one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a long time.

Him: You’ve kept in great shape. 

Me: Thanks. Hard to do at our age.

Him:  I’ve been in prison for the last 10 years … what’s your excuse?

MAKING A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR

He was 32 years old, earning $1,000,000 per year and was third  in line to take over leadership of a $70 billion company. He flew all over the world in corporate jets, lived overseas and spoke multiple languages. A brilliant scientist, he started a biotechnology division for this company in 18 months (it should have took 5-7 years) and had it positioned to capture a global marketshare of the product Lysine. Much better, faster and cheaper than any of the competitors at the time.

The world was at his feet.

TWELVE CENTS AN HOUR

Six years later he was making 12 cents an hour—in prison. Sitting in a barren cell on a steel-frame bed, no mattress or blankets and with nothing on but his boxers—waiting to be shivved. Sliced. Diced. Killed.

WHY?

He was a corporate whistle-blower—an informant for the FBI. Not just any whistle-blower though. He was  …

THE INFORMANT

Dr. Mark Whitacre, AKA “The Informant,” came from a little town called Morrow, Ohio. He worked hard to earn an Ivy League Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Cornell University and B.S. and Master’s degrees from Ohio State University.  He also holds two law degrees (J.D. and LL.M). Nowhere in his worst nightmare did he ever think he’d become best known as the highest-level executive of a Fortune 500 company to become a whistle-blower in US history. After blowing the whistle in 1992, Mark worked undercover with the FBI for three years wearing a wire every day in one of the largest price-fixing cases in history.

UNDERCOVER

The FBI rarely leaves any agent undercover for more than a year because of the immense psychological pressures. And those are trained agents. Mark was never trained. But, his three years of undercover work revealed approximately $100 million a month being scammed from consumers because of price-fixing.

MELTDOWN

It came with a price—a complete mental and psychological meltdown. Mark went to federal prison for eight and a half years for a white-collar crime that occurred during his undercover tenure. He embezzled 9.5 million dollars from Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), his employer at the time.  This story has been covered extensively in several books like Rats in the Grain  by James Lieber,  The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald, a former New York Times reporter, and a Discovery Channel documentary called “Undercover.” But the real story is just coming to light.

END OF STORY?

It should have been the end of the Dr. Mark Whitacre saga.

Prison ruins marriages and families. About 90% of all marriages end in divorce of inmates after three years. But Mark’s wife Ginger, his sweetheart since Little Miami Junior High, was the Rock of Gibraltar.  She visited him every time she could and held the family together in his absence and through many moves.

Prison ruins future job prospects. As much as we talk about “paying your dues” to society, those dues never end for most ex-cons. Convicted felons face almost insurmountable odds finding a job, even if you’re highly educated like Mark.

Should have been the end of his story. But it wasn’t. No, something happened in April 2001 at the Federal Prison Camp in Edgefield, South Carolina that changed everything.  At that time, Mark still had five and a half years left to serve on his prison sentence.

A man came to see him. A wise and caring man. Someone he had never met or heard of. Paul A. Willis was the CEO and founder of Cypress Systems Research. He had tracked Mark down because of his expertise in Selenium (Cypress specializes in cancer research using Selenium). When Paul first met Mark, Ginger was at his side, as always. He says he knew the very first moment he met Mark that he was the right man for him—and his company. Mainly because Mark completely accepted responsibility for his actions, had made almost full restitution (which with interest and penalties was $11 million dollars) and had committed himself to a better life of helping people and sharing his story with others so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

Paul Willis believes that when people face failure, they have two choices:

“Get Better or Get Bitter”

Failure is a much better teacher than success. It engenders humility. Humility engenders introspection. Introspection leads to a self-aware truth—whether you accept it or not. Mark and Ginger had plenty of reasons to be mad at the world. But they weren’t. They could have been mad at the betrayal of the judicial system to them. The excessively harsh sentence compared to the other defendants.  They had accepted it and were looking toward the future.

Paul Willis liked what he saw in Mark. Five and a half years later, exactly 24 hours after Mark Whitacre walked out of prison, Paul Willis hired him into his Executive Management team at Cypress Systems.

THE SUBLIME GRACE AND GREATNESS OF A SECOND CHANCE

Two years later, Mark was promoted to COO (Chief Operating Officer) and President  leading cancer research.

Paul A. Willis stated that,

“By having Mark Whitacre as a part of the management team, we have taken a significant step in our effort to expand our selenium-based, cancer-prevention research and to develop next-generation products. Dr. Whitacre’s research and top-management business experience has fully aligned with the future direction of the company and its continued expansion into fermentation technology with emphasis on biotechnology and life-science applications. In the fifteen months since Dr. Whitacre joined the company, he has proven to be a valuable part of the management team.”

Dr. Mark Whitacre now spends his time sharing lessons learned to help others. He is probably the only person the FBI ever sent to jail for almost a decade that actually came back and apologized to them for his behavior. And …  just several weeks ago, he spoke at The FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia about his undercover experiences.

Most remarkable? He was able to keep his marriage to Ginger and family completely intact.

THE DECISION TO BE A WHISTLE-BLOWER

We talked on my radio show about his decision to be a whistle-blower. How it came about.

“In all honestly, the reason this case happened is because of my wife Ginger and the FBI agents.

“It had very little to do with me. I was a person stuck in the middle of something I had no interest in doing. In hindsight, I wish that I could have come forward and helped the FBI for all the right reasons, but at the time, I simply could not.”

I became a whistle-blower and an informant because Ginger insisted I come forward and report what I knew. She didn’t understand exactly why price-fixing was illegal; she just intuitively knew it was very wrong. In November 1992, almost two decades ago, two hours before FBI-agent Brian Shepard first visited my home, Ginger forced my hand. She decided firmly that she would tell Brian what she knew, even if I couldn’t. She was the sole reason I opened up to the FBI that night.

“Ginger is the real whistle-blower of this case, not I. If anyone, then she is a national hero.

“Had I simply learned from her bravery and honesty, the next decade could have been very different. But along the way, I made mistakes, huge ones. On March 4, 1998, as I stood before Judge Harold Baker and pled guilty to all counts and waived my rights to a fraud trial, despite any good deed derived from my years as an FBI informant, I could not escape the fact that I had still made some very damaging decisions—again not the actions of a hero. I received a nine-year sentence that day. Many people, including the FBI agents, have said the sentence was way too long. But, the courts decided my fate, and I served my sentence.” – Mark Whitacre

HERO?

Today, the FBI agents who were involved with Whitacre’s case tout him publicly as a “national hero” for his substantial assistance with one of the most important white-collar cases in history.

What does Mark say about that?

“Despite what you may read in various FBI media interviews or see about me on the Discovery Channel documentary, Undercover, make no mistake about it. I am not a hero.

“Young adults entering the business world need to learn from that. I was involved with criminal activity, and I went to prison for almost a decade. No one is above the law, no matter how successful, no matter how wealthy and no matter how educated.

“At one time in my life, and at a very young age, I had the world within easy reach. But poor, unethical decision-making changed my life forever. My hope is to guard others from the same ill-fate with my story. It is important to ALWAYS do the right thing.”

PRESIDENTIAL PARDON

Four FBI agents along with a former federal prosecutor involved with Mark’s case are lobbying for a presidential pardon for Mark.

THE RIGHT THING

Whitacre’s story is an important personal and business ethics lesson about “doing the right thing.” But it is also a story of hope, family commitment and how to overcome extreme adversity.

WHILE YOU SEE A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE, TAKE IT

But more than that, it’s a story of redemption … and the sublime grace and beauty of a second chance.

THE LATEST BOOK

Stevin Hoover’s Mark Whitacre: Against All Odds—How the Informant and his Family Turn Defeat into Triumph. Check it out on Amazon or Mark Whitacre’s website.

CONTACT MARK

Mark Whitacre, Ph.D.:
Cypress Systems, Inc.
6706 North 9th Ave. Building D-Suite 26
Pensacola, Florida 32504 USA
Office Telephone: (850) 549-3522
Email: [email protected]

Thumbnail and Photo # 1 Courtesy of H. Kopp Delaney

Building Yourself a Better Brain

Building Yourself a Better Brain

Dr. Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and the author of the bestselling Buddha’ Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom. It has been translated into 21 languages and spent over 300 days on Amazon’s list of top 100 best-selling non-fiction books. Dr. Rick has a new book out called  Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time.  He has taught at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard and his work have been featured in BBC, NPR, Consumer Reports, US News, and World Report.

I spoke with Dr. Rick about how it’s possible to physically change your brain, your attitude, work performance and life with… Just One Thing.

Steve Kayser (S): What is your book about, “Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time?” 

Dr. Rick Hanson (Dr. R): It’s a collection of simple practices. Little things that people can do few minutes a day or just kind of have in the back of their mind sometimes that will produce big results over time in terms of changing their brain for the better.

Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together 

There is a famous saying in neuroscience, “neurons that fire together wire together.”  That means that with our thoughts alone, we can change the physical structure of our brain.

The brain is continually changing its structure.  The only question is … is it doing so for better or worse? And who or what is changing it?  All the events in your life, the media, the economy, the people you live with, sleep with, work with, or stare at across the dinner table? Or, are we in charge of changing our brains? That’s what the book is about. It’s grounded in self-reliance applied to one’s brain.

S: When you say brain changes,  you are talking about actual physical neural substrate changes in the brain? How does it do that?

Trouble and Strife and Everything Nice

Dr. R: It’s quite amazing. An example I love is taxi drivers in London.As you might know, London is a spaghetti snarl of streets. Taxi drivers have to memorize all the streets.  During their training, a part of their brain called the hippocampus – it’s like a muscle, and does visual-spatial memory – is worked out considerably.  So, guess what? At the end of their training studies show – solid science – that their brain is measurably thicker in that part of the brain. They worked that brain muscle. It got bigger.

Similar studies show that people who routinely do some prayer or mindfulness practice, or contemplative exercise every day,  have measurably thicker cortexes in parts of their brain that are involved in controlling attention and self-awareness.They are working that part of the brain, so it gets stronger. Therefore it, and they, are more capable of doing good things for people.

S: I have a similar example based on real-life experience with cab drivers in London.  What you might not know about taxi drivers in London is that they are great poets. Great rhymers. And can drive with their eyes closed or looking back at you.

Dr. R: (Deep silence)

S: I was with a Cockney taxi driver in London. He was a non-stop, prolific, rapping- rhymer. It was mesmerizing.  Mainly because I noticed he wasn’t looking where he was going most of the time. He incessantly talked about his trouble and strife.  His hippocampus must have really been hip because he was a super-driver. We had 15 near-death auto accidents … and all the time he was looking back and talking to me. But he eventually delivered me safe to my destination.  That’s how well he’d memorized the art of driving in London. Finally, I asked, “what kind of trouble and strife do you have my friend? Please tell me before I expire in this cab.”

He responds, “Same as you mate. Except you Americans call your trouble and strife a wife.”

Dr. R:  Isn’t that great?

Building a Better Brain

S: It’s funny now – but I aged in dog years for that 15-minute ride. What are a couple of other examples of formative practices to help build a better brain?

Get on the Right Side – Your Own

Dr. R:  The first thing to do – and the beginning of it all – is to get on your own side. 

I had a business background before I became a neuropsychologist. In business, there is a pretty good understanding of the need to be for yourself, right? But I think a lot of people just don’t have that same strong sense to be for themselves.

They are better friends to other people than they are a friend to themselves. The little basic practice of treating yourself like you matter is critical. Often we become overwhelmed with job issues, children, relationships, the economy –  and it’s  kind of hard to be for ourselves.

Not Against – But For

That doesn’t mean being against others – but to be for yourself.

That fundamental attitude towards your welfare in a strong and sustained way is incredibly important. For some people, it’s a, “so what?” Or, “of course.” But when was the last time you thought,

“I need to be a better advocate for myself?” 

Another practice I call, “notice you are all right, right now.” It is based on an effective rule that developed as us humans came out of the woods and into civilization. The rule is;

 “Eat lunch today, don’t be lunch today.”

The very first emotion we evolved was fear. We are vulnerable to a sense of threat and that’s why there is typically in us this subtle background pulse of anxiety, kind of a trickle. For some people, it’s more like a river. Animals or humans that did not feel anxious got eaten. Ones that survived are paranoid and cranky.

Underestimating Overestimation

There is this tendency to look at life as if it’s always at a DEF-CON FOUR threat level of nuclear war. The brain routinely tends to overestimate threats and underestimate opportunities and resources for dealing with them. It’s important to put in a correction factor. Otherwise, you have what I call “paper tiger paranoia.” We go through life with a sense of more things about to jump than are there.

So, if people just kind of notice that …

I am all right. Right now. That’s right. I’m all right now.

S: But sometimes … we’re not all right.  I got beat in checkers yesterday by arrogant, pompous loudmouth know-it-all 5-year old. A despicable act of treachery was involved. But there it is. I was eviscerated.

Dr. R: Yes, sometimes we are not all right. Sometimes terrible things happen, or we are in real pain or something like that. Like you were. But most moments, for most people, most days, they are truly basically all right. And letting that sink in is what’s called “taking in the good.” Always take the good when you can. It nourishes you.

Sinking in is the Way Up

You let it sink in over and over again.

You are all right. Right now.

It will build self-confidence, a sense of strength and a willingness therefore to dream big dreams, take a serious swing for the fences, reach out to say what’s in your heart, ask for the love you want, ask for the raise you want because you have this underlying self-sense – a strength and safety that you will gradually build up inside your brain.

S: You’re right. You’ve inspired me.  I’m all right.

Right now.  

And I’m going back for a checkers rematch asap. 

13 + 1 =

Open Your World, Walk Towards Wisdom  – An Interview with Dr. Ken Blanchard

Open Your World, Walk Towards Wisdom – An Interview with Dr. Ken Blanchard

By Steve Kayser

This is the final in a series of articles from an interview with Dr. Ken Blanchard about his newest book, “Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life.

GROW is an acronym and a strategy for business and life.

“G” stands for “gaining knowledge.””

“R” for “reaching out to others.”

“O” for opening your world.”

“W” for “walk towards wisdom.

OPENING YOUR WORLD

Steve Kayser:  The “O” in GROW,  stands forOpening your world.” Three simple words, but big implications. What does it mean?

 Ken Blanchard: It’s looking for new opportunities to learn. Both on and off of work.  For example, at work, have you ever thought about;

  • Shadowing somebody from another department?
  • Volunteering to run a social activity for the company?
  • Creating opportunities for you to constantly learn, to look for mentors, to find people that can just expand your world?

CALL SECURITY!

Steve Kayser: I tried shadowing somebody at work once. Someone I hoped would be my mentor, the Treasurer of our company. He called security on me.

Ken Blanchard:  Ha-ha, He thought you were after the money! Opening your world means you’re always looking for ways to grow in your own position by opening your world where you work.

Outside the office, you ought to travel quite a bit so you can learn from that. New perspectives, new people. Maybe even learn a new language. In our company, we have everybody have one goal per year. If they accomplish it, they will have something new on their resume that they didn’t have the year before.

STRETCH YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF

You want to constantly stretch yourself and open your world to new learning opportunities.

Steve Kayser: I’ll throw a curveball at you … why? (After a pregnant pause, I suspect Dr. Blanchard has never been grilled by a sleuth like me.)

Ken Blanchard:  Because, you can get so busy and focused on what you are doing that all of a sudden you wake up one day and find you’re behind. You grow stale. Your usefulness at work declines. Not a good place to head.

WALK TOWARD WISDOM

Steve Kayser: The “W” in GROW stands for “Walk Towards Wisdom.”  My favorite part of the book actually. But, there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is fruit. Wisdom is knowing it shouldn’t be in my fruit salad.

When you say, “Walk Toward Wisdom,” what do you mean? Wisdom is often only attributed to gurus, saints and sages.

Ken Blanchard: Wisdom as we define it is;

 WISDOM:  The application of kind of accumulated knowledge and experience.

It’s one thing to know something but if it can’t impact what you do, it’s not really wisdom.

Contrary to what you might think, wisdom has little to do with age, because we’ve all known younger people who might be described as wise beyond their years. Many of us can probably also say we know a few old fools.

The truth is, wisdom is attained bit-by-bit throughout our lifetime. It’s always within reach, but it must be pursued. It’s, keeping your eyes open, learning new things and then see how they can be applied and used in your life and the life of others.

It’s a Walk Towards Wisdom.

Steve Kayser: It’s a “constant becoming?”

SELF-EVALUATION

Ken Blanchard: Yes.  You could say that.  In the book we talk about different elements of wisdom.

AND I SAID TO MYSELF, “SELF … WHAT’S WORKING?”

One is that old concept about self-evaluation, looking into the mirror and being truthful about yourself.

What’s working and what’s not working in your life and career?  

Are you considering your strengths and how you can leverage them?

Are you reflecting on your weaknesses to try to fix them?

Self-evaluation is such an important thing.

FEEDBACK

Another one I have always loved is, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

Do you have people around you who give you feedback and are honest with you?

Do you have truth tellers in your life?

A lot of times people live with truth tellers if you only listen to them.

Do your friends level with you?

Steve Kayser: Sometimes that’s hard to do, especially if they’re friends from work.

Ken Blanchard: But what’s the value of true friends? Well, they are honest with you. They will tell you the truth.

I grew up with a lot of guys that went to school at Cornell and nobody lets anybody act like a big deal. We were at a restaurant one time, eight couples, we’d known each other for fifty years and a waiter comes up,

  “We understand the author of  “The One Minute Manager” is in your group, could we get his autograph?”

And it was almost on cue, they all shouted,

 “Why do you want his autograph? Hell, he never even went to class, you know. What was his average? About 70…”

And they just put everything in perspective.

Steve Kayser: A walk toward wisdom also means a dogged determination to ask questions that matter. Especially if you want to be a great leader in business … or life.

Ken Blanchard: Yes. A friend of ours, Shawn Harris, who built Cold Stone Creameries, once said there are three kinds of leaders.

THREE KINDS OF LEADERS – PERIOD

There is the “period,” which is,

 “Here is my opinion. (period)”

Not good.

EXCLAMATION!

 “Here is what I think! (exclamation point)”

The worst!  But the great leaders are “question marks.”

QUESTION?

They ask great questions like,

“Here is my opinion about what I think we ought to do, but what do you think about it?”

If they say,

“Well, I don’t really know if I could add anything to that.”

“Well, if you did, what would you add?”

And they keep on asking questions, because then you’re going to learn because I think, as I said before, none of us is as smart as all of us.

Steve Kayser: I  heard a couple of people in the hallway where I use to work talk about a person that wasn’t keeping up with his job or learning new skills . One of the younger ones  said,

“He should be put out to pasture,”

Because he was too old to learn. And I said,

“That’s not true, anybody can learn anything at anytime.”  

Somehow the conversation got back to him and he was deeply hurt.  I followed up with him and sent him a quote by one of my favorite writers, Richard Bach. A writer much like you, full of wit and wonderful  wisdom.

 “Here’s a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished.

If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

Ken Blanchard: Yes, some people repeat the same year, year-after-year, and don’t grow. That’s why I think it’s so valuable for you to personally, all of us, to say,

  • What can l learn this year that I can put on my resume that wasn’t there last year?
  •  How do I constantly grow and push my mental envelope?

I got a chance to write a book with Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. I met him in 1986 when he was 88 years old. He was so excited about life. And I said, “Why are you so excited?” He said,

“Everyday is an opportunity to learn something new, I just never know what I’m going to learn.”

That’s just such a powerful example for anyone. And it’s been such an inspiration to me.

###

OTHER ARTICLES FROM THIS SERIES

Great Leaders GROW – Interview with Bestselling Author Dr. Ken Blanchard

Who Influenced You? 

Stand Aside for an Officer, You Can’t All be Saved! 

Flickr photo courtesy of H.Kopp Delaney – AttributionNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved.

 

Say Hello to One of the Finest New Piano Talents in America…

Say Hello to One of the Finest New Piano Talents in America…

Say Hello to One of the Finest New Piano Talents in America.

Is there really a prestidigitating piano-playing polyglot of a musical magician that can merge the styles of Yanni and Eastern Kentucky?  A once in a lifetime piano talent in America that melds and moves effortlessly between the eclectic styles of Yanni, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea and more?

Yes. And the only thing more impressive than this person’s prodigy-like talent is his humble, down-home personality and life story. 

Meet…classical1-1-39e1ddc27820e6ca

Kory Caudill, singer, songwriter, composer, and piano player extraordinaire.  A young man from Kentucky that performs wearing blue jeans, a University of Kentucky ball cap, and Creedence Clearwater Revival-like flannel shirts, but plays like Beethoven, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bruce Hornsby combined, even on Bruce’s wildest, fastest, prestidigitating versions of “Spider Fingers.

Launched Career When He Was Four Years Old

When Kory was four years old, he shocked his parents when he toddled to the piano and played the melody to John Williams “Theme from Superman.” At the age of four, he became involved with the Kentucky Opry at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.

Versatile Virtuosity

Kory Caudill has a new album out called. “Tree of Life.” And guess what? He self-funded it by playing studio gigs and touring with Justin Moore and Brad Paisley. And versatile? Rock, Jazz, Classical, Country, Boogie Woogie and more. Kory describes his style as “Yanni Meets Eastern Kentucky.”

Throughout the interview, you’ll see examples of Kory playing different musical styles. Let me know what your favorite is. Email me at [email protected].

Interview:

Steve Kayser: (Steve): When did you realize music was going to be your career?

Kory Caudill (Kory): I love getting this question. I grew up in eastern Kentucky before social media made the world a much smaller place, so I feel like it was common for kids in that area to have misconceptions of what they could and could not be, with the job of “musician” being the exception.

This may come as a surprise to people from outside the region, but there are a lot of artistic resources available in eastern Kentucky that most places don’t have, most notably the Mountain Arts Center and the Kentucky Opry. I was able to gain some solid performance and recording experience there at an early age, so it never really occurred to me to pursue anything else for a living. All this in mind, I still grew up with the notion that;

“if I have to be as good as James Whited (guitarist for the Kentucky Opry), and he’s in Prestonsburg, there’s no way I’ll ever be good enough to keep up with folks from Lexington, Louisville, or Nashville.”

So when I was able to attend the Governor’s School for the Arts in 2003, I got to spend weeks with kids from across the state and focus solely on music the entire time. This allowed me to understand how unique the opportunities are that I had as a kid and that the Eastern Kentucky music scene was one of the most vibrant in the country. I credit my Eastern Kentucky roots with the drive to be a musician, and I credit GSA for providing me that “aha” moment where I was certain I would be a career musician.

I also feel like it’s typical for artists to have had to overcome skepticism from their inner circles when they make the decision to pursue music for a living. We often hear of folks being told they couldn’t be a successful artist, or that “musician” isn’t a real profession, and they’re driven by the want to prove those people wrong. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world because every person in my life has done nothing but encourage me to be a musician. My dad always jokes that he “hocked the farm” to allow me to attend out of state, private school and major in music, and I always knew that it made him and Mom happy to do that.

A Kory Caudill Piano Sampler

Steve: Who have been your biggest musical influences? You play an eclectic and diverse set of music.

Kory: Thank you! My parents are both professional musicians, so I was turned on to a lot of hip music at an early age. I’m sure this is the case with most musicians, but my influences came in phases. Some folks I’ve done more than just listen to and studied are Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, Billy Preston, the Yellowjackets, Yanni, Oscar Peterson, the Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, Goose Creek Symphony, and so on.

I’m proud of the record I made, “Tree of Life.” I heard a lot of these artists make their way into my sound without doing it intentionally. I also studied a lot of Chopin and Beethoven growing up. I grew up playing country music and loving the textures and simplicity of the music. I feel like some folks who live only in the jazz world can be quick to assume country is easy to play, but it’s not. In country (the kind I grew up playing), you’re left very exposed, so timing, phrasing and the melodic nature of what you’re playing has to be dead on. One of my favorite things we did was have the guitar players play twangy country licks, but with a modern tone. If you listen closely to the title track, Tree of Life, Mark Stephens is playing a hook in the chorus that you’d expect to hear out of a steel guitar, but it’s disguised by a gritty tone. All this said my biggest musical influence are my parents, and I don’t just mean that in a sentimental way. Mom was an excellent music teacher; she really knew how to make things connect for me when I was struggling with them.

Is This Awesome or What?

SIDEBAR: A good writer is never supposed to let his views and values tilt or taint an interview.  But, in these days, when a son or a daughter so outwardly credits, and gives respect to their parents for giving them the love and support that enabled them to be the special person they are (without checking their cell phone 15 times in five seconds), it’s just awesome. Plus, I never claimed to be a good writer. So we’re good.

12604722_541123672728020_6994631228054405595_o (1)

Dad is an awesome piano player, but I think he’s best on Hammond B3. Dad has an instantly recognizable style that will make the hair on your arms stand up!

Talking About the Hammond B-3 Organ

Steve: What has been your most enjoyable concert yet?

Kory: This is a tough one. I’ve been able to make music with a lot of great people, and I’ve already performed thousands of shows in my relatively short career. There have been the huge concerts with Justin Moore, where you’re onstage with guys you consider brothers, and you look out into a sea of people and think;

“How did we get here? We were just in a van and trailer a couple of years ago.”

There have been some larger scale concerts of my own that were extremely memorable as well. That said, the most fun I’ve had was my senior recital at Belmont. Of course, I had to perform a couple of tunes that leaned more academic (and ate me alive), but none of that mattered. For the last tune, I surprised Dad and got him up on stage to play “This Little Light of Mine” with us. After an hour of tough, polished music, Dad came on stage, and we just mapped out the tune right there as if we were in church. Dad and I had performed together regularly, but never in Nashville in a theater full of other great musicians. It was an awesome moment in which I didn’t even realize I’d shut everything else out and was just jamming with my Dad, which was the perfect way to end my college career and begin my journey as an artist.

This Little Light of Mine

Steve: The business of music is much different than the raw creation process of music. What have been your three most important lessons so far?

Kory: Great question. As a new artist, I’ve learned to enjoy the process of blending the two. A lot of artists speak negatively on the business side of things, but the business side is simply the link between your audience and the music you want to share with them. I’m no expert, and nobody’s ever accused me of being the sharpest tool in the shed, but here are a few of the things being a new artist has taught me:

1. Be honest with yourself and create what’s genuine.

I know it’s easy for me to say this because I’m not a typical artist. I’ve lucked into a situation with my management and record label where I can pretty much create what I want, and they’ll put it in front of people, but I still think they’re willing to do so because the authenticity of what I give them only enhances the commercial potential of what we do. Even though I’m in a genre that has more room to breathe as far as creativity, I know that audiences in all genres are perceptive to whether or not an artist believes what they’re singing or playing, and that in turn has an effect on the business side of what they do.

2. When it comes to making music, listen to what everybody has to say.

Even your critics, even the folks who know little about music, and even your spouse! When I was in the mixing phase of my debut album, my wife Amanda walked into the studio and said (in her sexy little accent that turns more country when something has offended her) “gosh, what is that sound… it sounds like it’s from China or something,” in response to a track I was mixing. She was referring to an acoustic guitar that I’d EQ’d all the bottom end and mid range out of, which I’m guessing made it sound more like a sitar to her. My gut reaction was to laugh and tell myself she didn’t know what she was talking about, but I wised up and had two “light bulb” moments from this.

One, it reminded me that the purpose of making music is to make other folks happy. There are some brilliant musicians out there who are set in their ways and have become successful because of the “I’m an artist, I only do things a certain way, if you don’t get it then you’re not artistic” thing… I respect that, but that ain’t me. I want people like Amanda to hear my music and experience something personal instead of thinking, “wow, he’s really good” or “well that was weird sounding, he must be creative.”

Two, I’m trying to sell music to folks who don’t have time to learn about music, nor do they need to concern themselves with how to describe what they hear. Like Amanda, the folks I want to sell music to do other important things for a living (in Amanda’s case, much more important). It’s ok to be firm regarding how you want to make your music– I am–but I like to be of the mindset that everybody has something valuable to contribute to your creation process.

3. It’s about relationships. This music career thing is awesome.

You get to meet more people in a month than most people get to in a lifetime. Make friends with everybody. I’ve got a feeling that if I’m lucky enough to make it to old age, I’m going to think back to all the friends I’ve made, and the music will have only been what allowed me to meet them.

Steve: I heard Bruce Hornsby say in an interview that it’s much harder to sell records than it used to be because of the ways the music industry has been disrupted and the pirating issues. The economics, the money for musicians, seems to be in touring. Are you finding that to be true?

Kory: It’s a little early for me to be able to answer this with any certainty, but I do think that Bruce Hornsby and I are similar in that we tend to focus on our live performances to begin with. I’m hoping that as we start to really work “Tree of Life” this summer we’re able to turn some heads as far as sales, but I’m heavily focused on getting folks out to concerts and bringing them to the edge of their seat from start to finish. I’ve always wanted to be a performer, and making albums is a fun part of that process. I’m finding myself doing different, grittier versions of my songs live because fewer rules apply than they do in the studio. Economically, I’m still figuring things out, and I may not be the best example because of how different my career path is. For now, I sell the most records on tour dates, so the two seem to go hand in hand, but I’m curious to see how things shape up as we grow.

Steve: Why did you decide to self-fund your Tree of Life album? What’s the theme of your album? What’s it mean to you?

Kory: For starters, I didn’t have a record deal before I made the album, so my options were to fund it, or try crowdfunding. I think that crowdfunding can be a great thing for a lot of different goals, such as medical expenses, mission trips, extracurricular academic ventures, etc., but strictly about music, I’m not a fan of it. I think that crowdfunding in music is different than other areas because it’s possible to work as a musician to obtain the funds you need, but many in my generation lack the patience and drive for this.

Being a musician means I have the privilege of providing folks with an experience. I knew I wanted to make an album one day, so I moved to Nashville at 18 and began a several year process–which involved little sleep– to obtain the tools and resources to do so. Also, my parents did everything they could to send me to a music college they couldn’t afford. After graduating, I began work as a touring musician, and after a couple of years, I had the money to record an album they way I wanted it recorded. I was driven to do this because it gives me a purpose to make something that has a positive effect on people. I could have never asked folks to pay for something I wanted to do to make them proud and happy. Additionally, it would negate my entire reason for being a musician and point my career in a very self-centered direction. There are so many more ways an artist can obtain the resources for musical ventures that

Also, it would negate my entire reason for being a musician and point my career in a very self-centered direction. There are so many more ways an artist can obtain the resources for musical ventures that puts financial responsibility on them instead of fans. When I was given the chance to demo “Cowboys and Angels” for Dustin Lynch, I went to the bank and took out a loan so I could pay the band/studio/engineer, then recoup that money knowing I would do a good enough job to somehow be invited on the master project. In addition to all of this, I have never known anything other than unconditional support from those around me, so it was very rewarding to be able to show folks that they had gotten me to a place that allowed me to handle this project myself.

To me, the theme of this album is family. The older I get, the more I’m able to comprehend how fortunate I am. I wanted to make an album that reflected on how thankful I am for the people around me, as well as the way I experience life. I enjoy instrumental music because each song can invoke a broader emotion for different people while allowing them to apply it to their personal experiences.

Intro to The Tree of Life Album – Intimate Setting

Steve: What tips would you share to help other up and coming artists?

Kory: It’s a process. Cliche, I know. My managers and the label tell me once a week that;

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

This helps me sleep at night. I’m in no position to give advice, but I can share some that I read about which helped me a lot. I was reading a Pat Metheny interview a while back where Pat mentioned how new artists like to think in terms of “if I only had X, then I could do Y,” when the best thing we can do is ask ourselves “what can I do in the next fifteen minutes that will let me work towards achieving this bigger goal?” For me, I could have a million things going on in terms of upcoming concerts/deadlines, but I stress most when there is nothing going on. I’ve had to learn that there’s always something I can be doing to make progress, even if it’s just sitting down at the piano and running scales longer than I usually do.

Steve: Spider Fingers by Bruce Hornsby… I always troll the web for people playing that song. You’re the only one that has ever come remotely close to pulling it off live. The only one except Bruce himself. Why did you decide to take that tune on? Musical challenge?

Kory: I decided to take on that tune during college. Bruce makes it sound so effortless, so when it came time for us to pick which tune we wanted to do for the Rock Ensemble performance, I figured it’d be a fun challenge…I had no idea how tough it would end up being. As I dove into it, I quickly gained, even more, appreciation for Bruce and what he does. Looking back, I think that me and the guys would play the tune much differently now. I think that in capturing the dexterity and flash of what the lyrics talk about, we still missed on how deep Bruce’s groove is, which is probably common for young players.

I will say, though, I do like that we usually tend to rock a bit more towards the end of the tune, I always dug having it peak the way we did. I’m from the bluegrass capital of the world, so I like to play on top of the beat more than what somebody like Bruce would probably dig. That said, one semester my roommate and I waited outside a back alley for Bruce to go into soundcheck at the Brown in Louisville (flattering I know), and after we approached him saying, “it’s ok, we’re piano majors.” Bruce stopped and talked to us.

IMG_0401

It turns out he had seen my video of Spider Fingers online, and he said;

“Yes, that’s the toughest tune I play and here you’ve made it sound effortless,”

Needless to say, that’s been one of the coolest moments of my career.

This is What Bruce Was Talking About

Steve: What is the song you most enjoy playing- have the most fun?

Kory: This is where I should probably tell you it’s some emotional piece off the record, some overly technical number, or some hit I’ve recorded on for another artist, but honestly I have the most fun when I play “The Weight” by the Band. I love that song, and I never really take the time to think about why, I just make sure I put it into every set we play.

Steve: What was it like playing at the Hollywood Bowl? How did that gig happen?

Kory: That was a special day. I played it with Justin Moore on the Brad Paisley tour. Earlier in the day, I had coffee with Mike Regan, who manages one of my biggest influences, Yanni. When you grow up in eastern Kentucky and get to have coffee with your hero’s manager before you go play the Hollywood Bowl with your best friends, it’s safe to say you’re blessed beyond imagination.

Kory Kaudill, Hollywood Bowl

Steve: What’s your schedule like for the rest of the year?

Kory: I have several concerts that we’re waiting to confirm for the coming months, and we’re doing a very busy radio tour this summer. All this will lead up to a major event we have planned late fall and a Christmas tour that ends with our annual Christmas special in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Steve: Thanks, Kory. Looking forward to seeing you at “Live at the Ludlow Garage” in Cincinnati, Ohio May 13th, 2017.

Before You Go, Watch The Real Spider Fingers Take on Frankenstein

####

For more information on Kory Caudil go to:
Website: www.KoryCaudill.com
Twitter: @KoryCaudill

This article first appeared in Insider Music Magazine

Best of STORY and Storyteller Interviews

Best of STORY and Storyteller Interviews

THE STORY OF STORY

Last year I had the great fun of being able to create, develop and host the Expert Access Radio program. It’s a one-hour show that features live, in-depth interviews with business leaders and bestselling authors from around the world. They share their ideas, insights and inspirational stories to help people in their life of business or their business of life. The show is broadcast live on 55KRC.com.

BOOK ‘EM STEVO

I also happen to book the guests, which is no small feat considering my limited skills with the English language. We had some of the most amazing storytellers as guests—famous in print and on the Hollywood big screen.  If you study the art of writing, the art of story, or just love to read books or watch movies, below are some fascinating interviews that share storytelling lessons built upon hundreds of years of experience … and have resulted in billions of dollars in sales.

THE ERNEST HEMINGWAY OF OUR TIMES

1. Steven Pressfield is the Ernest Hemingway of our times.  He’s been a screenwriter and has sold 34 screenplays. He’s also the international bestselling author of The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Profession,The War of Art, Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, Killing Rommel, The Afghan Campaign and The Virtues of War, among many others.  Steven was the second ever guest on the Expert Access Radio program. We discussed his classic The War of Art, The Legend of Bagger Vance and much more.

Listen to Steven Pressfield

I’ve interviewed Steven previously for the article, “ The Power of Resistance: Lessons Learned from Bestselling Author Steven Pressfield.”

THE BILLION-DOLLAR MAN

2. Pen Densham has written, produced, consulted and directed movies and television shows. His eclectic string of projects include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, Moll Flanders, Rocky II, Blown Away, Footloose as well as the TNT movie Houdini and the successful reboots of the classic TV series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. He’s worked with and learned from people like Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges, Robin Wright, Bill Murray, Kevin Costner and Jodie Foster.

Pen’s life story is like a fairytale and will probably one day be made into a movie itself. His stories and movies have generated over one-billion dollars in sales.  Pen is wonderfully patient and humble—something you don’t see much of in Hollywood or business. We talked with Pen Densham about his new book, Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing … and Not Getting Eaten.

Listen to the interview with Pen Densham

For a more in-depth discussion with Pen, check out the article “Riding the Alligator in the Complex Sale … Hollywood Style.”

THE JOURNEY FROM ZANSKAR

3. Frederick Marx is the internationally acclaimed, Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director/writer of Hoop Dreams. Frederick talks with us about his new projects Journey from Zanskar and Boys Become Men.

Listen to the interview with Frederick Marx.

THE TWO-BILLION-DOLLAR MAN

4. Michael Uslan is the executive producer of the Batman franchise of motion pictures and the author of The Boy Who Loved Batman.  We talked about his new book, which is his true story of how a comic-obsessed kid conquered Hollywood to bring the Dark Knight to the silver screen. It’s an inspirational story of passion, persistence and perseverance that has also generated over $2.6 billion in ticket receipts. And yes … we also talked about The Dark Knight Rises.

Listen to the interview with Michael Uslan

STORY – HE WROTE THE BOOK

5.  Robert McKee is the most widely known and respected screenwriting lecturer in the world today. His STORY Seminar has been taught to over 50,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, industry executives, actors, producers, directors and playwrights. Teaching is easy. Results are hard.  Robert McKee’s STORY and the stories delivered by his students have garnered;

  • 32 Academy Awards – 106+ nominations
  • 168 Emmy Awards – 500+ nominations
  • 21 WGA Awards – 77+ nominations
  • 17 DGA Awards – 48+ nominations
Robert wasn’t a guest in 2011, but I plan on getting him on the show this year. However, I have interviewed him. The article below is well worth the read if you’re interested in STORY. You see, Robert McKee knows STORY well. He wrote the book—A Simple Timeless Tale: Lessons Learned from Legendary Hollywood STORY Guru Robert McKee.
###
Flickr image courtesy of H. Kopp Delaney under Creative Commons license.
Left, Right and No-Brainers…The Management vs. Marketing War

Left, Right and No-Brainers…The Management vs. Marketing War

Featuring an Interview with Al and Laura Ries, authors of WAR IN THE BOARDROOM: Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don’t See Eye-to-Eye – and What to Do About It.

There’s a war going on in American business. It’s a war that needlessly inflicts serious economic harm on customers, employees, companies and stakeholders.

It’s a war that causes great ideas and products to vanish. To get lost in the clear fog of logical logic. A devastatingly destructive war that helps bad ideas take root and grow (albeit briefly), nurtured and justified by common sense and … logical logic.

LEFT-BRAIN MANAGEMENT vs. RIGHT-BRAIN MARKETING

What does that mean? How does it work? What to do about it? Find out in this interview with bestselling authors Al and Laura Ries.

BUT FIRST …

The markets being the shape they’re in – no jobs, no money, no hope, economic despair, destruction and disheartenment all around, I thought it’d be the perfect time to start a new company.

NO-NEW MEDIA

So I did. It’s called “Kayser’s No-New Media.” I specialize in old media – none of that highfalutin New Media Web 2.0 vaporware. My differentiator? I go back through time, find and revive great ideas from the past that have gone bad, mostly because they were ahead of their time, or were poorly executed.

KNOW-BRAINER?

See, I understand the left-brainer vs. right-brainer war mentality. I’m above all that Byzantine internecine strife. In fact I’m going to profit handsomely from it because I’m a “Know-Brainer.” I use both sides of my brain, that’s why the new business is booming. Well … at least my one ( beta account – no money has actually exchanged hands yet) account is.

My first job is for an auto manufacturer. Yes I know, not the best time to be dealing with the auto industry. But my client is getting mega bucks in new investment (from taxpayers) … what an opportunity! And this auto dealer has total faith in my new approach. We’re getting ready to rock the Auto World. There is only one catch. They asked that I run my ideas and marketing concept by some world-class Marketing & PR strategists. “No problemo,” (Sometimes I speak German to impress new clients) said I. “Piece of cake.”

RETRO-STRATEGIC BUSINESS MODEL

I decided to go for it. To go to the absolute World-class Best Marketing & PR strategists – mainly because I ‘m so sure of the concept that I’m looking for endorsements to help grow my unique, retro-strategic business model.  So I contacted Al & Laura Ries, best-selling authors of “The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding,” “The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR,” as well as “War in the Boardroom: Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don’t See Eye-to-Eye – and What to Do About It.” They agreed to talk to me.

I’m going to trust the reader not to leak the top secret details of the project below – or crib the idea.  Here’s the concept.

THE EDSEL-ZILLA!

We’re bringing back the Edsel.

Sure it was a colossal flop. Worst car of all-time. But that was only because it was way ahead of its time. It was a DaVinci-like beauty.

And the name – Edselzilla?

Car sales are all about the name. Has to be something that rolls off the tongue. Has to be memorable. Meaningful.

I crafted a crafty neologism from the words “Zilla” and “Illa,” and came up with the name, which also has a scintillating etymological iconic meaning … and  could it roll off the tongue any easier?

FULL OF HIGH-TECH PRODUCTS

I made sure the engineers loaded the Edselzilla with incredibly complex and sophisticated products that most people will never use. Products like seats that vibrate and shake to the music – different beats – different shakes, depending on the music. Slick, huh? And, taking advantage of the latest in nanotechnology advancements, the Edselzilla computer sensors monitor the mood of the driver (based upon complex gluteus-maximus seat vibration algorithmic calculations) and displays it for all to see. Can you imagine? A blue-green car means a peaceful driver. A red car … road-rage candidate.

RELIABLE RELIABILITY

And reliability? We rock. What’s one of the biggest value props for a car? Reliability. The Edselzilla prototype’s been road-tested for a year. It’s better than anything on the market. Tops the Lexus and the Mercedes even.

LOW-END OF THE HIGH-END, HIGH-END OF THE LOW-END

Price Point?  A mere $150,000.

We’re going to own the low-end of the high-end, the high-end of the low-end and the almost-highest end of the ultimate high-end. How? We’re going wide. On the drawing boards we have a product line wider than the Grand Canyon.  Proof?

THE EDSELZILLA PRODUCT LINE

  • Bedselzilla: Sleeper Cab Truck
  • Dedselzilla: Hearst – Funerary Line
  • Fedselzilla: Government Line
  • Hedselzilla: Intellectual Line, Professors, Sub-Prime Mortgage-Backed Derivate Analysts
  • Jediselzilla: Star Wars Line
  • Ledselzilla:  Led Zeppelin Line
  • Medselzilla: Ambulance Line
  • Nedselzill: This is sorta niche’ey. For all the guys named Ned Line. Probably not a big-seller at first.
  • Pedselzilla: The Environmentalist/Green Crowd Line- Equipped with pedals.
  • Qedselzilla: For the up and coming Quantum Physicist Line
  • Redselzilla: The only car for People with Red Hair Line
  • TEDselzilla: The Ted Nugent Fan Line. Comes with a zebra-skinned, M-60 machine-gun attachment on the hood, wood-burning grill on the dash (can cook up to 30 lbs of wild game – cookbook included). Coolest feature? The TEDselzilla’s doors flip up and turn into concert venue-sized speakers. Personally, this is the one I’m buying when it comes out – before Ted Nugent captures the Presidency in 2012.
  • Weaselzilla: For Politicians Who Raise Taxes on Everyone but Themselves Line -This one will be huge.

We’ll own the market.

Now … for the coup de grâce . A “slam dunk” as a CIA chief once said. I personally negotiated a distribution deal with one of the largest retail chains in the world. Exposure will be incredible. Edselzillas will soon rule the world.  Guess who the distributor is?

rambler-copy-550pxWALMART!

The largest retailer in the world! The biggest audience.  Take your breath away? I knew it would … that’s about it. Wait until Al and Laura hear about this. They’ll probably want to invest.

ENTER: AL & LAURA
Al Ries and Laura Ries are the dynamic father and daughter duo that have reshaped branding in the 21st century. The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR ruffled more than a few feathers and changed the way we look at advertising forever.

Al and Laura Ries  have been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Business Week, and USA Today.

Laura is a frequent media commentator appearing on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business, ABC News, CBS, PBS and Bloomberg.

WIN THE BOOK: For keeping the secret I disclosed above – the first 20 people that send me an e-mail at [email protected] with “TEDZILLA” in the subject line will win an autographed copy of Al & Laura’s new book.

FINALLY – THE INTERVIEW BEGINS

Steve: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I have a few questions about “WAR IN THE BOARDROOM,” and then want to run a real-world business branding concept by you. First … why did you write this book? What prompted it?

Al Ries (Al): 40 years of frustration. Marketing and Management are at war. In our years of consulting work, we have participated in many battles over marketing strategies and tactics. On many occasions, we have lost those battles and have the scars to prove it. The reason for the war is that marketing and management don’t understand each other. The reason they don’t understand each other is that their brains are different.

Laura Ries (Laura): Management people tend to be left brain thinkers. Left-brainers are verbal, logical and analytical. Marketing people tend to be right brain thinkers.  Right-brainers are visual, intuitive and holistic. Our goal with this book is to help establish better communications between marketing people and management people. Better communications leads to better branding.

Steve: Examples of left-brainers?

Al: If you’re the CEO of a major corporation, chances are good you are a left-brainer. Management people tend to be logical, analytical thinkers. In order to make decisions, they want to be supported by facts, figures, market data, and consumer research.

Steve: Right-brainers?

Laura: Directors of Marketing. If you’re in marketing, chances are good you are a right-brainer. Marketing people tend to be intuitive, holistic thinkers. They often make decisions by “gut instinct” with little or no supporting evidence.

Steve: What about “Know-Brainers” (like me) that use both sides off the brain equally?

Al: We call that “Ambibrainerity.” It’s similar to ambidexterity. Most people who are thought to be ambidextrous (switch hitters in baseball, for example) are really left-handers who, with a great deal of practice, have taught themselves right-handed skills. Or vice versa.

Laura: Ambibrainerity is extremely rare. While you can learn to exercise the less-favored half of your brain, working both sides equally is almost impossible. Depending on how you were born, you are going to have to live your life either as a left-brainer or a right-brainer. Every occupation seems to attract people who favor one side of their brain or the other. It might take logical, analytical thinking to run a corporation, but it also takes intuitive, holistic thinking to run the marketing program for that same corporation.

Steve: Is there a common theme or thread that runs through these left-brain vs. right-brain wars?

MANAGEMENT=COMMON SENSE

Al: Yes. There’s usually a common theme to the lost battles. Management argues for ideas and concepts that are just plain “common sense,” a reflection of their left-brain thinking.

MARKETING=INTUITIVE. NOT LOGICAL

Laura: We argue for ideas and concepts that might not be logical, but intuitively we believe are ideas that will work, a reflection of our right-brain thinking.

Steve: I’m going to ask a dumb question …

Al: Who decides in these wars? The deck is stacked. Every marketing decision has to be approved by management.  Guess who loses? Of course marketing loses. But more importantly, the two sides are engaged in a war that undermines companies, careers, brands, stockholders and consumers alike.

Steve: Okay … How about a real-world example of an idea battle that management won that marketing would never have thought of? Maybe something from the auto industry – since it’s a hot topic right now. (I’m prepping them for my pitch here. Subtle … isn’t it?)

THE REALITY OF PERCEPTIONS

Al: Okay. Let’s talk about the Volkswagen Phaeton. It’s a high-end luxury car, priced at $100,255, and received glowing reviews from Forbes and USA Today. Business 2.0. hailed it as, “Overwhelmingly the best value among high-end luxury cars.” Remember this.  Left-brain management types deal in reality. Facts, figures, charts and numbers. Management acknowledges the importance of perception, but believes that perception is just a reflection of reality.

They think if you change the reality, you change the perception.

The reality was that the low-end car sales were being taken over by Japan and Korea. Chinese brands were poised to enter the US market. Logic dictated that Volkswagen needed to move upstream – up market, to the more profitable high-end luxury cars. It’s completely logical. Common sense. And completely wrong.

THE PERCEPTION OF REALITY

Laura: Right-brain marketing types deal in the reality of perception. What matters to marketing people are not the “facts” of a situation but what’s in the mind of the consumer, which may or may not correspond with reality. What’s in the mind of a “Volkswagen” consumer? Do you think buying a $100,000 car is?

BIG LESSON

Changing reality is easy; changing perceptions is exceedingly difficult.

Steve: And what happened?

Al: What do you think?

Steve: Well, I’ve never really heard of the Phaeton. But … it’s a Volkswagen.

Al: Exactly. It’s a Volkswagen. Not a BMW. Not a Lexus. The company couldn’t give them away. The Volkswagen Phaeton was introduced in November 2003. Since then, only 3,354 units have been sold in the United States.

Laura: Perception won out.

Steve: But what if it was the best product on the market? The absolute slickest-sweetest-superior and most reliable? Like a Mercedes. Loaded with high-tech features, bells and whistles that would awe a NASA astronaut? Wouldn’t that make a difference? Save the day?

Al: That’s your left-brain coming out. Management believes that nothing matters except the product. Building a better product is the objective of most chief executives. Wrong. Now let’s talk about “reliability.” Where do you think Mercedes Benz finished in an “Automotive Brand Reliability” survey by Consumer Reports … out of the Top 35 Brand names?

Steve: 1st or 2nd?

36TH OUT OF TOP 35!

Laura: Meredes ranked 36th in the 2007 Consumer Reports “Predicted Reliability” customer survey. Right-brainers know you don’t win with a better product. You win with a better brand.

GOING DEEP AND WIDE

Steve: What if they would have had a deep and wide product line? Be all things to all people? Wouldn’t that have turned the tide in their favor?

Al: That’s logical. Sounds like common sense.

Steve: Absolutely. (I knew I was on to something big now)

Al: Left-brain management types always favor a full line. Common sense suggests that a full line of products and services allows you to sell more than if you had a narrow line. Completely wrong. That’s why it’s so hard to win these battles. Common sense is a tough opponent.

Laura: Right-brain marketing favors a narrow line. Selling is the second step in a marketing program. The first step is building a brand in the mind. Building a brand with a full line can be difficult because you don’t stand for anything. And if you don’t stand for anything …

Steve: But if you stand for all things? You’ll surely sell something. I mean it’s just common sense.

Al: Management counts on common sense. Management approaches every situation in a sane, sensible way. Their emphasis is always on the product and the execution. Like I said … very hard to win a battle because common sense and logic … are so logical.

Laura: Marketing counts on marketing sense. The more experience a marketing person has, the more he or she realizes that common sense is usually wrong. Often the illogical, uncommon sense “marketing idea” produces the best results.

Steve: So how do you think this played out  when planning for the new high-end Volkswagon  Phaeton?

Al: A bunch of people sat down with reams of reports, data, facts, looked at the hard market realities they faced and came up with the logical idea of a $100,000 plus V0lkswagen. Then they had to justify it. Make it make sense. A $100,000 plus Volkswagen. Can you imagine? Why … that’d be like bringing back the Edsel and selling it at WALMART as a high-end luxury car.

DAWS MOMENT (indicates a Deep, Awkward Silence)

Laura: A right-brain marketing type would have never thought it was a good idea. In the automobile field what matters is the brand. Not the product. Perception dictates reality.

Steve: What’s a right-brainer supposed to do when dealing with left-brain management?

Al: Speak their language. Facts, figures, market share analysis. Present their intuitive ideas to a logical thinker logically, in their language.

Laura: Right-brainers have to sell their visual ideas to left-brain management types in verbal terms. Talk about product benefits and features instead of “positioning” the brand in the mind.

Steve: Thank you so much for your time. But … I have to admit something. I’ve been disingenuously disingenuous. I’ve asked most of these questions because I’ve started a new company – and we’re rolling out a new car model.  I wanted to test the concept with you. Both from the left-brain and right-brain approach.

ANOTHER DAWS MOMENT

So … I went through the whole EDESLZILLA concept.

A BLACK HOLE DAWS MOMENT

Steve: So what do you think of my Edselzilla? It rocks? Too much left-brain? Right brain? Or …

HOW DEEP CAN A DAWS MOMENT GET?

I  don’t know if the reader knows it or not but Al & Laura would be considered right-brain creative types. So they did what any right-brain creative type would do. Presented their answer in a visual.

THE  END

About Al Ries & Laura Ries

Al & Laura been have been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Business Week, USA Today, Marketing News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Brandweek and countless other domestic and international magazines and newspapers. Laura is a frequent media commentator appearing on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business, ABC News, CBS, PBS and Bloomberg.

Al and Laura are branding gurus known for delivering business insights with wit, wisdom and worldliness. They are sought after speakers around the world including the U.S. India, China, Europe and South America. So far they have worked in 60 countries and counting.

Al is Chairman and Laura is President of Ries & Ries, the marketing strategy firm they founded in 1994. Together they work with clients like Microsoft, Ford, Disney, Merck, Frito-Lay and Unilever.

Keep up with Laura on her Ries’ Pieces Blog

CONTACT:
[email protected]
Website: Http://www.ries.com
Videos: www.RiesReport.com