| August 1, 2011 | | CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF |  |  | | | News for SmartBrief prospective partners | |
| What's Happening |  |  | | - 5 tips for collaborative leadership
 People have different strengths, so nonprofit groups and associations should create leadership structures that take them into account, rather than counting on one person to manage every project, writes Shelly Alcorn. Her tips for fostering a collaborative environment include matching people with complementary skills and making expectations clear. This post was the first of a biweekly SmartBrief series focused on association leadership. Read more and learn how to contribute. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (7/26) - Out of content ideas? Look no further
Generating enough content for your social channels can be a frustrating task, SmartBrief's Jesse Stanchak writes. To generate ideas, look for ways to help your audience solve a problem, share some insider info, ask a bold question or simply find someone else to do the talking, Stanchak writes. "No one says you have to do this all on your own. Interviews with experts, customers sharing their stories and even the occasional guest post are all great ways to keep your blog fresh," he writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (7/21) - Top tweets: New CEOs, virtual trade shows, staff cuts
Top 10 industry tweets from the past two weeks:
| Leadership Focus | | | | - Real leaders embrace responsibility
Harry Truman had a sign on his desk in the Oval Office that declared "The Buck Stops Here," and that's a sentiment CEOs would do well to heed, writes Chris Edmonds. Corporate governance comes down to the senior manager's willingness to accept responsibility for his team's behavior. "Set organizational standards, coach to them, hold staff accountable, and enjoy the benefits of a high performance, values-aligned workplace," Edmonds writes. Driving Results Through Culture blog (7/25) - 3 ways to have fewer meetings and make them more effective
About 85% of bosses think their companies' meetings are ineffective and inefficient, a survey found. Marcia Blenko, Michael Mankins and Paul Rogers write that this can be countered by scrapping meetings that aren't focused on making specific decisions, starting a formal "decision log" to track the decision-making process and ensuring that only those people with a direct decision-making role are in attendance. "[Y]ou should soon find that your time is freed up, [and] that your remaining meetings are far more productive than before," Blenko, Mankins and Rogers write. Forbes/Bain Insights blog (7/27) | About SmartBrief | | | | - What we do
SmartBrief publishes industry-specific e-mail newsletters in partnership with prominent associations, professional societies, corporations and nonprofits. More than 4.5 million executives and professionals rely on SmartBrief every day to stay informed and save them time. Visit here to view our partners, see samples and subscribe. For updates, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Want to explore partnering? Let's talk. | Media 2.0 | | | | - 3 ways you misunderstand social media ROI
A social media program's return on investment may not be expressible as a single number, says Dell's Richard Binhammer. ROI is about more than sales -- it's about the program's total value to an organization, value that should extend to every department that deals with the public, Binhammer said. As a result, it should be treated as a tool that can be used by any department, rather than a centrally controlled channel, he said. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (7/18) - 6 ways Google+ could shake up social media
 The full potential of Google+ could rest in its ability to someday be combined with other Google products, writes Graeme Lipschitz. The ability to blend Google tools together would make Google+ the hub for a variety of innovative social experiences, he writes. Mix Google+ and Google Docs and you've got a collaborative-editing platform; factor in Latitude and you've got a platform that could give Foursquare a run for its money; patch in AdWords and it's a game-changing returns-tracking and monetization platform, he argues. Memeburn (7/29) - How to straighten out your Google+ Circles: The Circles feature on Google+ can help organize social media activity, but a few simple tricks can help you get more from the tool, Stephanie Buck writes. Besides filtering your friends list, well-arranged Circles can serve as a private notebook, a crowdsourcing tool, a spur for engagement or for a topical posting tool, Buck writes. Mashable (7/26)
| SmartNugget | | | |  | | - Tips for keeping important business information private while traveling
Loose lips may not sink ships, but they can get a business traveler in hot water by revealing important information to strangers. "Thunderous voices, loose lips, wandering eyes, lost portable devices and aggressive Customs officers are just some of the many circumstances that can compromise the confidentiality or privacy of information," Robert D. Brownstone writes. Mondaq/Fenwick & West (free registration) (7/25) | |  |
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SmartBrief will be on the expo floor (Booth No. 200), 
