What lens are you looking through? If you are talking about bringing people into your community to live, or engaging people in their work in your company, are you looking through your lens or their’s? If you’re not sure, just look at your results. I once consulted to an international nonprofit that focused on advocacy, education and change through action. They had all the tools they needed. When I look at their progress today I see clearly other organizations focused on the same or similar causes have ‘lapped’ them. Why? Because they are looking through their lens, not the lens of those they want to engage. If you want to reach your goal, and if that goal involves engaging others, the path to sustainable success is meeting folks where they are, not where you wish them to be.
Web Site, Succeed or Fail?
As interactive social media continues to increase its marketplace impact, where does that leave the traditional web site? Should you have one? The answer is, ‘it depends.’ Yes, to a web site if you have a web site that weaves together other social media, as well as offers current information. If your site does, then you are on the right path. The benefit can equate to consumer confidence. Depending on price points and messaging, consumers often feel a level of comfort in a media source, in this case a web site, that has a more traditional stability. No to a web site if you have a site that no longer looks contemporary, is out dated, and/or is not intuitive in navigation. Such a site will undermine and errode your brand. Depending on the size of your organization, you may or may not have time to create and update all social media platforms. It is much better to err on targeting one or two and doing them well, rather than doing multiple platforms poorly.
Edit. Then Edit Some More
When in doubt, edit. And then edit some more. If you want your stuff read remember this…people are busy. Busy people (and we are all busy people) like bullet points, brief, and don’t have time to read all the adjectives and adverbs you may be including. Edit.
You Don’t Have To Be A Boss To Be A Leader
You don’t have to be a boss or manager to be a leader. Communicate. Engage. Inspire.
Self Promotion, Introvert Doesn’t Always Equal Shy
“A lot of people assume I’m an extrovert because I’m not shy. I associate more with introversion because I am energized by being alone–in both my work and free time.” The link below is currently my favorite article, with my new favorite “go to” reminders. I’m an introvert, but unless you know me very well, you would not sense it. There in is the glitch as others’ expectations might not jive with my needed mode of operation, and at times, it is challenging to draw the line. Frankly, that can be an issue for extroverts too, the “how do I say no” scenario. So the following article while written by an introvert has something for everyone. http://www.inc.com/paul-jarvis/7-ways-to-promote-yourself-when-you-re-introverted.html Added bonus: There is excellent advice for self promoting and/or marketing in the article that applies whether you are an introvert or extrovert.
Good Advice, For Good Managers
I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. This certainly isn’t the first quote of Godin’s that has surfaced within the blog posts on this site. While Mr. Godin is all about marketing, his thoughts expand far beyond just that topic. I promise you, if you read his posts and/or books you’ll pull great information from them, and find them relevant beyond marketing. Godin’s work will contribute to building upon your current skill set, regardless of your field and/or focus. The quote below, I believe, is a great piece, reminding managers and leaders of all sorts, that the goal of the organization, is greater than the goal of the individual, or heaven forbid, the individual’s ego.
Communication, Foundation To Success
Commit To Mutual Support, Double Your Success
I saw the above in a random post this morning. I’d like to take that 2% and up it to the 20% reminder Pareto’s Law conveys. Shape it how you want to, 20% of the people in your life cause 80% of the problems, 80% of your time goes to 20% of your customers, etc. No matter how you frame it, it is a great reminder of really taking a look at how you are distributing your resources and the return on investment, be it financial, emotional, etc. you receive. Recently I’ve noticed my 2nd and 3rd quarters have been time starved yet not financially productive. I’ve taken a look at where my time is going. And true to formula, 80% of my time is going to 20% of the people in my life, which happen to have a low to no return on investment for me, relationship wise, business wise, productivity wise, etc. A very ‘people pleasing’ dynamic grew out of this 20% at some point, and unchecked that dynamic has grown like a field of weeds. Consequently I have the majority of my time being sucked up by people with their hands out. Don’t get me wrong I believe in mentoring, supporting, even volunteering. The risk factor to stay aware of is when we fall out of balance and there is no mutual benefit. I’m not suggesting there always has to be a mutual benefit on every human interaction you have, but odds are you have a lot of responsibility in your life and need to be cognizant of what will build you up, and what will tear you down. It is true, if you identified a 2% shift there would be an impact. Realistically though, odds are if you invest the time you can identify over a 20% factor that would significantly change your daily life, and subsequently your life as a whole. The challenge is one, carving out time for evaluation, and two, having the courage to set down and walk away from those things that no longer serve your mental, financial and/or physical well-being. I’ve recently completed step one, and now begin step two. Step two will not be an easy journey for me, and perhaps at times unpleasant, but I do know that doing the ‘work’ to make it happen contributes to not only further empowering myself, but perhaps even empowering another by modeling the behavior.
“A Stalled Revolution”
The following is from and interesting article on women in the workplace. The full article can be found here. “In recent years, however, the percentage of women in top management positions and on corporate boards has stalled: As recently as 2011, their presence in top management positions in S&P 1500 companies was less than 9 percent. Although there has been a slow but steady increase, progress for women is uneven; while 19 percent of S&P 500 board directors are women, only 15 percent of directors of S&P mid-cap companies are women, compared to 12.6 percent of directors of S&P small-cap companies. Overall, just 15.8 percent of directors of S&P 1500 companies are women. Companies with female CEOs tend to have more female directors; however, as of October, 2014, there were only 67 female CEOs in the S&P 1500.”