Yes, this is the Linda who co-hosts this blog with me. What a wonderful opportunity for me to share with you more about Linda’s philosophy and work around spirituality.
A few months back I interviewed Linda as one of the gratitude experts for Project GratOtude. This interview shares a lot of her mindset and work she’s done around spirituality, including:
the importance of integrity, purpose and passion
living in alignment with who you really are and bringing this out to the world
a couple of great spiritual analogies using a plant/flower and hose
appreciative inquiry and gratitude
staying open to the flow of life
transformational empowerment, and how critical faith, commitment and gratitude are to this process
how each of us are “divine blessings” and “light beings” to the world
We encourage you to take some extra time (it lasts about an hour) and enjoy our interview as I gleam spiritual gems from Linda’s vast experience and passion around spirituality!
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
Recently I attended a speech given by a brilliant but soft-spoken philosopher and author. Even though he had a gentle, thoughtful way of speaking, and a serious topic, he managed to connect well with the audience, and got some great chuckles with his stories and his subtle humor. It started me thinking again about how important the first few minutes of every presentation is, and what you can do to make a good connection with your audience early on.
Check your next presentation to see how many of these you are doing.
Tell a short human-interest story. This speaker made a reference to boy scouts, comparing how they were years ago, to how they are today. It illustrated a point he was making in a highly visual, personal and memorable way. And it took less than one minute.
Refer to the audience and their worlds. More important than telling them all about you, let them know you understand who they are, what their concerns are, and how you plan to address them. The old adage is true: they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Engage them in some way. Get them to do something besides just sitting. Ask a question, ask for a show of hands, ask them to greet their neighbors, ask them to write down their questions, ask them to gather in the four corners of the room according to…well, you get the idea. Unless you are mesmerizing, you really should get them engaged and involved, and do it sooner rather than later.
Start without slides. It sends a whole different energy into the room than starting with your slides on and ready to go. In fact, this speaker used no more than 10 slides in two hours, and he turned them on when needed and off when not needed. And another thing; they were all images, not bullets! Maybe you need to use slides. If so, then make them as clean and simple as possible, and start (and end) without them.
Find the humor. It could be in your story, in the audience, in a misfire or mistake, in a cartoon you show, or in something you heard or read recently. Look for humor that is comfortable and natural for you; don’t try to be a comedian. It doesn’t have to bring the house down; even a chuckle can bring us all together.
Yes, this speaker did all five of these in the first few minutes. He showed humility, depth, and passion about his topic. I bet you can too, and I would love to hear what you do in the first five minutes.
Although Merriam-Webster defines grantsmanship simply as “the art of obtaining grants,” the reality is so much more than that. A broader, more realistic (somewhat dramatic) definition of that term would be, “The cradle to grave process for ‘birthing,’ ‘raising’ and managing grants.”
Regularly, on this blog, I will share my experiences, real world examples, and other resources to help you develop or expand a grants program for your nonprofit.
So, as promised, in this, my first post focusing on grantsmanship, let’s look at some real world examples…
The Good: According to a 2010 WealthEngine white paper, “Measuring Fundraising Return On Investment and the Impact of Prospect Research,” the average cost-per-dollar-raised for grants is 20 cents … an ROI of 500%. For each dollar raised for direct mail donor acquisition the cost is over a dollar, and it’s often fifty-cents-per-dollar-raised for special events. Clearly, grant seeking can result in a good return on investment … when managed well.
The Bad: If your financial statements and program budgets are not in order, then you’re not ready to start a grants program. Many grantors will scrutinize your financials with a magnifying glass, and if your books are not in total order, don’t expect to be awarded a grant.
Take the case of New Jersey’s application for a U.S. Department of Education “Race to the Top” grant. According to an August 31, 2010 article in The Trentonian, New Jersey “lost crucial points in reporting budget figures for the wrong years in one section of its application.”
The article stated that New Jersey “was a top runner-up in the competition, missing by only a few points.” This financial gaffe cost New Jersey a $400 million federal education grant, and it cost New Jersey’s education commissioner, Bret Schundler, his job.
The Ugly: Grants are NOT a no-strings-attached gift – they are a contract between the grantor, who provides the funds, and the grantee, who performs the tasks and delivers the outcomes described in the proposal. OK, maybe this isn’t The Ugly. It’s just reality. But, if the grantee fails to deliver, it can get ugly, really ugly.
Take the case of the Center for Civic Education (CCE). CCE received grants during FY08 from the U.S. Department of Education to facilitate civic education. The DOE conducted an audit to determine whether CCE administered the grants in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and grant award provisions.
The audit findings were really Ugly, ranging from, “Not meeting the standards for administering federal education grants,” to, “Charging costs that were not reasonable, necessary, or allocable to the programs.” Needless to say, the DOE was not happy, and “recommended” that CCE return over $925,000 that they’d spent in FY08, and that CCE be designated a “high-risk grantee” … subject to special grant conditions.
By the way, the audit and CCE’s response offer some very interesting reading: The AuditCCE Response
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grant programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Lynn can be contacted at lynn.delearie@gmail.com..
The book I find most useful during Adaptive Change is The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ron Heifetz, Alex Grashow, and Marty Linsky.
When Destabilizing Events arise our first response is to act, and in some cases this is the best response. But those cases are actually rare. In order to truly understand the adaptive potential of the situation so that you can emerge from the change with a better system design, leaders need to begin the journey in reflection (pp 44). Go slow at the beginning so you can go fast at the end.
There is much to reflect on during the Fall. And getting this first phase of the change cycle “right” is essential to the whole journey – it sets the tone and the mood of the entire organization. Therefore, I start with Part 4 of the book – See Yourself as a System.
Beginning here emphasizes that everyone is a system and leaders must work within a system of systems. Leaders who begin Adaptive Change by acknowledging their own personal learning agenda have a leg up on those that plunge in and begin to direct the action. The more open you are to your learning the faster you can move from the Balcony to the Practice Field, the better you model the learning cycle for others, and the greater your ability to adapt in real time. There are many learning cycles in the literature, but I have developed and use a very simple one that contains only three phases: Self-Awareness, Self-Discipline, and Self-Direction.
Self-Awareness: This combines taking the observer role with situational and personal insights to understand the forces acting around you and within you. Self-Awareness requires you to be emotionally and mentally available to yourself and how you are interpreting and behaving in the moment.
Self-Discipline: It is not enough to just observe the systems around you – you need the discipline to be “who” you need to be to deliver the change you seek. This means being present, understanding the roles you can assume to drive the “Big Picture of the Moment.[1]”
Self-Directed: When you understand the roles you are playing in the moment you can direct the action, taking it where it needs to go in the present situation. At this point you are an observer of the larger system, again moving between the Balcony and the Playing Field and integrating what you learn for the “whole system” that you are working with.
Like the toggle switch on your computer, this cycle – Self-Awareness- Self-Discipline- Self-Direction – moves you from the system of self to the larger system and back to the system of self. The faster you can move through this cycle the more present, reflective, and adaptive you can be.
Karl Weich and Kathleen Sutcliffe, Managing the Unexpected, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007.
In the last post, we discussed items #1-6. Today, we explore #7-13 … all very easy to incorporate and make dynamic improvements in your email open rates.
As we mentioned in the last post, this list incorporates the most important components of a successful email newsletter, with a few examples of how to use them. I’ve chosen to apply them to The Last Best Women – a nonprofit organization that offers microfinance to impoverished women in third world countries – but they apply to for-profit businesses just as well:
Compelling Subject Line: (See previous post)
Call to Action: (See previous post)
Tell Stories: (See previous post)
Testimonials/Quotes: (See previous post)
Pictures: (See previous post)
Mission/Vision: (See previous post)
Facebook Like Button: FB, Twitter, other Social Networks – make it easy for readers to add them. Links placed first page, top of fold.
Headings and Subheads: Readers today are scanners. If they see a large block of text, they’ll likely skip it. In order to get and keep their attention, use short, meaningful headings and subheads in larger, bolder fonts. Break up text into 2-4 sentences between each heading.
Use a Chart to Track Something: If you give Readers something interesting to track, they’ll have another reason to open the next email. It could be the number of microfinance recipients worldwide, or the growth of your own organization, or a timeline to your first funding.
Use a Tagline, or Explain the Organization’s Name: At first glance, your Reader should get the meaning of the newsletter in under TWO SECONDS. So add a tagline under the name, or dedicate some space to explain what “The Last Best Women” means. In the next two seconds, your newsletter should convey why the Reader should care. Many of the tips above help achieve that – especially compelling headings and subheads, and captions under pictures.
Ask Readers for Input: Social Networking (including newsletters) is all about “engaging” your readers. Ask them for links to other microfinance organizations. Ask them what these organizations do right – or where they miss the boat. Engage your readers with questions – and post them on FB.
Use a Conversational Tone: Social Media is casual and authentic. Accessible feeling. You are appealing to human emotion in your newsletter – with rich resources of human need, stories, pictures, mission, and successes (even if they’re others’ successes – you can talk about organizational role models for building your organization.)
Use Strategic Keywords: Choose 2-3 important keywords. Place them in headings and subheads, and in the first 200 words of the text. They should be used 3% – meaning, of every 100 words, use each keyword 3 times. When you attach this newsletter to your website, it will be crawled by search engines and found because of this planned use of keywords. Tip: If you didn’t know about LBW, but were sitting at Google’s search bar and LBW was the perfect result you’re hoping to find, what would you type in the search bar? Those are your strategic keywords.
Newsletters are definitely an art. Your style will evolve as your organization evolves.
What tips work for your newsletter? What doesn’t work?
Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com
What's new or should be new in training is you. You make the difference.
It’s not quite what it seems. There’s always what we say and what we communicate.
Training is still the same even after all these years; it’s been the same forever only we sometimes forget to use it well. The learning theories are the same; the training methods are the same; the evaluation methods, the same. Adult learning hasn’t changed any. Right? Attitudes toward training are the same, or at least seem to be. Trainers are the same, too. However, they, like the company, should be continually evolving with the times, growing, developing and tweaking the program with a constant consistency.
I can only think of one thing that is new and getting newer everyday, and that is because it is constantly evolving: technology. Can we start by agreeing it is new, but it is not the end all or be all there is? Technology is our “assist” in baseball vernacular–assisting in training implementation most often. But there should be one other new thing: you! Read on and you’ll see what I mean.
Forget the lack of funding for the moment. What’s new or should be new in training is you. You make the difference. You look for ways to make a difference–always. You look for training opportunities that work, that jazz employees and do the job of training them. You can’t be lazy now; you have to seek out the best. Look at results and expect results. Put people and company first, and visualize for others the results in terms of profit or nonprofit funding. As efficiency increases–promotions, raises and bonuses will follow.
Are you promoting continuous learning and corporate universities? Do you really care about the training programs and the people in it? What do you suppose those in the training programs think about it, and what do they think about what you think about it? Do you think they care? If they care about that program, do they care about other training programs? Do they just care about training for selfish reasons or do they care about the company? Do you?
What would you change if you could? What would you innovate? Where would you start? Developing training methods or designing training plans? Order new assessments? Explore human performance technology? Bring in gifted and talented speakers for professional development day or offer off-site training for managers? How about a leadership retreat? Do you know what you need or what you want employees to learn? Do you know why you want them to learn these things? The real “why,” not just because your boss told you to? Do you think about new ways of implementing training every day, or are you more in the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” Nobody said the company is broken, but it should be constantly growing, solidifying its base, diversifying its holdings, and modifying its products and services.
You should be doing whatever the company is doing and more just to keep up. Can’t do that much thinking? Delegate it. Yes, delegate it. Thinking is work. Nobody has all the ideas and nobody can do it all, but you said that to yourself or scoffed it out loud as you read this, didn’t you? “Who does this idiot…” I admit it. I was trying to get your attention and make you think. Sometimes writers like to do that.
Okay, now. Let’s say had an unlimited budget for training? (First time for everything, I know.) Would you train others at all, or just buy people off the shelf? Remember, the last company president the company bought off the shelf? How’d that work out? Would you hire contractors by “big lots” and put them to work fixing your company? What if you could mold your teams, managers and leaders into the perfect human resource?
I think you get the general idea. What’s new in training should always be the trainer, the training manager, the training leader. By the way, I could be wrong about there not being any new theories. If there are, you should know them, studied them and decided if they would be applicable in your situation. Have you given much thought to self-directed learning–not only for the company but for you, too? Talent management? If it isn’t in your purview, shouldn’t you have a hand in it? You may see yourself as a director of training, but you’re really a director of performance. You are the mule skinner, but your whip is the performance-enhancing training and education you offer. The motivation? Well, that’s one of the reasons you are always thinking…thinking up new ways to motivate employees to want to take performance-enhancing training, which you are also always thinking about.
Giving them a performance-enhancing drug would be easy, but probably illegal. It would also be complicated to design in company diversity. But, if your employees needed training like they needed a drug, they’d be as motivated as you’d need them to be. They need the drug to feel good. What would make them feel good about the training. Love of company? Are the employees happy just to have a job, and will do anything to keep it? Perhaps, but resentfully. That means the training won’t stick; we need real motivation.
That brings us back to the basic question: Why would employees want training? We already know they need it. Could training be necessary for upward mobility or bonus money? That could make them feel good. Could you also make it relevant to their personal and professional goals? Now, you’re talkin’ and I’m proud of you. The company is becoming a big success thanks to you.
“Here’s a lot of money–reward for making us what we are today and ensuring we will be stronger tomorrow,” says the fictional CEO. Is there some truth there?
Doesn’t sound like a bad plan to me. For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.
Last year, Proctor & Gamble was plunged into crisis management as a result of negative backlash from the launch of a new diaper that gathered enough attention to spill over from social media to the mainstream. Luckily for us, analyzing the mistakes of others is perhaps one of the finest ways to learn how to better yourself, and it especially helps when those responsible for the mistakes are helpful enough to do that analysis themselves.
In this quote from a iMediaConnection article by Lori Luecthefeld, Bryan McCleary, director of public relations for Proctor & Gamble baby care, gives his personal insights into mistakes P&G made, and how it could have done better:
Don’t default to an apology
After the crisis broke, interactive gurus called on P&G to apologize to consumers, McClearly said. But that’s the one thing the company couldn’t do. It had to maintain that the product was safe.
That said, there are different ways of communicating safety, McCleary added. And the company’s first tactic — insisting that there were no examples to support allegations — came off as a guilty response. Quickly, the company shifted course. Its representatives communicated with parents on a personal level — as parents themselves. They noted that, as moms and dads, they’d be the first people to pull a product from the shelf if they believed there was any danger to their children.
Arm your front lines
Make sure your consumer relations staff has the resources it needs to respond. P&G was slow to do that, McClearly noted. Early responses came off as robotic, which only fueled the fires.
Try to change the narrative
The Pampers situation was irresistible to mainstream media: Pampers vs. moms. Thus, the company had to shift the story line by bringing parents and mom bloggers onto its side as well.
Track, track, track
Know where you stand, McClearly advised. Track consumer awareness and willingness to purchase throughout the process so you know if — and when — the conversations begin to turn.
Repeat the Serenity Prayer to yourself regularly
Know what you can influence. Know what you can’t influence. And have the wisdom to know the difference. For a company like P&G, which prides itself on remaining in control at all times, that posed a challenge, McClearly noted.
Accentuate the positive
Don’t exist entirely in a defensive stance, if possible. In the case of Pampers, the brand found it was useful to find something that it could apologize for: its initial corporate response to the allegations. And with that, the brand was able to turn the focus to education.
Be human
Consumers expect corporate-speak from a company the size of P&G — so Pampers had to break that perception. Instead, the brand engaged in a two-way dialogue and sought to put a human face on the people behind its product.
What’s the underlying message behind all of this? Communicate.
Communicate with the media, communicate with your staff, communicate with supporters, fans, critics and yes, communicate with the opposition. The turning point of this crisis was when P&G reached out to the concerned parties, in this case angry “mommy bloggers,” and involved them in fixing the problem. Not only did this remove the juicy angle the media was attracted to, but also gave P&G a reputation boost, demonstrating the company’s willingness to cooperate and learn from adversity.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? I’m sure many of us have at one time.
A wrong decision can be very costly. It’s been estimated that replacing a key professional or manager can be three to five times their annual salary. Do you want to increase the odds for selecting the best person for your most critical positions?
Then try behavioral interviewing instead of the gut feel approach
This is gut feel: “Mary seems right for the job…so let’s hire her.” However, when she came on board, she didn’t perform and had to be let go. Mary may look good on paper or even interviewed well but she did not have the specific skills and traits that were needed for the job. Therefore, the hiring process started all over again.
Now take a look at behavioral interviewing. It focuses two very important elements of the interviewing process:
Identifying the required skills and traits that are needed to be effective for the particular position.
Asking the right questions to obtain a behavioral example of a specific skill or a specific trait you are looking for.
The rationale for asking for behavioral examples is the notion that the best predictor of what individuals will do in the future is what they have done in the past. Therefore, you ask an applicant to describe a specific event that shows in detail how she did something or handled a problem or dealt with a specific situation.
Behavioral example questions typically start out with the following phrases to encourage the person to talk about their experiences in a non-threatening manner.
“Tell me about a time when….”
“Give me an example of….”
“How did you….?”
Note how the following question has been rephrased so that it will elicit an answer that explains how the person dealt with a specific situation.
Original: “Have you had experience training new supervisors?”
Revised: “Tell me about a time when you had to hire and train a new supervisor. How did you go about it? Would you do anything differently?”
Management Success Tip
Remember, the purpose of the interview is to obtain accurate information for selecting the best person for the job. Behavioral interviewing is a technique that focuses on an applicant’s skills and traits not on a manager’s gut impressions.
I’d like to draw upon the teachings of H.H. the Dalai Lama from his book, “The Compassionate Life” for ideas that we can use at work and in our daily life. The Dalai Lama defines compassion asthe wish for another human being to be free from suffering. Love is adesire for others to have happiness. According to the Dalai Lama, compassion and love give rise to hope, courage, determination, and inner strength.
Who can argue with wanting compassion and love in one’s life and in one’s work? Yet think about the last time you got angry when a stupid decision was made at work. Ever felt frustrated when people seem more concerned about their personal agendas or pet projects than doing the right thing? Do you get annoyed at incompetent people who don’t seem to care about doing a good job? According to the Dalai Lama, the greatest hindrances to compassion and love are anger and hatred.
Here’s a guided imagery to connect with compassion and love and shift from anger and frustration with someone at work or in a business encounter.
Bring to mind a person or situation where you got angry, impatient, frustrated or seriously annoyed. Get a clear picture of the people in this situation and what they were doing that really bothered you…..
Now think of each person when they aren’t at work. Connect with them as another human being.
Picture them as a fellow human being with a family, pets, children, brothers and sisters… just like you
Think of them working to support their family and wanting to live happily…. just like you
Imagine them working as best they know how to work ….. just like you
Think of them having life challenges, fears, worries, insecurities….. just like you
Picture them trying to do their best with what they know to do…. just like you
Know they desire happiness and want to be free from suffering… just like you
Breathe deeply as you picture them with their family or neighbors enjoying life and being happy. Feel the wave of compassion in your body as you connect with your desire for their happiness.
When you find yourself getting angry, impatient or frustrated with someone’s behavior, thank them for helping you develop more compassion and loving kindness. Remember- Compassion isthe wish for another human being to be free from suffering. Love is adesire for others to have happiness.
Next time you feel anger, frustration, or condemnation, see with eyes of compassion and love.Next time you wish someone harm or lose your control, open your heart to compassion and love.Next time someone disappoints you or lets you down, feel with the heart of compassion and love.
Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” The paperback version is available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of “Path for Greatness” is available for download from her website. ALSO, Linda’s new book, “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand” is now available on her website.
In a recent Leading News, e-newsletter, from Marshall Goldsmith, the premier executive coach, asked that question. Why? Because if you figured how time you spent at work – approximately one-third of our waking hours – then you realize that your job has a significant impact on your life.
He created an exercise to help people evaluate their job satisfaction and, mostly importantly, their career choice. There are three categories and you are to estimate the percentage of your job that falls within each category.
You Try It.
The first category is “play.” This is job content that is fun and what you would tend to do regardless of whether or not you were compensated for it. We have all seen people readily agree to do a task that was beyond the job description. Why? Because it was a task they viewed as fun, as an outlet for untapped creativity or a channel for self-development. If I tell myself, “I’m going to play,” then there is no resistance or creative avoidance.
The second category is “work.” This is job content that is not play. It’s work. This is an activity that, although not fun, you would agree to do for reasonable compensation.
The third category is “misery.” Job content in this category is not only not play, but it is drudgery, and at times pure h-ell. And we can find all times of creative reasons to avoid and procrastinate.
How do you see the composition of your work experience concerning activities that are categorized as play, work, and misery? Do you need to write yourself a new job description?
Here are the typical survey results among professionals:
15 percent of what professionals do is considered play;
75 percent of what professionals do is considered work;
10 percent of what professionals do is considered misery.
Career Success Tip:
Most professional jobs can be molded or shaped to allow for individual situations or for one’s growth and development needs. Think about ways to add things to your job that will allow you to play more or take some things out that will allow you to be more satisfied. Then go to your boss and make a case for it – not that it will make you happier but that it can add to your productivity.
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Yes, this is the Linda who co-hosts this blog with me. What a wonderful opportunity for me to share with you more about Linda’s philosophy and work around spirituality.
