It’s about to be valued somewhere, they say, between $85-$130 billion.

So this Facebook thing… It’s got no discernable “product” (it’s actually just an online space), yet it commands a mind ripping valuation. Why?

There’s something that Facebook have tapped into, that started in the 1980s when consumerism really started to be driven by individual desires (think they called it the ‘me’ decade), rather than by what producers deemed appropriate to consume.

And it’s this: Facebook users see Facebook as an extension of themselves, as opposed to a separate entity.

You couldn’t get a much purer version of it.

Facebook facilitates a process of people tapping into their higher motivational and human needs. And once you can get individuals to personally identify with the product or thing they’re engaging with, you create ‘fans’, not just consumers. You’re getting them to push the ‘like’ button.

And Facebook is now the key to other companies engaging with the interests, needs and motivations of the modern Internet user/consumer. There is nothing more valuable that currently exists on the market anywhere.

What’s interesting to me is how business people can apply this concept. What does ‘pushing the like button’ mean for us bods with a few less 0’s attached to our valuation…

For me there are 3 key aspects that the “like” button refers to:

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I am sat in my hotel having just got the executive team of an Asian communications company to put post-it notes on their heads and walk around talking to each other. The post-it notes had magic characters on them.

It made them all smile massively.

And I got a different executive team to do exactly the same thing in London, UK two weeks ago.

It made them smile massively too.

I can’t believe I got them to do it really

Their first smiles (and giggles) were due to the silly idea of senior managers having post it notes on their heads … fair enough!

But as the session moved on the smiles quickly became deeper, less nervous and more genuine. Their mood shifted, their spirits lifted and they were properly enjoying themselves.

How did I get 20 stressed out senior people to feel so good? I asked them to tell each other things that would make the other person feel important. Things they had noticed about that person that they did really well. And they came up with all sorts of things.

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I’ve been really saddened by the news story of the sinking of Costa Concordia.  Looking at the pictures in the media you can’t help but think of Titanic.  To be honest, I can’t let it in – the situation is too painful to comprehend.

The story that seems to have gripped the media though is the captain and whether he was to blame.  Whether he was or wasn’t I guess is for the courts to decide.  But it’s made me question what makes a good leader? I think it’s easy to pick out good leaders when things are going well.  When Captain Francesco Schettino was sailing his ship along the beautiful Italian coast on a wonderfully sunny day, I’m sure his crew would have described him as a great Captain.  But when it all went wrong and they really needed him, what happened to those leadership qualities?

When bad times hit, you need a strong leader, someone who is going to see you through the tough times. We’ve just been through one of the worst recessions in our lifetime and if you believe the analysts we’re heading for the double dip sometime soon (my sources say September).  I’m sure the companies that will come out of this recession thriving will all have one thing in common – great leaders.

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You’ve probably poured tons of your company’s money into getting your people to perform even better.

And a lot has been wasted.

Not your fault – the proposal looked feasible and the trainers professional.

But nothing much has worked so far.

Perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at what you might be able to change, how that happens and what it might achieve.

First consider what you are not going to be able to change.

Their intellect, values and motivation are tough to affect.

Which leaves their behaviour.

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