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On November 2nd I had the opportunity to host Evening Magazine with John Curley. John is very funny and unpredictable and made it very interesting to do the show. I also learned that he only does 1 take as you can tell from the first scene. Unfortunately, his crew did not warn me of this until after we started.
Tomorrow we will celebrate our Thanskgiving holiday and I know I have so much to be thankful for. I had to take a trip to IKEA tonight to pick up a gift. As we were loading our purchases into the car I met 2 soldiers from the Stryker Bridgade. They were young men and seemed so friendly and happy. They had just returned from Iraq and were there buying all new furniture for one of their apartments. They seemed so happy and excited just to be at IKEA. I mentioned to them that they must be so happy to be home for the holidays this year and they both just nodded their heads and you could see in their eyes they meant yes.
Sometimes in life things happen that don't really make sense or seem like giant setbacks or disappointments. One way to help raise our spirits is to keep a list of what we are thankful for until we are back on our feet. By focusing on what we have and by showing our thanks we will be less focused on what don't have.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I was contacted over the summer via my Zoodango profile to participate in an interview for a publication targeted at youth and helping them to achieve more in life. I thought it sounded like an interesting project so I sent back responses and just received back today the edited copy from Marcus that will appear in various publications targeted at youth. Here is the article...
Coaches exist in all fields and disciplines and many coaches in our lives don’t even carry the title “Coach.” Yet through their encouragement and investment, they have made a tremendous impact on our lives.
Coaches must be experts in their chosen field and passionate about their area of expertise. (It is difficult to be a great soccer coach if one is not passionate about soccer or has never played the game). They have lived through their own development and want to share their wisdom and experience with others. They are never happy with the status quo and are always striving to know more and become better in their fields.
In my own life, I once struggled making connections with people, sharing my ideas in groups, and displaying confidence in my communications. I turned these weaknesses into strengths and now these are the exact areas where I am best at coaching others.
The first time I remember coaching people was in the first grade. I could already read because my grandmother spent many hours with me reading books. When reading was introduced in the first grade with the “See Jane” books, I was already reading at a more advanced level so I immediately worked with my classmates who were struggling. It just seemed like the natural thing to do—to help pull them up to my level in this area.
Through my school life and work life, I would master tasks and then share short cuts or help new people come up to speed. When I turned 18, I realized that I was confident academically, but had a low self-concept. I believed other people were superior to me, and I struggled with speaking to people, especially if they were older or more experienced.
I heard a speaker tell a story about a guy in Australia who was very poor and did not want to be poor anymore, so he read 2000 books on other successful people and now is one of the wealthiest people in Australia. I never found out if this story was true or an urban legend, but it sounded good to me at the time, so I immediately began a reading spree. I read biographies of people who overcame great obstacles and became great historical figures. I read business books to help improve my business vocabulary. I read self-help books to learn how to deal with people, speak in public, sell ideas, and influence others.
I immediately started to see a change in myself. Soon, people who were much older and more successful started showing me the ropes. My income started rising, along with my confidence and by the age of 19, I was working for a Fortune 500 company in a sales support role, earning more money than I could have imagined at my young age.
I have always been interested in people and what makes them successful and not successful. Armed with this knowledge and with the help of my mentors I have become stronger and more confident in myself in my abilities. I still read about 3-4 books in these areas per month. I enjoy surrounding myself with people who are experts in other fields so I can be challenged and learn from them.
The truth is that for most of us, until we are out there working, we really don’t have an experience of our strengths or our passions. With the global view we enjoy today, having a breadth of knowledge can enhance our possibilities, versus just a depth of knowledge in one area.
I have one friend who was pressured from her parents to become a nurse, following the footsteps of several aunts, saying that they “made great money.” She heard this throughout her life from her mother who was also the family accountant and did the annual taxes for these aunties. She graduated from a top University with a $98K degree and jumped into her first nursing job. She absolutely hated it. After two years she was very depressed, realizing that her true dream was to be a music teacher. After about five years of being a full-time nurse and part-time music teacher, she went back to school for her music degree. She is now a full-time music instructor making more money than she ever did in nursing.
It may seem after hearing this story that the nursing degree was a total waste of money and time. However, a few years ago at a cousins wedding, she met a doctor who later became her husband. Even though she no longer practices nursing, she has a deeper understanding of her husband’s work and can have graphic conversations with him about procedures. If we studied further, we would probably also find that she uses knowledge gained from nursing on a daily or weekly basis, receiving even more of a return on her “investment” than a wonderful husband.
Once we acquire knowledge, it becomes part of us and we never know when we will need to apply it in life. The faster we can determine our strengths and passions, the sooner we can use this knowledge to develop the career of our dreams.
In today’s world, just having the technical knowledge about a field of study is not enough to get to the top. I know many brilliant engineers who were passed over for promotions because they are not good leaders. In today’s workplace, collaboration with others and fitting into a company’s culture is sometimes considered over and above the technical knowledge. This is where the younger generation has the true advantage and potential to pass up people with more experience. Just this week I was meeting with a VP of a company in the aerospace industry and he told me that he hires for culture fit and personality versus experience.
In any industry, what separates people from the masses is their ability to work with and connect with others. If you have a brilliant scientist who is great in the lab but is unable to communicate her findings and sell her superiors’ on a course of action, her brilliance is useless. The best way to get ahead in any profession today is twofold: first, by always doing a great job and second, by taking the time to build connections with others. In order to do this, we need to be confident reaching out to make the connection. This is where I struggled for so long in my earlier life and it was very costly for me. It is other people who will network for you when you need a job, funding for a project, acceptance into a club, or an introduction to a potential client. Coaching top executives is such a private endeavor that I cannot divulge the names of my clients. The only way to gain new clients is by referral, based on my skills and our relationship.
The key to connecting with others is to have the attitude of “How I can I help?” rather than, “How can they help me?” With the new technology available and web 2.0 platforms, making and keeping connections is easier than ever. I wish I had kept in better contact with my college professors, peers, and classmates, but I didn’t see the value or have the confidence at the time to be the initiator. I am currently reading the great book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Keith says that he has 5000 people in his Palm who will take his call. (http://www.keithferrazzi.com/) The 250 people in my Pocket PC is quite small in comparison and I realized that I need to work even harder at making connections with others.
When it comes to personal development, I cannot stress enough the importance of developing leadership competencies, speaking abilities, and confidence in sharing ideas. My advice is take advantage of participating in any program that is going to help you develop in these areas. These are skills I struggled with in the past and now coach others to strengthen. In addition, I would reach out to people in the business community -- ask what extracurricular activities they participate in and see if you can attend with them.
I have an associate in Seattle who is graduating this year from UW. I can’t tell you how many times I have run into him at business events. He is a master at developing his network and rubbing shoulders with people in roles he wants to occupy in the future. He has also paid for and attended leadership courses and sales related courses outside of his college to gain further insight. One of the best courses any young professional can take is the Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Communications and Human Relations (www.dalecarnegie.com).
I agree with Warren Buffett’s comments on a recent PBS special where he said that by going above and beyond the requirements in a particular area, a person is setting themselves up to be able to coach and train others in the future.
The coach’s role is to assist us in areas of our lives where we have been unsuccessful, unmotivated, or scared to develop on our own. Real estate agents, financial advisors, fitness trainers and other sole proprietors, all include some degree of coaching for their clients. They may be depending on the client to take action, yet if they are afraid of transitions and change, it is necessary to find ways to motivate them to push through the challenges. Being an expert financial advisor or fitness trainer with poor people-skills is not going to help us gain or keep our clients.
The reason I loved working with fitness trainers is they motivated me do what I was not willing to do on my own and they encouraged me along the way. I work to do the same for my clients and for people I care about in my life. The best way to motivate people is to praise their positive improvements and not criticize their mistakes. This way they will be encouraged to deal with the uncomfortable feelings associated with change. Pointing out their incremental results and how they are improving gives them fuel to continue the journey.
My joy in coaching happens when I see people (and companies) break through their imaginary ceiling and watch their excitement when they realize they are at a new level. It is fun to read about the companies or run into people months later and hear of their successes and new heights they have reached as a result of their breakthrough.
When I left the comfort of working for someone else with a national brand and client base to start my own company, I felt anxious. I quickly realized that I had been telling people for many years to step beyond their areas of comfort and now it was my turn to practice what I had been preaching. It is normal to feel anxious when we are charting new paths. The great thing is that during this time I received emails from several past students and friends who gave me the boost of confidence I needed to continue forging ahead. Again, my network of connections paid off and helped me in my time of need.
Just this week I met with my friend’s younger brother, Jay, who just graduated from WSU. Jay wants to go into sales but did not know what industry or product. I met with him with the goal of helping him narrow his focus and get interviews with a few companies that are aligned with his interests. After we were finished going over his results, he asked me if I was using any web 2.0 tools to promote my business. He explained that he had taken a course this past semester in college about web 2.0 and spent the next 45 minutes helping me get with the times.
Based on his recommendation I started a blog http://www.amyhedin.com/ and am considering podcasting. So you see, when we connect with people to help them get ahead, we also may gain from the process.
Our Megatrends for Megabucks: Building Alliances that Grow Revenues was a big success in Seattle this week. We had a room full of energy filled with business owners, CEO's, sales and marketing execs, and executive directors. I think there are some very specific things we did to make this event a success so I decided to post this 5 Tips For a Successful Seminar List to share best practices with others who may be planning seminars and speaking events. Please post any additional tips you have so we can create a long list.
1 Get a venue that is acceptable with your desired audience.
Our desired audience was CEO's, business owners, company leaders so we held it at a private business club in Seattle with great food, great views, and top service. Just think of it like dating, if you had a date with a supermodel would you take her to Denny's?
2. Select a topic that is very current and relevant and narrow enough to draw the correct audience.
In talking with different people throughout the morning many said they came to the event becuase they are currently working on alliances or want to do so in the future. This means the topic drew the right people and the three speakers have resources that can help them achieve a current business objective. It also means that people left satisfied versus being too broad and missing the target with some who misinterpreted the context of the topic. If you feel your topic is too broad, narrow down what you will be covering in bullet points or seminar objectives.
3. To provide a tremendous value to your audience, team up with other experts to tackle the same relevant topic.
I created an alliance with two others, Lori Richardson and Jeanette Nyden, to deliver a topic about building alliances. This topic was very relevant with all three of our customer bases and we have helped our clients in this area in three different ways. In reading the feedback sheets at the end, we noticed that people found this to be very valuable and comprehensive.
4. Select a time of day that works for your audience and location.
We were marketing to company leaders so we decided that early morning was the best time of day for them. We also allowed them time to leave and get to lunch meetings or back to their offices. Consider the desired audience, the location of your event, and the traffic conditions of your area when deciding on times.
5. Relevant Marketing
Market to your desired audience in a way that works for them in a way that they appreciate. In our case we marketed through clubs, associations, business websites and journals. We also included on our flyer the words, "Intended For" and listed the titles that would find our topic relevant.
Now, lets hear what you do so we can grow this list and help people.
Lori Richardson is also collecting ideas on her blog.
On Thursday I co-hosted Evening Magazine with John Curley. It was a fun experience to see how shows are put together and to be part of it. I have had a couple of days to think about my biggest takeaway. I have concluded that it is something I learned from John Curley, the show's long time host and true genius. What I learned is to live in the moment and trust what you see around you and talk about it. I have always relied on being prepared--and preparation being defined as knowing what I am going to say. John showed me that truly being prepared is to trust your talent and pay more attention to entertaining your audience and being yourself than hitting every note by following the script. I will use this experience and work towards focusing more on the delivery than the content.
I will be posting the video when I receive it.
Statistics show that 70% of alliances fail.
Alliance, channel partner, joint marketing agreements and other forms of business partnerships are not new. However, few companies can successfully create long lasting and financially lucrative programs. We’d like to change that.
Business partnerships fail because the wrong people were assigned the task of implementing them, the metrics were vague, and the agreements were not mutually equitable – as in, they read like a vendor contract called an alliance.
Megatrend for Megabucks: Business Alliances That Grow Revenues is a ½ seminar that created by Amy Hedin, president People Performance Solutions, Lori Richardson, president ScoreMoreSales, and Jeanette Nyden Seattle business attorney and president of J. Nyden & Co.
Topics covered: ways to create long lasting and financially lucrative business partnerships.
• Pick the right people to create and manage alliances,
• Develop innovative sales channels through business partnerships, and
• Negotiate, draft and implement agreements that last. Date/Location:
Where: Columbia Tower Club, Seattle Washington When: November 7, 2007 from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. Agenda: Registration begins at 7:30AM and breakfast will be served at 8:00AM. The gourmet breakfast will be an “All American Breakfast Buffett” At 8:30 the speakers will start and will be finished at 11:15. There will be 2 breaks between speakers. We will conclude the event at 11:30 after the drawing for the iPod and other prizes
Registration is $75.
Register on-line at www.megatrends4megabucks.com
This event is sponsored by: Eben Design, Columbia Tower Club, Clearwire and Mike Nakamura Photography
Saturday night my internet access went down at my house. This is an issue because it is a weekend and I am working from home. It is also an issue because my phones are tied in and therefore I don’t have any phone or fax at home.
We called our ISP Comcast—famous for the Comcastic commercials in our market showing very happy customers running businesses on their high-speed internet. In talking with them they told me that they had determined it was equipment failure on their part somewhere between my house and the street and they would send someone out on Monday.
I explained my situation to the guy on the phone and asked if their service people worked on Sunday. He said they do work on Sunday but they are just too busy to get to me until Monday. I reminded him that it was his equipment failure and again how much I rely on the service. He then told me that 2 days turnaround is not outside of normal standards and if I wanted the 24 hour turnaround I should have purchased a business account versus residential. I told him that I did not know about the business account and if I would have known I would have purchased.
After talking with his supervisor, the supervisor told me that if I call the retention line and tell them I am going to turn off my service they can pull some strings and get someone out sooner. Unfortunately, the retention line is closed until Monday. In telling him that 2 days for broken equipment is not acceptable service to me he assured me that there is no other service out there with faster turnaround.
This made me feel very frustrated because I would expect more from a company that shows these happy people on TV flashing their profitable businesses with the Comcastic jingle playing in the background.
There are a few major points here to consider:
1. Customers no longer expect businesses to be closed on weekends in the case of service issues. If my service would have gone down on a weekday it might have turned out more positive.
2. No amount of happy commercials from Comcast will wipe my memory of this service failure followed up by a customer service failure.
3. We need to make sure that our solutions match our customers growing needs. I was not made aware of the business service or I would have purchased it. This forces me to think---how many services does my company offer that my customers are not aware of?
4. Never tell customers you don’t have the time for them.
5. Coaching customers to threaten to quit in order to get what they need is truly sad.
This experience has inspired me to look at my current service set up and review if theire is anything I can tighten up to make it even better.
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