Strategist

Can you even get there from here?  Sometimes, despite your best intentions, you can find yourself off your path and feeling lost.

Where are you right now?
Where do you need to be?

Revisit your original vision and make sure it still works for you.  Sometimes being off track is a sign that you weren’t really engaged in the vision in the first place.

You can’t go through the motions when you’re working your life plan.  If you’re following the right path, you’ll be engaged, you’ll be excited, and things will begin to happen to move you quickly toward your goal. If you’re lukewarm or dispassionate, you’re probably on the wrong track.

This isn’t easy, but it should be fun. Ask for help if you need it.  Most people are flattered when you ask them to serve as mentors.

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Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils

October 6, 2005 1 Comment

There’s something about fall that creates the excitement of a new beginning. After the heat of the summer, the crisp fall air makes me want to break out my winter clothes, build a fire and, strangely enough, plan for the coming year.

If you’re doing your annual planning in January, you’re missing out on the opportunity to harness the power of autumn. The vibrancy of the season with it’s cooler days, colorful foliage and promise of newness seems to be perfectly suited to starting new projects.

I used to think my affinity for the fall was tied to the new school year. Every mother can relate to the giddiness of the first day of school. The sense of freedom and new opportunities after a long summer of kids, camp and activities. But, it’s been years since I’ve had children living at home and I still feel that hum of excitement upon seeing the first colored leave or feeling the initial briskness of an autumn morning.

Take advantage of the season. Find some time to get away and get out in nature. Find a place with trees and fresh air and daydream. Create your future, plan your life and enjoy the beauty of our ever changing world.

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Breathe (2am)

August 15, 2005 Leave a Comment

Lately I find myself singing the chorus from this great song off the debut album Wreck of the Day by Anna Nalick

“Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable, and life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button, boys, so cradle your head in your hands, and breathe… just breathe”

It reminds me that today will only happen once. There are no re-takes so you better get it right the first time.

Sometimes it seems as if we have all the time in the world and, like Scarlett O’Hara, we prefer to “think about it tomorrow.” So, I’m turning over a new leaf…I am going to treat every day as if it were my last. Live life to the fullest…..starting tomorrow.

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To Serve Man

July 11, 2005 1 Comment

Last week I was so excited to finally install my home server. This new piece of hardware will let me host my own e-mail, access my personal files from the road and, in general, add to my productivity and peace of mind.

Sounds good right?

Except that, in my experience, anytime you mess with a good thing, technologically speaking, it’s always trouble. It’s like inviting the techno gremlins to mess with your mind (or your hard drive.)

Long story short; my server, my internet access and my laptop all died this weekend. Yep, completely dead as a doornail. This is why I have no new posts (although I’m working on a long one so stayed tuned.) It’s also why I haven’t finished my pending projects so if you’re someone to whom I owe work let me just say: “It’s coming!”

I did learn two important lessons from this tragic event:

1) It is possible to go all weekend without checking e-mail. Alright, I admit I did check in using my Treo but I couldn’t really do anything about it so it doesn’t count.

2) Being without my computer at home makes me entirely too unorganized. My day usually consists of working at home in the mornings: checking and responding to e-mail, preparing documents for the day and organizing my schedule. By doing all this work before I leave the house, my time in the office, although limited, is much more productive. I usually produce 8 hours worth of work in 3-4 concentrated office hours.

So although I think I’m sometimes too attached to my computer, e-mail, etc. I know that I’m more productive because of it and I know that the benefits of technology far outweigh the occasional inconveniences.

And one more thing:
I’m so happy I back my laptop up frequently. If you can’t remember the last time you backed up your computer, do it right now.
you’ll thank me later.

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It’s a Cultural Thing

June 8, 2005 2 Comments

Corporate culture: Those unwritten, sometimes unspoken, rules for how we do business, how we interact with each other and our clients and what is expected of us.

Think of these organizations and see if you can discern their culture:
Southwest Airlines
Nordstrom Department Stores
The Department of Motor Vehicles

One of these has a culture of fun, another of service and the third, well, let’s just say we all know what their culture is and it’s neither service nor fun.

Whether you’re a sole practitioner or a multi-national company, you’ve created a culture shaped by your choices, actions and values.

I once worked for a company whose culture rewarded working long hours and sacrificing your health and your family for the company. They didn’t say that was their culture but, it didn’t take long for me to get it.

Everyone worked overtime.

Everyone was always stressed.

Everyone was unhappy.

But, everyone stayed.

We all bought into the culture.

When it was time for me to create my own culture, I made a conscious choice to form a team who would work hard during work hours but also achieve and enjoy a life balance. Time off is just as profitable as time at work because it gives us the opportunity to re-charge and re-fresh.

Culture is more than just the expectation of the hours we work; it’s also how we communicate with each other and our clients, what our office looks like and how we dress.

Because of my mobile lifestyle, our office is extremely tech savvy. We use e-mail as our primary source of interoffice communication.  We track transactions, tasks, meetings and clients via Outlook and our exchange database. We’ve embraced a culture that uses technology to keep us on track and productive.

What is your culture? Are you sending the right message to potential employees and clients?

Remember, we want to do business with people who share our values. We also want to do business with people who are happy, competent and balanced.

Take a moment to examine the silent messages your actions, environment and words are sending. Are they the right message?

If yes, bravo and keep up the good work.

If no, get to work and start creating the world you want to live and work in. Create an environment that is in alignment with your values and goals.

Create your culture.

Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Strategist Tagged With: ,

Who Are You?

May 4, 2005 3 Comments

How would you like to have 33 million customers a week who average 216 purchases a year?

Better yet, the item they’re purchasing is available in their own home for pennies less than what they pay at your location?

Sound too good to be true?

This retailer has built a loyal customer base who willingly pay higher than market value for their product.

How did they do it?

By creating a demand for their product.

How about you? How do you create a demand for your product?

The first step is to determine what it is you’re selling.

If you answered real estate, step right up and be one of the crowd. In Las Vegas there are over 10,000 real estate licensees-they’re all selling real estate.

To stand out from the crowd, you have to create a demand for you. What is it that you bring to the transaction; what do you bring to enhance the value for the client?

Is it your experience in a certain market segment? How about your educational background? Or a compelling life experience?

Once you answer this question, you will find it easier to create a marketing plan that targets your perfect client-the one who wants (even needs) what you have to sell.

What are you waiting for?

Create your brand today and, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by for a cup of coffee.

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One Last Word About Planning

March 23, 2005 1 Comment

 

Truly, the last word.

Yesterday I talked about business planning but this post is about worst case scenario planning.

I’m not going to jump on the Terri Schiavo bandwagon except to use it as an incentive to get you to think about planning for your future.

Do you have a living will? Durable health care power of attorney?
Who will make decisions for you if you are incapacitated and have you made your wishes clear to them?

Don’t put this off to tomorrow. A Google search turned up almost 1 million entries for on-line fill in the blanks living will sites or visit your attorney to discuss your estate planning.

It’s never easy to think about dying or, even worse, being permanently disabled or incapacitated but if you don’t do it today, your loved ones will be forced to do it tomorrow.

Give your loved ones the gift of knowing they’re able to grant your final wishes.

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Free Will or Free Ride?

March 10, 2005 Leave a Comment

For a country that prides itself on freedom we spend a lot of time telling each other what to do.

A restaurant menu warns us that eating undercooked food may make us sick.

A sign in the women’s restroom tells us that drinking while pregnant may damage the unborn baby.

Don’t forget: Coffee is extremely hot and may burn.

Why all the warnings?

In the hopes of preventing a lawsuit, manufacturers are warning us about anything that could remotely cause us harm, even harm that results from our own stupidity.

But, do they work? Everyone has heard about the McDonald’s coffee incidentbut how many know that the coffee wasn’t just hot; it was 20-30 degrees hotter than normal?

That warning label should have read “This coffee is so hot it may melt the cup and cause third degree burns.”

How about changing that alcohol consumption warning to something like this.

Or, instead of warning us about undercooked meat, the label should say: “We’re no longer able to ensure the quality of our meat packing industry so you probably shouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t grown on a completely organic farm in the middle of nowhere.”

We’ve been given the precious gift of free will yet we chose to let someone else run our lives for us. Who’s running your life?
Your spouse or significant other?
Children?
Boss?
Friends?
Government?

Of course, making your own decisions means you’ll have to take responsibility for the outcome.

Not living the life you want?

It’s so much easier to blame it on your boss, parents or the economy than to admit that you may have made some bad choices along the way.

Except, now you’re living someone else’s life.

Go ahead, take a chance; take control of your life. You just might create something beautiful.

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Chick Flicks

February 12, 2005 1 Comment

No, I’m not talking about the Pretty Woman or Notting Hill type of movie although they can be fun.

I’m talking about the movies that make you proud to be a woman or, if you’re a a man, movies that make you go home and thank your mother, wife, etc.

Some of my favorites:
Sally Field as the good girl turned union organizer in Norma Rae
Meryl Streep and Cher as the marginalized plant workers who expose corruption in Silkwood
Julia Roberts as the brassy crusader in Erin Brockovich

It’s not surprising that both Sally Field and Julia Roberts won Oscars for their performances.
Meryl Streep and Cher were nominated for their performances in Silkwood but, ironically, Streep lost to Field for her performance in Places in the Heart.

These great movies remind us that:

-without risk there is little reward.
-sacrifices are required for the greater good.
-sometimes it’s about more than ourselves.
-woman have always been the agents for change in our society

Recently, I watched another one of these movies: Iron Jawed Angels starring Hillary Swank and Angelica Houston. The movie chronicles the fight for passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 New York. This movie should be required reading for all young women so that they understand that the rights they enjoy today were bought and paid for by other women’s sacrifices.

These movies serve to remind us that women are capable of making sacrifices, taking risks and changing the world.
Not just in the movies and not just in the past.

Today. Now.

What will you change?

Filed Under: Philanthropist, Strategist Tagged With: , ,
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