We’ve noticed every successful organization – for profit, non-profit, large or small – has one thing in common. Successful organizations take action.

“Leadership is action, not position.” ~ quote by Donald H. McGannon

The leaders of successful organizations take action.They make things happen. And they promote what’s happening in their organizations. At Your Local Studio we’ve been researching leaders through the videos they make and have learned that leaders use video in 5 distinct ways.

The first way leaders use video is to tell a story – this was the topic of our first of five articles.

The second way leaders use video is to promote action. (All 5 are listed at the end of this article.)

Leaders use video to promote action.

Here are examples of leaders in different areas of focus – business, non-profit and the environmental movement – all using video to highlight action. 

Business – CEO Scott Doresy highlighted:

ExactTarget co-Founder and CEO, Scott Doresy, uses video discussions to build understanding and corporate culture when acquiring businesses. 

Here he is discussing the acquisition of Pardot with COO of Pardot, Adam Blitzer.

and the acquisition of iGoTarget with co-founder of iGoTarget, Eric Tobias:

These are discussion videos, where the two participants are looking at each other, and we, the viewer, are on-lookers. We believe the videos are designed for the leaders to shape the culture of the acquisition and move everyone forward. Leadership promotes and supports action, and Scott Doresy exemplifies this.

The background of the video is a simple office environment with ExactTarget’s signature color – orange – behind both Pardot & iGoTarget founders. Perhaps this is a subtle visual clue to the viewer that these two companies have joined the ExactTarget family?

Here’s another video of Scott Doresy and team taking action – ringing the Opening BellSM at the NYSE  to commemorate their initial public offering.

This was a major milestone in the company’s evolution, which they’ve highlighted with a video.

And referring back to our first point (and article) about leaders who tell their story – here is Scott Doresy again talking about the culture of ExactTarget with just a simple white background. This is similar to a profile video.

Take a look at ExactTarget’s YouTube channel and you’ll see other examples of videos where those on the leadership team are highlighting action in the company. 

Business and Non-Profit Together

There are times when businesses partner with non-profit organizations to create a movement of giving back. This is called “Cause Marketing”.  In this category we’ve highlighted two companies giving back:

Chevrolet

This video shows activist and musician, Sting and the inventor Tim Jahnigen of One World Futbol Project in a venture supported by Chevrolet:

Chevrolet is enabling the One World Futbol Project to distribute 1.5 million virtually indestructible footballs over the next three years to impoverished areas, refugee camps and conflict zones.  This video has just a simple black background, with b-roll footage (video without sound). 

Caliber Technologies

This second video is of a North Carolina business with the CEO talking about where his company has given back in the previous year.  Jedidiah Taylor leads Caliber Technologies and uses video to say thank you for all the action the employees have taken.

This video uses Taylor in the studio, pictures and music to create an atmosphere of movement.

Both these companies use action for good and their leadership (or spokespeople) promote and support this action.

NonProfit – Colin Powell:

Non-Profit organizations are all about urging the public to take action.  They often use leaders from other sectors to promote action. 

An example is retired General Colin Powell promoting mentoring, and service.

Here he is with his wife, Alma – promoting Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Both videos are simple pieces with skilled communicators urging action.

Environment:

Age in leadership is irrelevant – an example is Servern Cullis-Suzuki who began as a leader for the environment at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

In this video she urges the UN to make changes.

She represented ECO (The Environmental Children’s Organization) at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. She was then 12 years old.  We found a number of video recordings of this piece. 

20 years later, she continues to lead. Here are a few videos demonstrating her passionate leadership and her call to action…

And here she is 20 years later as she is interviewed before the 2012 summit:

and here’s her talk recorded in Rio in 2012:

Are you moving forward?

Leadership and action walk hand in hand. At Your Local Studio we’re passionate about supporting leaders as they highlight the action their companies are taking. It’s fascinating to be a partner in telling the story.

Are you on the leadership team of your organization or business? What actions are you taking? How can you use video to promote the action, and commemorate it? Do you have a plan? If you’d like to explore the idea of using video, we’d love to chat with you.

5 Ways Leaders Use Video

This series of articles is based on a presentation about the ways leaders use video. After researching and viewing hundreds of videos, we’ve come to the conclusion that leaders use video in 5 distinct ways:

1. Tell a Story
2. Promote Action
3. Differentiate Themselves
4. Teach
5. Be Social

In the next article we’ll explore how leaders use video to differentiate their product, their company or service or organization and themselves.  Stay tuned!

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Alex Ferguson is the founder of Your Local Studio - a video production company in the Raleigh area with quick, simple and affordable video content for the web.

This post is part of the foundation for a presentation “How Leaders Use Online Video”. If you’re interested in having Alex present this interactive piece to your group – just send him an email!

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