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2009 is underway.  It is a project already on its way, consuming time, expenses, human resources.  Do you have a plan?  If not, the project can easily go awry.  We call it New Years’ Resolutions, or Goals for 2009, or similar titles, but it still a planning tool.  And 365 days hence, we can use it to determine variance between our dreams and our realities.

If you are thinking about how you want 2009 to go, consider these categories:

• Job
• Career
• Learning Something New / Education
• Friends and Family
• Home and Community
• Health
• Spiritual Understanding
• Play and Renewal
• Business and Finance
• Other

Within these, write 3 – 5 statements. Start each one with an action verb, one that describes something you can actually see. (Avoid intangible verbs, like ‘to know’ or ‘to be’.)  Make it truly concrete by adding a target date, a way to measure change or achievement of the action.

Example – “To get more sleep” is worthy – but not as effective as “To get to sleep by 10 pm at least 5 nights per week”.  You can hold yourself accountable to the second statement.

Once you write these, put them in your PDA or daybook, some place that will catch your eye regularly.  Have progress ‘meetings’ with yourself to evaluate progress, the need to get back on plan, or to celebrate completion of a goal.

I’ve done this for years, and now and then go back to my own ancient history.  It is amazing to see how writing a plan affects my direction, year after year!  Have experiences to compare? Please share them!

Recently, the Alaska Distance Learning Network (akDLN) went live (www.akdistancelearning.net).  It is a virtual coffee house replete with an electronic file cabinet (think about it: a place to meet and chat equipped with a place to store the stuff you are discussing or referencing).  The akDLN also hosts courses for clients.  For example, we train health aides in Alaskan villages using this site, company employees using Outlook, others wants to improve management skills (stress management and time management included), and many others via custom-built courses.

Visit the site. If you wish, go through the “portal” and see the akDLN’s list of courses.  Many of them will be locked for secure access by enrolled learners only, but a few are open for you to explore.  Contact admin@akdistancelearning.net or consultant@transitionmanagement.us if the akDLN sparks your creative thought on how to develop the knowledge base of your company or organization! In addition to the ‘portal’, there are white papers regarding adult learning that you can access via www.akdistancelearning.net.

The timing of this debut is no accident.  It is a gift offered by most wonderful colleagues and friends whose desire to see the akDLN live led to an incredible blending of talents and skills.  Gratfulness abounds at the akDLN!

Introducing Yourself: The One Minute Method

If your introduction were a Super Bowl ad, how much would it cost?
Would you run an ad on any television show without careful planning?
Not at current media prices! So why would you discount the value of
your personal appearance – meaning the value of your personally
delivered introduction? This IS your advertisement for Me, Inc.

Have an overview of yourself ready at all times – it can be used to position your ‘self’, your strengths, and your career direction.  Using a formula can save you from brain-freeze and catch the listener’s attention.  Use it while being personal enough and specific enough to convey the ‘living color’ of who you are.  As you begin, memorize the flow – you can extemporize later!

• Opening/positioning statement – 10 seconds –  after stating your first and last name, say something about your profession or career field, your values, early life, family, or where you grew up – but remember that in 10 seconds you cannot address ALL of these! Pick one that relates to your listeners.
• Recent experience – in 20 seconds, describe your experience (role/title, employer), skills, and key achievements
• Earlier work experience and accomplishments – 15 seconds
• Current direction – 15 seconds – what you want to accomplish in your career, the kind of position you are or will be seeking next, or the contribution you wish to make

By following this formula, you end on a strong note – it will keep you from trailing off…or talking too long.

This is ‘marketing’.  It shows that you know how to present yourself, and it conveys clarity of thought and courtesy toward the listener as well showing that pay attention to the typical attention span.  Once you have practiced the formula, substitute different stories – perhaps one version will start with things your family taught you and end with your community development goals; another might relate your career field during the first years of your career to your intentions of switching to another field or becoming your own boss.

Develop several story lines and practice the timing.  At first it will seem difficult, but with practice, you will get the important things in, and the presentation will put you in your best light.

Last week at BP Energy’s conference center, SCORE hosted an expert in the new tools of Internet communication.  In a single evening, owners of small businesses caught the blogging bug due by exposure to 10 – 15 examples coupled with live dialogue about blogging in terms of the owners’ products and services. Aliza Sherman writes under many names – check her Small Biz Tech Girl blog for discussion of social networking for businesses.  And get her in your shop for some fast paced consultation!

One of tips about social networking for businesses is: Be real.

Don’t
put out promotional notices with painstakingly crafted marketing
messages. Be conversational. Encourage feedback and interaction. People
friend companies on social networks to get to know more about the
company as well as to show their interests by having that company in
their friends list. Don’t be too corporate – be human even though the
page isn’t for you personally. The more transparent you are about who
posts to your company page, the more attractive it becomes to customers
and potential customers.

The title, “The Art of Hosting”, might bring Martha Stewart to mind, but that would be a different connotation from the one I have just encountered. There is a site, www.artofhosting.org, that focuses on holding conversations that matter.  One page summarized the essentials of what it takes to have good conversations about what matters most to us:

Essentials

* live now what future you want to create

* be in the present

* do not host it alone – be a good team of hosts

* focus on questions that matters

* go into conversation about what really matters by listening deeply to each other – beyond the words

* allow all voices to be heard so the collective intelligence can surface

* co host a good process that allows everyone to learn about themselves – each other & the purpose

* harvest good essences

* do not act before clarity & wisdom have come

* do not fear chaos – it is creative space where the new order can be born

* go through your fear however it manifests

Please visit this site & see if it inspires you, as well! Were we to approach group dynamics, listening skills, & leadership skills with these essentials in mind, what might we achieve?  More.  Much more.

For two days, I enjoyed the company of twenty emerging leaders who have been selected as part of the Leadership Anchorage Twelfth Year cohort.  We converged on the Birchwood Camp facilities with a burden of uncertainty: what would these people be like?  Would the weather be dreary?  What were we going to encounter?

Thinking ahead by eight months, I foresee a story of challenge and growth, both individually and as a group.   We will learn from one another.  Best of all, we will establish friendships for life in support of Anchorage as an enviable place to live — for all communities.
Leadership Anchorage 2008 – 2009

The weather bodes of cold and wet.  At present, it is cooler, and rain comes daily.  Leaves, yellow and restless, gather on the lawn and prepare for a transition.  Interesting that their journey is such a vivid illustration of life, career, company existence…the journeys in which we participate without much reflection on their effects on us. Have you noticed that companies have childhood, adolescence, middle age, old age, and in some cases, death?  I recall research from the 60s and 70s in which the corporate life cycle concept was addressed, and have watched for evidence of it  since reading those early articles.