Companies whose marketing and sales departments are not using the Internet and social media for communication may have the same fate that the dime stores had when Wal-Mart came onto the scene.

Walt Disney said everything he had ever accomplished was a result of Mickey Mouse. Mickey was Walt's alter ego and he was originally modeled after Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character. So without Chaplin, who knows what Mickey would have become!

My mother's work ethic, her attitude, and the way she treated each and every customer as if they were her best friend were better lessons than could be found in all the text books in the world.

Social media can work to a CEO's advantage. Someone with a great product in a small town in the middle of nowhere can compete in the world marketplace. In 1962, Sam Walton changed the face of retailing with Wal-Mart. As we speak, Amazon is again changing the face of retail with on-line buying.

Companies whose marketing and sales departments are not using the Internet and social media for communication may have the same fate that the dime stores had when Wal-Mart came onto the scene.

This is great if you know all those "not to do" strategies. Sometimes you learn the "not to do's" by doing. The key is to fail forward fast. Try, fail, learn, and quickly try again.

There is an old Indian saying, "When legends die, dreams end. When dreams end, there is no more greatness." Leaders like Walt Disney inspire their organizations to keep their legends and stories alive.