Category: Inspiration

Categories
Inspiration Knowing yourself Leadership

Know thyself. Or get a psychic.

Hercules and I recently visited Janet, the Psychic. The Psychic Gallery has bright red carpets, a strange mix of leather couches and plastic lawn chairs, and the fee is $35 to get your palm read. She also offers tarot card readings and full on what-is-your-future readings sans the crystal ball. The entire atmosphere screams rip-off, and it is located a short block from the State Capitol. Only in Madison.

No matter. It was just the entertainment Hercules and I were looking for on a rainy afternoon.

I didn’t want my palm read, but humored Hercules inside. After Janet the Psychic finished a surprisingly accurate reading of Hercules, and told us, in detail, about the zit beneath her eyebrow, Hercules decided that I should get my palm read too. “I’ll pay for it,” he insisted.

I shrugged my shoulders and was about to outstretch my palm when Janet the Psychic proclaimed she wouldn’t read my palm that day. I should come back a different day, she said, and not with Hercules. Yeah. Okay. That’s not shady at all.

We changed the subject, and then just as Hercules and I were about to leave, Janet the Psychic insisted, “But I do want to tell you something before you go. Free of charge. Not with him in the room, though.” Hercules left obediently, and Janet spoke.

And I don’t know if it was what she said, or how she said it, or the sudden coldness in the room that gave me goosebumps, but I felt the devil himself had just ripped my heart out of my chest.

How could this woman who had known me less than twenty minutes hit on the exact thing that I tried to ignore daily with the right friends and the right clothes and the right job?

I didn’t say anything back to her, nodding only slightly. She continued on, speaking of things that I knew, but never discussed. And how I needed to change all of it. Quickly.

I suppose she could have said those things to anyone and it would have been true, but would it have been the same gut-wrenching experience for others?

Because the thing about fear, and that’s really all she was talking about, is that it takes on a life of its own and you call it bad, because that’s what it is, but you make it good and that eats up your heart. I’ll tell you. It takes big monstrous bites of your heart and chews it like the trucker chews on the grizzle in his sausage-bacon-egg biscuit.

And Janet the Psychic saw through that. In twenty minutes. And perhaps just as quickly, I forgot about what she said, refusing to speak of it to Hercules, or anyone else. Life went on. Because I’m too busy and too proud to live in fear. So I thought.

Then this Sunday afternoon, my sister who is visiting from England, and I were walking down State Street. We are completely different; she is curvaceous where I am not, and bohemian where I am refined. We walked with the sun beating the sweat onto our arms, and in other spots that women shouldn’t sweat in, and my sister exclaimed:

“Oh, tarot card readings! Let’s do that,” pointing at a sign describing another psychic on State Street. Another one. Because one psychic isn’t enough in Madison.

And wouldn’t you know. The second psychic said the exact same thing as the first. Like, do they all talk to each other or something? Right.

So I paid a little more attention this time. Because I don’t believe in psychics, but I get it when life is slapping you in the face. A wall in front of the yellow brick road only appears because you’re ready to find a way through. Which is kind of exciting. To overcome challenges, that is. Like when my mother taught me how to balance the checkbook when I was young, and how it still gives me great pleasure to figure out where the last .03 comes from to reconcile the two sides. So, I’m announcing that I get it. Life can get off my back. And I’m a huge dork. I know.

See, leaders aren’t leaders because they show no emotion and are stoic and sly. It’s because they overcome their challenges, and inspire others to do the same. You have to know yourself, what your issues are, and work to make yourself and the world a better place.

That’s the journey, and it’s quite beautiful when you think about it. When you think about how great you are to have overcome what you have, to have accomplished what you have, to be so uniquely and utterly you. To be able to thrive off of challenge. Challenges are, in fact, opportunities, and the road is ripe with them. A fact that makes me quite happy, and should make you quite happy as well.

Crystal ball, bro.

Categories
Engagement Follow the Leader Generation Y Inspiration Leadership

Follow the cool people

Sam DavidsonThe handsome guy to the left is Sam Davidson, the co-founder and president of CoolPeopleCare, Inc.

Sam offers an incredibly unique and talented perspective to the Follow the Leader series:

“Telling the stories that need telling in order to motivate others to change the things that need changing, Sam is a social entrepreneur who believes in the power of local communities. He has spoken and written on the power of the Internet to change the world for the better, and specializes in studying new and emerging trends within the nonprofit sector, especially as they relate to younger generations. His first book, “New Day Revolution: How to Save the World in 24 Hours” will be available in October.

He is married to Lynnette and both of them currently live in Nashville, Tennessee. The two don’t have any children, but when they do, they hope they will grow up in a world free from hate and fear, where ideas and creativity are valued.”

What should we spend our time on? What shouldn’t we spend our time on?
Developing relationships is vital for professional or personal success. Sometimes, these relationships will be short and may not have much depth, but it could be just the connection you need to get ahead. At other times, these relationships will be long lasting and full of meaning. I think it’s important to never turn down an invitation to meet someone, to grab coffee or have lunch. Even if it seems from the initial request that nothing can develop, I’ve seen great ideas come out of chance meetings.

(click twice to enlarge and sharpen Sams’ calendar for this week)

sam_calendar

How do you get it all done?
I manage my to-do list with my Inbox. It stays in the Inbox until I take care of it (‘it’ being replying to an email, setting up a meeting, writing a 5 Minutes of Caring piece). Also, I wake up at 5 AM. Most people cringe at that. But, I love what I do, so getting up at 5, getting online for 90 minutes (to read news, blogs, and email) and then going for a jog allows me to do more by 8 AM than most folks get done by lunch. There’s a huge advantage to that.

What does balance mean to you?
Balance is all about prioritizing. Naturally, our priorities change over the years. But, if you can figure out a few things early on that are important, it will help you decide what’s worth doing and what can wait. A lot of times, people spend a lot of time on things that aren’t that important, and they probably know this. I think life is much too short to be caught doing lots of things you don’t want to.

How many hours do you work a week?
My schedule is rarely (never) 9-to-5. I wake up early, meet folks for lunch, write at night sometimes, think about stuff when I’m driving, you name it. Recently, I’ve begun to stay off the computer a lot on the weekends. I once used the weekend to catch up on stuff. Now, I figure out on Friday what can wait until Monday. This way, I can spend the weekend lying on my couch watching what I DVR’d during the week. But, my Blackberry is always nearby so I can at least read emails, even if I don’t reply until Monday.

How do you think we can encourage young leaders?
Young people today have grown up and are coming of age at a time when access and creation are standard parts of their lives. Their parents were passive receivers of media and entertainment. Today’s YPs are active producers, making videos, writing blogs, and starting businesses, and then sharing all of this with anyone and everyone. I’ve found that young people are most engaged when they’re able to create something and have the necessary access to the tools required to do so. I don’t feel that’s an incredibly revolutionary thing, but so few businesses realize this.

How much time do you devote to blogging and promoting your blog?
I love to write, but only when I know I’ve got something good. I’ve been blogging on my personal site for nearly 4 years now, and it’s changed from blogging mainly about religious issues to anything personal to covering the nonprofit world. Because I write so much for CoolPeopleCare, I don’t blog everyday. But, I have enjoyed it more by waiting until I’ve got something particularly worthy of my time.

Early Riser.

Categories
Inspiration Knowing yourself Personal branding

Prioritize your authenticity

I don’t openly discuss the fact that I’m a tree hugger because it makes people uncomfortable. See, Mother Nature reminds us a lot of our own mother; we believe they’ll always be there for us no matter what. So I don’t talk about being an environmentalist. It would be like reminding the other person that they haven’t called their mom for two weeks. And no one wants to be reminded of their mother during happy hour.

That’s a mistake, however, because I get miffed when others claim to be environmentally concerned, and are blatantly not. Like the people who shop at Whole Foods, and think that gets them a golden ticket to the garden of earthly delights, even though they have a SUV parked in the lot. You may be one of those people. That’s okay. Just stop saying you care about the environment. Because you don’t.

Don’t act like somebody you’re not. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. People will see through it, and you will have no credibility. The most powerful brands don’t have to broadcast themselves. They are simply true by example.

Besides, it makes your life harder to keep up an image that’s not authentic. You spend a lot of time doing a lot of things to convince a lot of people that you’re something, something big, something that you’re not. That’s depressing.

You may recycle every water bottle or take an entire morning to replace all of your light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Worthy steps, sure. But they’re high-input and low-value. Like, none of those steps will land you in bed with Leonardo DiCaprio.

If you’re going to define yourself a certain way, then go for it. Use meaningful action. Don’t waste your time on little things that provide little value according to your goal. Set priorities to create the most impact, and avoid getting mired in the insignificant.

Environmental products often cost more in the beginning, but pay off in the long run. That’s how life is. It’s going to be hard in the beginning to take the first big step after years of baby steps. Your legs won’t seem long enough. But you have to stretch yourself beyond your limits. It’s worth it. Anything less isn’t authentic.

I’m an environmentalist because I don’t own a car. I don’t waste time worrying about recycling every single piece of junk mail. I don’t feel guilty for not going to the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning. I’ve already done the biggest thing you can do for the environment. I don’t own a car. The positive impact of that decision is so huge, that while I do the small stuff, I don’t sweat it. I’ve got my golden ticket.

Small steps are a good start, but when you’re ready to play with the big kids, you just have to commit. Going any slower would be painful. Sometimes you just have to rip off the band-aid.

Make it hurt.

Categories
Career Inspiration Leadership Self-management

My new job

Update: This post was also published at Damsels in Success.

I started a new job on Wednesday. At 23 years old, I am now the Executive Director of a young professional organization whose mission is to attract and retain young talent and leadership in my area in order to contribute to the regions’ economic, civic, social, and public policy futures. Can’t get more Gen-Y Princess than that.

After one of the best first days at work ever, a day that left me dazed at the possibility of it all, I sat with my friend Hercules at his condo. His condo is trendy and beautiful, and immaculately clean, like in a commercial, the kind of clean that makes you feel dirty even if you’ve just taken a shower.

I was admiring the lack of spider webs in the upper corner of the wall, thinking about my new job, about what exactly I had gotten myself into and how I would be able to pull it off, when Hercules asked me an interesting question:

“If the worst happened, would you be okay? Can you accept the worst case scenario? Can you fail and survive?”

I turned to face him and nodded slowly. Yes, I thought, I could fail. If young talent left the city in droves, and everyone in the city hated me, if I bankrupted the organization and it tumbled down in flames, if I ruined my reputation and only rodents of the squirrel variety would talk to me, I would be okay. I would survive.

“Because if you can envision failure,” he said, “and you know that your life would go on, and you would still wake up every morning, and get out of bed, then life is at your feet.”

“Yes,” I said, out loud this time. “I’d be okay with failing. Life would go on. I would still wake up and get out of bed every morning. Well, five days out of the week, at least.”

“Good,” he said. “Then you’ll succeed.”

Fearless = Victorious

Categories
Inspiration

Mark your calendar to unite!

Update: Obviously, I do not have any advertising on this site, so I cannot donate the revenue. Instead, I will donate .25 for every subscriber I have for the blog on October 15th and will split the donation between my favorite online environmental charity and my favorite local environmental charity.

I’m participating in Blog Action Day on October 15th. Are you?

Young Go Getter summarizes:

“It’s called Blog Action Day, and the blogging event is scheduled to take place on October 15th. The idea is simple: 1) Write a post about about an issue or solution that relates to the environment. 2) Donate your advertising earnings from that one day to an environmental charity of your choice.

Some large blogs have already hopped on board (GigaOm, Copyblogger, Reddit, and YGG of course [and Modite too!]), and we’re sure, at the end of the day, the list will be gigantic and feature every celeb-blogger you can think of, including yourself.

Take a look at the website for Blog Action Day, watch the video, then immediately register to have your blog participate in the event. As I said, expect the event to have thousands of participants, and hopefully have an impact on our media, government, and personal priorities.”

Blog Action Day

Blogging green.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Generation Y Inspiration Leadership Management

What it means to be a Gen Y leader

This post was originally published at Employee Evolution.
Update: You can also find the post at The Industry Radar.

It’s a myth that the workplace is turning into one big leaderless state. Just as decisions made by committee often require head banging, life without leaders would be one big headache. Yes, leadership has changed and decentralized organizations are here to stay, but there will always be leaders. We want success. We want to win, and winners have leaders.

Once you’ve tossed aside the crutch of hierarchical authority though, “knowing how to build relationships, use influence and work with others is crucial to achieving the results you seek,” according to Valeria Maltoni, a specialist in connecting ideas and people.

A Generation Y leader inspires by enabling others to be leaders. They know the strengths of those they lead, and exploit those for the success of that person. A Gen-Y leader delegates to help the worker achieve their goals. They are motivated by relationships and have an obsession with seeing others succeed.

By making room for other leaders, “you attract people who aren’t followers, who aren’t looking for the kind of leader who will save them from the anxiety of responsibility,” according to Michael S. Hopkins. And the millennial generation does not follow.

Instead, we create our own content, build our own businesses, do things our way. Be an entrepreneur or die, says Sam Davidson at Cool People Care. For the Gen-Y leader, it isn’t about ego, but about sharing ownership and building a community of ideas. An effective Gen-Y leader helps our generation to embrace entrepreneurship at every level.

A Gen-Y leader is inclusive and collaborative, and not just within their sphere of influence. An isolated organization will perish. Successful organizations are defining themselves as the gateway expert in their field. On the playing field, in this instance, companies must pick the competitor to be a part of their team for bigger and better results. It’s not enough to have a quality product; you must reach out and promote others. Teamwork is no longer just within a company. It’s industry-wide.

As a result, lines haven’t just been blurred; they’ve been pulverized on high in a blender. Competitors are partners, work is play, and boundaries no longer exist. As such, Gen-Y leaders must be leaders by example, and in every aspect of their life, whether family, work, or play.

Generation Y leaders, however, can and will be easily replaced by their peers. We are a starfish generation. Go ahead and try to chop one of us down, and we’ll grow a whole sprawling forest in that person’s place. We’re that strong. We’re that motivated. We don’t respond lightly to pressure or corruption.

A Gen-Y leader’s efforts to maintain influence will be harder for that reason. Especially because it is often our peers doing the chopping. As a generation, we’re remarkably good at calling bull. We have no qualms about holding our leaders up to the light to check for transparency.

Gen-Y leaders then must know themselves first, and project their authenticity. They must also be constantly learning, experiencing, doing, networking, creating, giving. It won’t stop. Our generation won’t put up with selfish thoughts, unethical behavior, or tired ideas. The Gen-Y leader must be constantly on.

That’s how we will become the next great generation. We won’t stop.

Change is in the air; inhale deeply.

The dynamic leadership requirements for Gen Y are causing Masters in Public Administration, MBA and other education degrees to put an extra emphasis on leadership. 

Categories
Business Career Entrepreneurship Generation Y Inspiration Leadership Management Networking Workplace

Advice from top Executives, Presidents, and CEOs

We won’t all be Steve Jobs, but many of us will be the top executives in our respective cities. I recently met with seven of the top Executives, Presidents and CEOs in Madison, Wisconsin. Here are their keys to business and leadership success—

Share your success. It is incumbent on the person being promoted, according to Mark Meloy, President and CEO of First Business Bank, to pull others along with them. Make sure that as you become more successful, your leaders feel that their careers are moving forward as well.

Network to problem-solve. Finding groups that help you problem-solve will save many a headache, according to Brett Armstrong, CFO of the IT company Trident Contact Management. Like if you’re being audited, the group will have your back. But choose your involvement wisely, Armstrong advocates, since you only have a certain amount of time and need to spend it wisely. If you’re only half-involved then that is how people will know you.

Balance… well, it’ll all even out in the end. First, you have to decide if you want a job or a career, according to Mark Meloy. If it’s a career you decide upon, make sure you’re engaging in a two-way street. Work and life won’t always balance out that day, week, or month, but equilibrium will be found. Eventually. Meloy walks the talk at First Business Bank. When his employees go on vacation, they are not allowed access to email and have only limited access to voicemail. The company gives vacation, he says, for a reason.

A vision can’t just be a pie in the sky. A vision must be a concrete vision, according to Donna Sollenberger, President and CEO of UW Hospital and Clinics. To create the right vision, you must find the right direction for your organization to take. To do this, look at the industry trends and listen to your market. Then build a case, a good solid argument, and back it up with data to demonstrate where you need to go.

Entrepreneurs – socialites, control-freaks, risk-takers, and self-promoters. So says Curt Brink, a successful real estate developer. You must not only deal with a wide range of people in entrepreneurship, he argues, but you must also follow through on getting things done. Don’t be afraid to try something new, because once you’ve done it, you then understand how to do it better. A successful entrepreneur likes being in control, but can delegate fully. If you don’t, no one will grow. By the way, Brink was unconsciously promoting his current and past projects the entire time he was talking. That’s called passion. Get some.

Do a lot, and make sure everyone knows. Don’t let anyone pigeon hole your talents, says Annette Knapstein, Vice President of Office Administration at American Family Insurance. Stretch yourself, develop new talents and volunteer for different committees. And then, make sure everyone knows it. If they don’t know, it doesn’t exist.

Leadership is lonely sometimes. A good leader and manager makes effective decisions and communicates clearly, while putting the right people in the right spots. Not always easy, according to Gary Wolter, President and CEO of MGE. To illustrate his point, Wolter told a story about a receptionist he saw year after year. Each morning, the receptionist would say, “Hello, Gary.” Yet, when Wolter was promoted to CEO, the next morning was different. “Hello, Mr. Wolter,” the receptionist said. Leadership fundamentally changes relationships and people expect different things of you. People who were your peers, you now supervise, and while you can still be friendly, you can’t talk about the boss anymore because you are the boss. The support group that you had developed, who had remained loyal to you, and helped you along your journey has changed. Be prepared.

Throw an open door party daily. Reaching out to younger people for fresh air is essential, according to Richard Lynch, President of J.H. Findorff & Son, who had a great sense of the upcoming workforce. He recognizes that young workers are entrepreneurial, and need a flexible and honest environment to work in. He has an open door policy for this purpose and subsequently attracts the brightest young workers.

Speaking of honesty… Surround yourself with people who will tell you that you’re an idiot, says Gary Wolter. Look both inside your organization, and outside, for individuals you can bounce ideas off of, and who can communicate with you effectively and honestly.

Follow the Leader.

Categories
Inspiration

One of many lessons from my acting debut

The first words in the play came from me, “Turn on the lights, sweetheart. Makes it less lonely.” And so commenced the wide open step I took out of my box on Saturday night.

I had imagined that with a twenty minute play and by marking “None” under acting experience I would have gotten a few lines, maybe five or six, in a play. But when I received my script, “Hi, Rebecca? Nice to meet you. You’re Daria,” I realized that when you sign up for Blitz, those folks don’t care.

I had a real part, with A LOT of lines. From 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, I practiced my lines, we ran the script, over and over, we practiced blocking (action on stage), we talked about fake blood, dead puppies, lifting your leg up, sex beads, nervous eating, nervous peeing, beer, surfing in Nebraska. I lucked out – I had the best director and the best cast mates.

Oh, and I got to practice my first stage kiss, at least ten times, with super-cute-actor-boy. Yeah, that was hard. When he decided we should have the most passionate kiss in the bunch, and practically make out on stage, I didn’t blush. I was an actor, now. I could do that. No problemo.

They promised me I would be able to avoid the audience since I wouldn’t be able to see them from the stage as a result of the SUPER BRIGHT STAGE LIGHTS. I was doing a good job of just that when I stood up for one of my longer monologues and got a glimpse of all. the. people. holy. crap.

And promptly forgot my lines.

S#!t. S&*t. F@^K. I felt there was a long bout of silence, but everyone assured me later there was no such thing, and suddenly I saw super-cute-actor-boy smile at me from off stage, a smile that said, “it’s okay you just royally f’ed up. We’re here to have fun, remember?” Right. Okay. And then I started babbling trying to get the gist across that I had never seen Jim work once for a living, so how could I trust the jerk when he invited me to his beach house, and that’s why I broke up with him THEN AND THERE. Those were the important words, THEN AND THERE, the words I knew I was supposed to end on, so the others could save me from sinking with their own lines. I heard myself say it. Whew. I was almost shaking.

The rest of the lines came naturally. Somehow I realized I had made my mistake, and didn’t have to make another. Kind of like when I crashed into another car THE SAME DAY I got my license and my mother said, “That’s okay, now you never have to get in an accident again,” and I haven’t.

Then it was time for the last words in the play, or rather, utterances. I tried to run, but I tripped, and Lucia grabbed the back of my head- OH NO! She pulled me to the back of the couch, turned me around to face her. She cut my throat! Blood! Blood! Everywhere! I fell back, slid down over the front of the couch, my head drooping, upside down, over the seat.

I lay there, my hair falling to the floor, thinking how I had pulled this off. I was funny, sexy, rude, obnoxious, horrified, excited, confused. My intuition as an actor, they said, was fabulous. I was Daria and I was dead.

Fake it until you make it, sweetheart.

Categories
Inspiration

24 hours from page to stage

I had a lot of great posts lined up for this week, but all I really want to write about is what I did as I was walking home after my day ended. I live near a theater, just a couple blocks away, and have lived here for about two years never thinking much about it. But today were the sign-ups for a play. A special type of play where you don’t have to have any acting experience and it’s all created in one day. You go in at 10:00 am and at 8:00 pm that night you perform. With no experience whatsoever.

And guess what?

I signed up.

And I have no acting experience. Whatsoever.

It’s the ultimate acting debut, millennial style – “instant theatrical gratification.” Starting this blog was one of those things that I put off for a long time, because I knew that when I did, this sort of thing was bound to happen. I had to be prepared for the resulting rush that only comes when you start something new, and you put yourself out there, and you’re not quite sure what the heck is going to happen. And then everything is okay and you realize you don’t remember what you were so worried about in the first place. It’s a little like attaching wings to yourself and once you do that, you can’t help but want to fly.

Fly high, baby.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Generation Y Inspiration

Millennial confidence and failure go hand-in-hand

I just spent the last twenty-four hours (and months of thinking and planning), working on this website. Not just this blog, but an events calendar that is far from going “live.” Creating this blog was fun for me. I know enough HTML to make some creative design decisions in order to create a clean modern site, with enough whimsy that expresses my style and brand.

The events calendar, however, sounds simple enough, but my desire to create something that fully expresses my brand got me in trouble. For some reason, I thought that since I could build this blog on my own, with a few tweaks, that I could build the events calendar as well, with just a few tweaks. Never mind that I only understand basic HTML and CSS, and that AJAX and MySQL remain distant acquaintances in the long line of tools I’d like to meet. Never mind too, that when I spoke with real web developers they estimated months of work to achieve the quality I was speaking of, and tens of thousands of dollars. I thought I could create a stellar web application. With no web development expertise whatsoever. In a few short days. In fact, I was sure of it.

It’s arrogant, certainly. And a little cocky as well. Along with the rest of my generation, my mother told me I could be whoever I wanted, do anything. What I want for this website is to engage the next generation. A lofty goal, sure. But I am confident that I will succeed. I have a lot of ideas, buckets of enthusiasm and energy, and a drive to get things done.

So, do I buy into the hype that Generation Y is arrogant? Yes, sirree. And proud of it.

Then again, I could fail.

I already discovered I was (way) over my head when I decided I could learn developer code in just a couple days. I have an events calendar that I could link to, but I don’t like it and it’s not up to my standards. But I’ve learned from doing, instead of just talking. While I couldn’t take my idea past a certain point without help, I gave it my all, tried my best, and built up my base of knowledge. I now know more then when I’ve started. For full millennial effect, our confidence needs to be combined with the assertion that it’s okay for us to fail. That allows us to turn challenges into opportunities, failure into success. Here’s to the success of this blog (or possible failure). I hope you stay tuned – cheers!

Be cocky. Fail like you mean it.