Over on the Harvard Business blog, they have a great post on 5 Tips for Stranded Evangelists that I think is a must read for any Brand Manager.

Often in business it is tough to be an innovator trying to drive change.  Companies are filled with “Corporate Antibodies” that will try to shut your ideas down.  Other times people will suffer from a “not created here” mentality and dismiss your ideas because they didn’t come up with them first.  But if you want to drive lasting change on your brand, you need to fight through these roadblocks.  The HBS blog posts gives a handful of great tips to do just that:

1. Look ahead of the curve. If you’re relying on print publications to keep up-to-date in your field, you’re guaranteed to be 3-6 months behind… Find the top bloggers–the people whose ideas are too edgy to make it into the mainstream quite yet–and read them regularly…Follow twitterers who are posting innovative ideas and links. Cast a wide net until you find the smart, challenging voices that inspire you to think in new ways.


2. Don’t tell people what they want to hear