Given my love of words, I subscribe to Thinkmap’s Visual Thesaurus. Each day, I look forward to an email from Thinkmap’s Word of the Day. (Yes, I’m that geeky.) Today’s word is “erudite”.  It means “having or showing profound knowledge”. Don’t you just love how it trips off your tongue? Say it with me: erudite.

Beyond being fun to say, the roots of this word are cool too. The word erudite is related to the word “rude”.  My Word of the Day email informed, “erudite is from a Latin verb that means instruct, which is, in essence, to get the rudeness out”.

I love this! As a corporate trainer, my goal is to help facilitate learning rather than be a Sage on the Stage, offering up my volumes of wisdom.  In an adult learning environment, there’s nothing ruder than an arrogant person at the front of the room, pontificating. The same goes for leadership.  People learn a lot from their leaders, whether the leaders is conscious of doing the “teaching” or not. Every day, leaders have the opportunity to instruct their employees, whether in a coaching role, or as a role model demonstrating the company values. It’s up to the leader in how he or she wants to teach: with humility or with arrogance.

I’m going to turn the “word of the day” into a “thought for the day”— at work, would someone describe you as “erudite”? Are you seen as someone who is constantly striving to help others learn, while keeping the rudeness out?

I’ve been watching reruns of the Ken Burns series The National Parks  on PBS. It’s an in-depth look at the birth and evolution of our country’s national park system.  Called “America’s best idea” by writer and historian Wallace Stegner,  men both famous ( Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir )and lesser-known (Stephen Mather , Charles Young) were called upon to leverage their leadership skills to help preserve our nation’s rich landscape.

The other night, I watched Episode 3 which chronicles the years 1915 – 1919. As I watched, I was struck by the difficulty of the decisions National Parks advocates faced. For example, Stephen Mather, the National Parks Service first director, faced stiff opposition to the idea of naming the Grand Canyon as a National Park.  As an observer 90 years removed from the situation, it seems clear: of course, we should save The Grand Canyon for future generations.  But for those leaders who were tasked with setting aside land for conservation, the decision was anything but easy at the time.

The passage of many years certainly gives the gift of perspective. I’m reminded of my friend Pete’s dad, Wally Smith (not their real names). Mr. Smith was famous amongst his family members for an assortment of witticisms, which over time became known as “Wallyisms”. One of Pete’s favorite Wallyisms related to decision-making. Evidently, when Pete was young and grappling with a difficult decision, he would seek out his father for sage advice.  Pete would present his dilemma to his father, asking, “Do you think it’s the right decision?”  Pete’s father would gravely respond:

“Well, you’ll know in a 100 years.”

Gee, thanks, Dad.

But you know what? Wally was on to something.

Those tough decisions, the ones that keep us up at night— eventually we (or our successors) will  have the benefit of history to help judge whether or not we made the right choice.  But for now, in this moment, we need to decide. Or, perhaps, make a choice not to decide, at least for the time being.  In either case, we must have faith that we know right from wrong, good choices from bad.  We must have the character to stand up for inequities, and to put the greater good before our immediate self interests. This is especially true if we are in positions of leadership that require the stewardship of precious resources.

Which brings me back to the leaders featured in The National Parks series.  The passage of 100 years hasn’t changed the core of what it means to be a leader. Leaders back then grappled with the implications of big decisions, just as they do today.  Sure, there are differences (telegraph vs. smart phones) but the human factors that drive the decision remain largely unchanged. A person with character is a person with character, whether he or she lives today or lived a century ago.

Leaders—are you currently faced with a tough dilemma? Ask yourself: what will my decision mean 100 years from now? Who knows, maybe a Wallyism from the late 20th century will help you set the stage the 21^st century.

Incidentally, I thought this topic would be a fitting one, given that this is The People Equation’s 100^th blog post. Do you have a mentor or family member who’s famous for his or her sage advice?  Care to share?  We’d love to hear it.

Photo credit: istockphoto © DSGpro

Last week, I wrote about a powerful leadership lesson learned when my key project crashed and burned.  People Equation reader Nancy asked about the lessons learned from that experience. Indeed, there were several. But first, the story of “The Institute”, the project that gave me both fits and gifts. . .

Years ago, I joined a Fortune 500, “100 Best Places to Work” company to work in their training and development department as a Program Manager. Three weeks after joining the company, I was assigned to manage a project called the Institute. The Institute was an annual, week-long conference that our company offered to the sales force of its distribution channel. Planning the Institute was an intensive, 10-month project. In addition to coordinating the week’s curriculum with 7 product managers, I also managed the conference planning (meals, facility tours, lodging, etc.)

When I joined the company, preparations for the Institute had already begun. That year, a decision had been made to go with a “Go Back to College” theme—complete with the experience of staying in the dorms. Yes, dorm rooms.  What I didn’t know at the time was that Institute participants were a tough crowd, with more than its fair share of prima donnas.

Think about it:

Prima donnas + dorm rooms = very unhappy campers.

Yep, that’s one “people equation” that doesn’t add up. I questioned the choice and was assured that it would be OK and besides, the contract with the college had already been signed. I was new to conference planning and foolishly, I didn’t trust my inner Voice of Reason, which was screaming, “What professional wants to stay in a college dorm? Super bad idea!” Setting my reservations aside, I went along with it.

Boy, do I wish I had listened to my Inner Voice.

Even though we had publicized that they would be staying in dorm rooms, it was still a shock to the arriving conference participants. Things went from bad to worse as word spread throughout the conference about the ill-equipped accomodations. The anger built upon itself until nothing at the conference was acceptable: the cafeteria lunches were deemed “inedible”, the conferences rooms were “freezing” (or, “boiling hot”) and then there was The Train. As in, “Did you hear about The Train that runs right outside our dorm window in the dead of night? I’m nearly deaf from it!”

The rest of the conference went smoothly, but the unacceptable lodging cast a pall over the conferees’ overall experience.  I spent much of the week doing damage control and trying to appease angry, disappointed customers. At the end of working an 80-hour week, I drove home, exhausted and demoralized.

 So, what did the week from hell teach me?

1. Trust your gut. There wasn’t anything to be done about the accommodations—the contract had been signed and there were limited facility choices for a group as large as ours. In hindsight, what I could have done was a better job of communicating the limited amenities and outlining the conference participants’ options. Instead, I foolishly, adopted a hopeful stance—“maybe it won’t be that bad.” Well, it was bad for many of the conference participants.  If I had listened to my gut, I would have been more proactive in helping manage a non-negotiable feature of the conference that had huge implications for its overall success.
2. Hard work doesn’t guarantee a successful project.  I wasn’t the only one who worked hard bring the Institute to life. It was a true group effort involving at least 30 other co-workers, vendors and external instructors.  I personally put in many 50 – 60 hour work weeks to get the conference up to speed.  Still, even with all the preparation and hard work, it wasn’t the success it could be due to the next learning point:
3. Get clear on who your customers are— all of them. Nearly every project has multiple “customers”; this was a point I didn’t consider fully.  I had been assured that lodging the participants in the dorms would be supported because the owners of the dealerships were supportive.  These were the business owners paying to send the sales people to the Institute.  True, the dealership owners were happy because it cost less, but they weren’t the ones staying in the dorm rooms.  I clearly didn’t understand the expectations of my other customers— the conference participants. They were used to being “wined and dined” and treated like V.I.P’s. Staying in a dorm room was not going cut it.
4. It’s OK to fail. Big-time failure leads to better things. This was the first time in my professional career that I had failed so publicly. In the moment, it didn’t feel like there was anything positive about the Institute experience.  In the years since the Institiute, I’ve learned that mistakes and set-backs can be instructive, if you let them. It’s easy to play the victim, dwelling on the bad rap you’ve been given. Truth be told, I spent the first couple of weeks having a pity party over the failure. Then, I slowly began to assess the project: what could I have done better? By objectively analyzing the project, I was able to improve it for the next time  I managed an Institute.
5. Perspective comes, but only after the pain has subsided. As we were cleaning up after the Institute had ended, I turned to our stalwart administrative assistant Lillian and groaned, “I’ve never been so glad to have a project be over with!”  Lillian matter-of-factly, replied, “Well, sometimes projects just don’t always go the way you want them to.” I was taken aback.  Lil and I were good friends and she is a very kind person.  Couldn’t she feel my pain?  Didn’t she stand right next to me while people ranted and raved about the nasty room accommodations?  Well, yeah she did.  And, she had 25 + years’ life experience on me.  Lillian knew that there could be much, much worse things that could happen in my life, so in her book, a failed work project wasn’t really all that much to get worked up about.  At the age of 29, the botched Institute was a monumental deal to me.  Today, not so much. But that perspective can only be gained with the passage of time.

These five learning take-aways have served me well over the years both personally and professionally.  I would never advocate that someone botch a project just for the benefit of learning something. However, when something does go south, I wish for you the strength of self-examination and the support of wise people so that you may grow from the experience.

Readers, do you have an “Institute” of your own to share?  What’s your list of “lessons learned” look like?

Build on existing blogs for your success

We’re closing in on nearly a year of blogging here at The People Equation. It’s been a fantastic journey, one that Alexia Petrakos (aka The WPChick) recently chronicled in a case study. (Thanks, Alexia, for helping launch the blog!) Blogging has opened up my professional horizons and increased my visibility within the online community. It’s led to some great opportunities, including  a stint as an Office Politics Advisor and a feature article on Forbes.com last month. Still, when talking with my non-blogging work colleagues, I shy away from mentioning that I write a blog.  Why?  I’m not sure, but somewhere in my mind, there’s a stubborn perception: “Blogging isn’t real work.”

Tonight, at the inaugural meeting of the West Michigan Inforum Social Media Affinity Group, I’ll have a chance to break out of that mindset once and for all.  I’m honored to have been asked to participate in a panel discussion along with four social media and corporate communication professionals: Laura Bergells, Nemo Chu,  Cindy  Droog, and Bob Taylor.  Event organizer Penny Rosema asked me to discuss how blogging has helped build my professional brand.

Here’s an expanded version of what I shared with the audience:

Blogging can provide any business professional with a key competitive advantage: expert status.  Whether you are marketing your small business, building your portfolio in a corporation, or even job seeking, it’s beneficial to be seen as an expert in your chosen field.  In my mind, the correlation looks like this:

Expert Status –>Leads to –> Increased Opportunity

Here’s the great thing about blogs.  You don’t have to expend the effort to create your own blog; you can leverage someone else’s blog. If you become aware of influential bloggers in your area of expertise, you can then invest just 30 minutes a week making comments on those blogs to build your credibility and your visibility. You benefit by gaining visibility and the blog owner benefits from your expertise.

Yes, I did say “post comments”.  In order for this to work, you must participate.  The purpose of most blogs is to invite conversation, which requires that you join in. Being “visible” is part and parcel of being a member of the online community.  When I say be “visible” I don’t mean “let it all hang out”. Rather, I mean be confident in your ability to share your well-considered and diplomatic business-related content with the world.  If you read a post and have additional information or an opinion to share, then by all means, do so! A word of warning: “selling” of any sort, rants and general “TMI” sharing does nothing to help you build your status as an expert.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few tips to get you going:

• Find relevant blogs: Google “Top blogs + [fill in your industry key words]”
• Put 4-5 blogs you like into your Google Reader
• Set up a few Google Alerts regarding your specific keywords
• Invest 30 minutes per week reading scanning blog posts. Write 2-3 comments per week.
• If you enjoy writing, you can take it a step further: some blogs have a “guest post” tab or sidebar. If you have relevant content to contribute, don’t hesitate to ask to submit a guest blog post. Most blogs have reasonable editorial standards; it’s not as difficult as you might think.
• Not a big fan of writing? Ask to feature a blogger’s article for your newsletter, or some other source of written media.  Bloggers are typically receptive to having their content shared, as long as you get permission and don’t alter their content or bylines.
• Are you a member of a LinkedIn group, Facebook or Twitter? Share business-related content from blogs that you found helpful with those groups. Go one step further and reach out to the blogger to let him/her know that you shared the content. Building relationships with bloggers is a great way to learn about other opportunities.

If you like to write (even just a little bit) and can overcome any shyness you might have about making public comments, using blogs can be an effective business tool to help you gain visibility and learn about developments in your field of business. I wish you great success!

Photo credit: istockphoto.com © Vaide Seskauskiene

JA Changes Lives

Miss Mulder greets me at the entrance to the kindergarten classroom. I settle into a child-sized chair at the front of a brightly colored floor rug (“The Pretty Rug” as Miss Mulder calls it) and arrange my reading materials. “Good morning!” I say cheerfully to a group of smiling, upturned faces. “Good morning!”responds the enthusiastic chorus. And so starts the first lesson of this semester’s Junior Achievement class.

The Junior Achievement organization has been a part of my life since 1990. First I volunteered to work with teens in the JA Company Program®.  Then, for six years, I served on a local JA board of directors.  Now, I volunteer by teaching a series of classes from the JA Elementary Program Curriculum. Over the years, stories have unfolded: teens can make tough ethical choices; JA helps students gain entrepreunurial skills to succeed in today’s global work environment; lives are changed. Surely, I’ve learned far more than the students whose lives have intersected with mine.

Having been a board member, I know that each year teachers desiring a JA program in their class go without, because there aren’t enough volunteers.  If you have any interest in helping in your community, I urge you to contact your local JA office.  There are opportunities to work with any age group, kindergarten through 12^th grade.  I know from personal experience that the time commitment for the Elementary classes is minimal— it’s 5 visits to the classroom to conduct a 30 – 40 minute session. Personally, I invest about 20 – 30 minutes of prep time prior to my classroom visit. The instructional materials are completely laid out for you in a very easy-to-understand way.    The teachers stay in the room with you, so you need not fear about “handling” a class of unruly kids.

Undoubtedly, you’re busy.  Aren’t we all?  Today when I kicked off the JA Ourselves program to that group of kindergartners, I was given a generous gift in return for my time: 23 young people, at the start of their educational journey, chiming “Thank You, Mrs. Miller!” as I left to start my work day.  A handsome payment, indeed.

Photo credit: istockphoto.com © Rosemarie Gearhart

When I was a kid, struggling about going for a new opportunity my mom would say, “What’s it hurt to ask? The worst they can say is ‘no’.”   

Same message by Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership in his post Career Advice Part 4: You Have to Ask for It. . .

 . . . and then again last week when I attended a fantastic Gaining Mind Capture presentation by Tony Rubleski on asking your best clients for referrals. . .

 Then last night I got the following DM from Erin Schreyer :

She’s referring to my article featured on the Forbes.com site (“above the fold”, no less!). This article came about after I made a pitch to the Deputy Editor of the online magazine.

See a theme here? It’s about making the ask.

Now, if you got back to Dan’s blog post and read the comments, you’ll see push back from people doubting that you’ll get something just because you asked for it.  People saying that simply asking doesn’t do any good and that it’s just an exercise in futility.

Here’s what I’m thinking about that:

• If you don’t ask, you’re increasing your odds of not getting what you want.  See GL Hoffman’s brilliant “He Ain’t Coming, Folks” to lay it out plain and simple.
• It’s about timing—I “made the ask” of the ForbesWoman editor after spending time following and being involved in the same social media platforms that she frequents.  I built credibility before asking.
• And (thank you, Mom)—so WHAT if they do say no?  You can choose to figure out a new strategy for getting what you want. Or, you can simply move on.  Either way, it doesn’t have to destroy you.  It’s just “no.”

What are you wishing for, waiting for, hoping for? What’s out there that may, just may be within your grasp if you are willing to make the ask?

Our 5-part series on positive office politics, (The P Quotient) is drawing to a close.  In this final installment, Jane Perdue looks at personal influence, one of four key behaviors needed for a person to be considered politically savvy in a productive way.  

Just tuning in to this fascinating topic?  Start here for the first installment, Politics are Necessary, but Not Necessarily Evil by Jane Perdue at her blog Life, Love, Leadership.

Then, it’s my turn with Networking Inside the Company Walls.

Next up is Mike Henry at the Lead Change Group with Sincerity and Office Politics.

Installment 4 was Susan Mazza on What’s Your Agenda? at her Random Acts of Leadership blog.

Which brings us to the final installment of the series, Influence and Intentions by Jane Perdue. Jane suggests her readers consider their level of personal influence with this question:

Is my word and/or my involvement sufficient to make something happen?

Now that’s a question to stop you in your tracks.  Is the fact that you’re involved in a project enough to get others to join in?  In reflecting on that question, I offer the some follow-up questions:

• Does your track record shine with not only successes, but with recovery from tough setbacks?
• Do people know that when you give your word, you’ll come through?
• If for some rare reason you can’t deliver, will people hear about it as soon as possible?
• Will people listen to your “crazy” ideas because they know that you’ll find a way to make them happen?
• Do you know how to gracefully cut your losses and move on, rather than gripping tightly to an idea so that you can be “right”?
• Do people know that if they follow your lead, they’ll be heard?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to several of these questions, then you are a person of influence. And that, my friends, is what office “politics” should be about.

As part of an ongoing blog series on Positive Office Politics  (follow #OPQ on Twitter), Susan Mazza asks “What’s Your Agenda?” In this blog post, she explores personal motivations and how they show up in the workplace.  She says:

We ALL have agendas. You could say our ambitions, no matter how altruistic or noble they may be, are an agenda.  We also have many underlying personal viewpoints and biases.  Some we are aware of and some we are not.  And they inform everything we think, say and do. 

So true!

As I read this post, I found myself wondering to what degree the label “hidden agenda” or “playing politics” is driven by the trust level between the players involved. For example, let’s say that Pete has a poor track record with Bob when it comes to being forthright. Therefore Bob doesn’t trust Pete to “tell it like it is” and is leery when Bob describes something in vague terms.  Does it then follow that Pete attributes a “hidden agenda” to Bob? Pete may think to himself, “Why doesn’t Bob just come out and say what he has in mind for this project? What’s all the cloak-and-dagger stuff about anyway?”

But has Pete considered Bob’s viewpoint?  Does Bob have a legitimate reason for not being forthcoming? Maybe Bob has a “hidden” agenda, maybe not.  One thing’s for sure—Pete can’t crawl inside Bob’s head and see his motivation.  So, maybe a better optionfor Pete is to pay attention to his own motivations and worry less about Bob’s intentions.  Better yet, Pete could put it on the table and talk about it. “Bob, I’m not sure I’m clear about what you’re plan is.  Would you be willing to give me more detail?”

To Susan’s point, human beings can’t avoid having motivations and ambitions.  We can, however be willing to examine our own motivations and ensure that they are focused on a mutually beneficial outcome. When we make sure our own intentions and motivations are well-placed, we know we can trust our agenda.

Today is Thank Your Mentor Day, which is part of National Mentoring Month.  Who knew?  Over the years I’ve had LOTS of fantastic mentors, and this is a perfect time to give them a well-deserved shout-out. The list below represents my former work team leaders, company executives, peers and fellow entrepreneurs. Interestingly, none of them were a “formal” mentor to me.  I simply paid attention to their actions and their advice.  It’s served me very well.  In alphabetical order:

Deb Bailey—You’ve got to be willing to lose big in order to win big.

Janet Cortright— “Competition” is in the eyes of the beholder.

Sarah Gutek— Perspective is a valuable business tool. Don’t overreact to every little crisis.

Jack Hannigan— If your actions can’t “stand the light of day”, then you’d better rethink them.

Eric Hicks— Be elegant, not profane. It’ll serve you much better.  

Mary Urban Wright— Being a good sport never goes out of fashion. 

Who has helped you grow professionally?  Why not take a moment to let them know how their advice has helped you?  Send quick email, text or DM. . .you’ll be glad you did. 

Mentoring Resources

National Mentoring Month Resource Page

Inc. Magazine Article on Mentoring (Includes several reference links) 

Business.com Mentoring Directory

Today I attended a networking luncheon for the newly formed Grand Rapids Entrepreneur’s Club.  This fledgling organization was started by my colleague Cyndi Sullivan.  Years ago, Cyndi and I were on the founding committee for a different networking group; I’ve come to admire her work ethic and positive, pay-it-forward approach to networking. The Grand Rapids chapter is part of a national organization called The Entrepreneur’s Club of America. What’s unique about the format is the guest speaker is a fellow entrepreneur who shares his/her experiences about what it’s like to run a small business.

The featured speaker was Rob Geer, Managing Partner at Management Business Solutions.  Rob was a dynamic speaker. I took notes as he spoke and he gave me permission to share them with my readers.  Many of his ideas were useful to me personally as an entrepreneur. Because this blog is about workplace dynamics, I want to highlight a specific comment that he made about the social media site Linked In. His comments have implications for how knowledge workers are perceived by their peers.

Rob mentioned that a Linked In profile has become a mainstay in American business and I agree.  It’s almost as if the profile has become standard business issue. Would you try to do business without a phone or an email address?  I believe that a LinkedIn profile is fast moving into that category.  Rob says  that before he goes to meet with a new client, he checks out their website and their Linked In profile.  Google indexes LinkedIn, so it’s very easy to find someone either via Google or on the site itself.

Believe it or not, I still have colleagues who don’t use Linked In.  And they are doing their professional credibility a disservice.  If you know of colleague who isn’t on Linked In yet (or who has 2 connections and a sparse profile) please encourage him or her to do so.  It only takes a few minutes and it will do wonders for their public “face”.