He is referred to as the Peace Troubadour, who is passionate about spreading peace throughout the world. In fact just now he is in Assisi hoping to create a wave of peace from the little towns that Saint Francis found famous. He shared how the leaders of the major religions of the world are gathering here to share and offer their visions of peace. For more about this project go to:
This is a FREE online course based on of his book The Art of Spiritual Peacemaking. It is an inspirational course that I really appreciated. I really like how he describes what this course will cost you. “I want to give you something that WILL change your life – at NO COST. Hold on…let me say that in a different way. When I say no cost, I mean that you won’t have to pay any money to access this amazing information. On the other hand, it’s going to cost you more than you could ever imagine! If you’re brave enough to begin this journey, then you’ll be required to give up all the limiting beliefs that have kept you small.”
To sign up for this three-part course go to: https://qjr87734.infusionsoft.com/app/form/889749b262f881221887f680a108902b
Holy Bread Project
This holiday season, James is organizing a Holy Land Bread Project to encourage more peace and spiritual oneness throughout the world. The purpose of the Holy Land Bread Project is to gather together a massive community of people who are committed to “Being the Change.” Part of this project is to have a bread breaking ceremony and is looking for host to initiate this movement.
For more, go to his website: http://www.jamestwyman.com/
The Moses Code
While he’s written many books, the one that I’ve read is called The Moses Code: The Most Powerful Manifestation Tool in the History of the World. There is a DVD that accompanies the book, which I would highly recommend. The book is described here, http://www.jamestwyman.com/Books_The_Moses_Code.html
In fact, I wrote about a part of it with the blog that I did around claiming oneness. Go to:
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.
Think about the impression each word makes in a different context. Hybrid corn is one thing, hybrid people another. Blend is a pretty unoffensive word; in fact, it makes one think of harmony.
“Why is that, do you think,” I ask my students, “we say blended instead of hybrid here?
Usually the first thing a teacher, an instructor, a professor or a trainer does is write the class a welcome letter. I have just had my second class with two classes in different locations. One class is urban and the other is suburban. Differences in audiences. Sure. We’re all different and every audience for those who don’t teach school is always different; that’s why we analyze our audience.
I am teaching a “blended” class. I asked my students why they thought it was called that and mentioned that in educational and training circles it was often referred to as “hybrid.”
It’s early yet, so I explained. Think about the impression each word makes in a different context. Hybrid corn is one thing, hybrid people another. Blend is a pretty unoffensive word; in fact, it makes one think of harmony. We like the idea of blended families–more a reality today than in years past, and a good thing. Would we call them a hybrid family? Again, it strikes a negative cord. You see, my class is about communication and I want to start it off right. I had never heard of “blended” courses–those that combined in classroom and online work; I had heard the courses referred to as “hybrid,” which it is by literal definition. Now, I can tell you it is much more to me personally.
I teach one night a week in a classroom filled with students, and spend the rest of the week online with them. We don’t spend as much physical time in a classroom, but we spend more quality one-on-one time even if it is online. It’s a different dynamic and I’m loving it for the ability to reach out personally to every student. Well, at least the opportunity is there, and I’m not jaded yet. It’s a different kind of teaching. You have make maximum use of the classroom and there is little room for the student who misses classes and only wants to take a final and pass the class. I don’t know many students in this environment that can work that way; manipulating the system is risky at best and you can easily be booted for missing two sessions. We are talking the equivalent of several classes in one session. So, it’s not one or two classes, it’s more like eight or ten. We grade our time spent online as well, and it is required. The classes will be eight weeks in my case and classroom time runs roughly three and half to four hours. I have heard other institutions that do ten weeks and shorten class time or six weeks and add to it and intensify the online. I don’t know what’s better, but it means teachers and trainers who will use this technique need to see the differences. My letter to my students below tells you why I’m a fan.
We will meet our objectives and at anytime you feel we are not, please come to me and we will see what we can do. It may be you don’t see the connection or in our adjusting the schedule to fit we may have left something out. I won’t short-change you.
“First, I want to tell you all that you’re terrific and I think we are going to get along fine–if last night’s class was any indication. We had latecomers, and that is understandable. I realize we also had people who were signed in late. No one loses for last night. You learned and gave of yourself; you braved giving a short speech and did fine.In the future, I would like your indulgence in making the best attempt to be on time–as I will. I understand life happens, but we need to be especially careful when it costs us money or worse, that simple disregard costs more in opportunity. It will kill you in a job. That is a reality. Believe it or not, school will have a bigger impact on anything you do, but your job is only an entry on your resume. Now, it you learn all the tools to make that resume entry gain attention, well, that’s another story.
“As I told you in class, you may ignore the activity entries that call for papers to be written and placed in the drop box. We will do some of those entries in class that are modified to fit. You will be organizing and doing much of what is there, and the result will be the same. As I told you in class, participation and attitude is everything. I want to see quality thought and substantive remarks in the threads. This is the trade off. I take for full responsibility for modifying the course accordingly. We will meet our objectives and at anytime you feel we are not, please come to me and we will see what we can do. It may be you don’t see the connection or in our adjusting the schedule to fit we may have left something out. I won’t short-change you.
“You have an opportunity to help yourself become a ‘master communicator.’ I know that sounded like I was joking, but if you say it enough, it begins to sink in. I want you to have control of this fantastic tool that will help you in life. Some of you may be farther along already, or you way of hiding unconsciously your nervousness makes you seem advanced. I see everyone as an individual and we will do all we can to be the best we can be. We may not all become confident speakers, but we will become better at organizing, knowing what we need to do to communicate effectively and knowing what makes it effective.
“I want everyone to make strides. And, I am there to help, every step of the way. If you are naturally shy, I want to help you become less shy. You will still be able to put on paper what you still have trouble putting in words in front of an audience. Your lack of skill will balance with what you know about the “how.” On the other hand, those of you who are more comfortable and need work on the organizing and the details, you’ll balance out, too. We all lack some skill; it’s important we always seek to be more than we are. I want to die having people remember who I was by that time, not my super single moment in high school or some where else a long time ago.
“I had a boss I absolutely could not seem to get to like me. I know it’s hard. She taught me a lot; she forced me to do things I hated because I had to do them for the job and because she was the boss–it had to be her way. In the end, I learned. Life is sometimes like that. It’s a balance toward who you want to be, and what you want to do and what you have to do. I know some of you made hard choices to be here. I did. I wish I had the choice to do it when it was most convenient and pleasant. I did not. Did I like it? No. Did I appreciate it? Yes. I still don’t care for her, but she did as she asked me to do. She stayed her course. She said, “Work with me,” and I had no choice, but I wish I had worked harder at it. There you have a mini-version or the start of a personal speech. We’ll talk more.
“I see challenges, but I have also seen the results. To me, a once very shy guy, I owe how I turned out–less shy to say the least–to a speech teacher who made me mad, who made me see the world’s reality beyond mine, who made me focus on what was important. Apply what you learn to your goals and your achieve–not always exactly what we set out to do, but you’ll have tools to change gears. That is the reality of this economy and who we are today. It may sound silly, but I’d love to be you. You are younger, enthusiastic, fearless in many ways, and you have time to deal with your baggage. Some people carry that baggage around for years, while you had the foresight to enroll in college and stick with it.
“Be sure to check out my second announcement and I will e-mail it to as well. Here I will explain the assignments I have modified, and my logic in leaving some things in for you to read or respond to.
“For now, I just wanted to say, ‘Thank you for being a part of my class.’ I sincerely hope you are not sorry already. Cheers.”
Here above is proof that students want to learn, that students see the importance of education and training, and that students matter. Some times in training we worry about the material we want to transmit; it is after all why we scheduled the training. There is an old saying in education: we don’t train subjects; we train students. It’s really no different in training.
I wanted to share with you, not the welcome letter, but the one I wrote after the first day (long day counts as a week). However, before I did that I needed to clue you in if you are not among those who have experienced this first hand. I’ve discovered a lot of institutions of higher education are doing classes this way, recognizing the need for some students to work, and that this is a fast-paced world we live in. And, things change like how life impacts how we get our education, and how the economy changes so we may have to work two jobs to support our family.
As a society we have grown technologically and we still have all the same wants and needs we always had. Change affected early education and training just as it’s doing now. A hundred years ago, we didn’t have Corporate Universities, we didn’t have online universities certainly. Our students weren’t engaged in social media or had access to knowledge in the same way we do now. With the advent of audio books, CDs, DVDs and e-books, libraries have had to change. Businesses change, marketing has changed. Universities and colleges change. The old prestigious ones are still there with more endowments, but they, too, have changed with times.
There are a lot of new majors no one ever thought of before. Some sound very exciting. I remember when computer science was what you had to take if you weren’t going to grad school. For grad school you took a foreign language, but to be practical, computer science was the way to go.
Today, computer science is an umbrella major for so many specialties (necessities to some that we need desperately). There seemed a time when we had too many computer programmers and analysts; I suppose that could be technically true, but we have replaced and added many related disciplines. So exciting to be a student today, but I’m sure my parents and grandparents would have thought the same when I went to school. Oh, the focus was on the way we dressed, talked and acted as another generation, but the basics stay the same. Learning.
That’s it for the murmurings of an instructor of public speaking, in this case. And believe it or not, all will be well and the students well educated. I do want it to be applicable in this life and career, and that is our job as teachers; just as it is the trainer’s job to make sure company training fits the person and the person is able to apply it to his or her work for the company. In my opinion, it all works best if we care to make it so.
Check out my website for more murmurings under What I Say. My approach to life and work–like a Cave Man looking to survive and thrive in an evolving world. Check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development, and you’ll see my basic and unique approach. I hope you like it. Happy training.
Have you ever gone online to order something and then wondered if you could buy it from a social enterprise? We often have, which is why the npEnterprise Forum created the Social Enterprise Shopping Guide.
“Margin Call” is a new film that aims to recreate the rapid fire nature of today’s crisis management. While it misses the mark in terms of reality, especially in the ethics department, it does open up avenues for discussion of real world crisis management.
“Thanks to the Internet – social media, web sites, email – an organization can now suffer as much damage in one hour as used to occur in a week,” says Bernstein, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management (McGraw-Hill, 2011) which releases next month. “One of my five tenets of crisis communication is the need to be prompt. In the absence of communication, rumor and innuendo fill the gap.”
Jonathan’s new book aims to educate managers, both current and aspiring, on the best ways to handle the many aspects of crisis management, including policy,training, prevention, response, communication, and more.
It only takes one look at today’s news to see what you need a solid crisis management plan, so get going, or you could be tomorrow’s headlines.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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There’s a lot of money available to help small businesses, and it seems like there’ll be more available as we work to make more jobs. So OD in small businesses might be even more worthwhile.
About half of our clients are small organizations. My experience of the differences of between OD in small and large is that in small organizations:
It rarely works to market myself as “guiding change” or “change agent,” etc. Instead, I’ve been more successful with, e.g., “turnaround specialist” or “business developer.”
Assessments should use the pareto principle, i.e., focus on some “best practices” in each of the major management functions. Focus on “low hanging fruit.”
Look at life cycles. Is the business getting started, i.e., new in a market OR has it been so successful and grown fast that it needs internal systems?
Don’t be afraid to look at the “business” or “hard” data, at least to understand the cash situation of the organization. Get help to do that if you aren’t comfortable with cash flows.
Always do a proposal and contract, not just a Statement of Work, because the client will regularly want you to do more, and struggles to measure “success” in the project.
Stick to your expertise. The owner, if he/she likes you, will want you to help in a wide variety of activities, so be mindful to stick to what you know.
Interpersonal relationships with the client are the keystone to project success. Much rides on understanding the owner’s personality.
Focus on leadership and managment “systems/structures,” not on people (which can be hard to do with today’s infatuation with heroic leaders 🙂
Change takes longer because external and influences have a larger, quicker affect on the organization.
Plans for change should have multiple phases and with quick successes.
A long time ago, business execs used to say, “I know we get 80% of the benefit from 20% of our marketing budget, but I don’t know which 20% works” Today, that is an optimistic statement. Not even 20% is working.
I have a list of 30 provocative questions companies ought to ask about their marketing, and aspiring marketers ought to consider before deciding on a career path.
1. Is it more important to improve our products or our advertising?
2. When we compete on price, are we revealing a lack of faith in the value our products deliver to customers?
3. Is “customer loyalty” a valid concept in a smartphone enabled, app-driven marketplace?
4. Would we be wiser to seek to win every competitive match-up, rather than aim for a sense of inherent loyalty to our offerings?
5. Needs-based customer segments provide a means to allocate marketing resources. Have we created such segments?
6. What knowledge do we have about specific customers that our competitors lack?
7. What are the benefits of having knowledge of our customers that our competitors lack?
8. Do we make it convenient for our customers to be loyal?
9. How could we make it more convenient for our customers to be loyal to us?
10. What percentage of our revenues come from delivering customized products or services to customers?
11. How many ways do we use customer information to benefit that customer?
12. How many new ways could we develop to remember information for customers, instead of just about them?
13. When we collect feedback from customers, do we talk in terms of the job/task they were doing or in terms of their perception of our firm?
14. What percentage of our marketing budget can be quantified by accurate metrics?
15. Are we 100% truthful with customers?
16. Marketing tries to make our firm look good. How do we avoid having social media call us out for fudging the truth?
17. Is outbound marketing declining in effectiveness?
18. Do we offer enough compelling content and innovative services to attract customers to us?
19. Are we designing sensors into our products and services?
20. Do we encourage customers to provide feedback, and do we allow other customers to see it?
21. Should we take funds from advertising and general marketing and shift them to developing more innovative services and products?
22. Do we have active and effective teams that combine marketing, engineering and design professionals?
23. Do we encourage and respect a diverse range of opinions and skills across our marketing organization?
24. What percentage of our customer touch points are smart (interactive) vs. stupid (static)?
25. Do we have a mobile strategy that places a greater emphasis on serving than selling?
26. Are we consistently looking at the edges of our industry to spot disruptive technologies and business models?
27. Do we speak at customers or with them?
28. Do we reward customers for feedback?
29. Are we getting increasingly granular in our marketing metrics, to better spot opportunities?
30. Do we reward employees for serving customers, regardless of divisions or jobs?
Bruce Kasanoff is President of Now Possible, a strategy firm that offers fresh thinking about marketing and customer relationships. The Chartered Institute of Marketing – the largest organization of marketing professionals in the world – cited him among their inaugural listing of the 50 most influential thinkers in marketing and business today.
I subscribe to a wonderful little journal called Sacred Journey. In their winter 2010 edition, they published a “Charter for Compassion” that was developed in 2009 by religious leaders around the world. In reading it, I felt there were parts that could apply to our work. Many teams create team charters for how they will work with one another. Leadership groups often develop leadership principles by which they will base their decisions and actions. How would you work differently if you created a charter for aligning your spiritual principles with your work?
Here are some portions of the Charter for Compassion.
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exceptions, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others- even our enemies- is a denial of our common humanity……
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.
Who would you be if you committed to this charter? Sit with the ideas from this charter and see how it resonates with you. Find one thing different that you can do at work to align yourself with an idea expressed here. In doing so, you’ll bring about a shift in your work and yourself. Perhaps even your co-workers, clients and business partners will feel this shift as well.
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. 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 as pdf. The paperback version will be released by Balboa Press sometime before the end of the year. Stay tuned!
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. Conflict is inherent in our differences—in people’s differing backgrounds, perspectives, values, needs, goals, expectations, etc. Here are some common, yet erroneous, beliefs about conflict.
Myth #1:
We tend to think that disagreements and conflicts must always be win / lose situations. “If I don’t win, I lose and YOU win.” Our self-esteem is thus involved and we fight for an issue which may not be that important to us. We need to feel “proven right.” Myth #2:
If people don’t agree with us, they are against us. And we tend to feel that if someone differs with us on one important issue, we will probably disagree on most issues. Myth #3:
It is better to avoid and not talk with a person with whom we have had a conflict. It will only make the other person uncomfortable. Myth #4:
If we disagree or do not understand what someone had said, it is best to ignore the issue, rather than ask for clarification. The problem will probably “go away” if we do not bring it up. Or we may think that everyone else understands what was said, and we do not wish to appear “stupid”. Myth #5:
We think others can read our minds and know what we are thinking and feeling. We think people understand our suggestions when in fact, they do not. And, we may feel sure we know what the other person is saying when we do not. Consequently, we may be talking at cross purposes and not recognize areas of common interest or agreement.
Yes, conflict can be destructive when it diverts energy from more important activities and issues; when it polarizes people and groups and reduces cooperation .and when it produces irresponsible and regrettable behavior. However, conflict can be constructive when it opens up and improves communication; when it strengthens working relationships and teamwork; and when it leads to better quality decisions and problem solutions.
Mangement Success Tip:
Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad. It’s the way you manage conflict that produces constructive or destructive results. To deal effective with conflict depends on you and your ability to:
I do my job faithfully every day and I do it very well. Why is it then I’ve been in the same position for 3 years while others have been promoted?
This is a question from Sharon, a junior accountant at a financial service company. In growing my career and now coaching others, I know that getting that promotion isn’t just about doing what you’re paid to do. It’s not necessarily even about being the best you can be.
What It’s About?
Promotion is about showing that you are ready to take on new or additional responsibilities and also making yourself know to others who can promote you (as your boss) or bring you on board in their department or project. Here are 4 things you can do right now.
1. Look at the big picture. If you think small, you’ll stay small. But if you think big, as in big picture, if you understand the competitive landscape your company is in, then you’ll come up with ideas and you’ll get noticed. Very few “worker bees” do this…thinking that that’s management’s job. This is one way to stand out from all the other junior accountants and distinguish yourself.
2. Keep your eyes and ears open. If your company changes direction or your department has been tasked with a an extremely important project, go where the action is. Ask your boss to be on the task force or at least work on part of the project. This is a way to get noticed as well as build your network.
3. Ask for more responsibility. Notice tasks that are falling through the cracks or are overwhelming your boss who has too much on his or her plate. Point out problems you’ve noticed and possible solutions. Have a plan in mind if you boss says yes so you can quickly demonstrate success.
4. Communicate your desire. Does you boss know your career goals and what you want to achieve in the next year or two? Don’t wait for your annual review. Start now. Schedule a time to go over your work and how you can grow and develop. Start with skills that you can upgrade, add on, or improve. Ask about projects or positions that would help you professional development. Even ask for mentors.
Career Success Tip:
To prepare for promotion, increase your value to your boss and the company; take on more of the right responsibilities, expand your skill set, network within and outside your department and communicate your promotion goals to others diplomatically.
When I began my career in development, over 30 years ago, the certificate program that provided my initial training emphasized that Board Members of NPOs are Trustees, not Directors.
The rationale was that, unlike a for-profit corporation where Directors could be compensated and often were involved with directing aspects of corporate operation, Board Members of NPOs represented the community, held the NPO (as a community asset) in trust for the community, were not supposed to be compensated, and (with the exceptions of very new and/or very small NPOs) were not supposed to be involved in the day to day operation of the corporation.
In my experience, the vast majority of EDs who complain about Board micromanagement have Boards of Directors, not Boards of Trustees. In that context, if you can get Board Members to understand their roles, they’re more likely to function as Trustees, not Directors.
I have also found that when I meet a Board of Trustees for the first time, they are more likely to understand their roles, responsibilities, liabilities and limitations than have been the NPO Boards of Directors I’ve met for the first time.
And, in relation to the question of Board “Giving-And-Getting,” my experience has been that Trustees are much more likely to understand and participate in the process than would be Directors.
I expect that there might be a bit of “halo effect” impacting my perceptions, but I believe I’m objective enough to notice a difference that’s really there.
In addition to the difference between the duties and responsibilities of directors and trustees as perceived by experienced development professionals, there are also legal definitions of the terms.
So, I’m looking for a word, without legal entanglements, that we can adopt/use to refer to the “ideal” non-profit board member.
I like “trustee” because of the relationship to an NPO being a public trust and, of course, because it’s a thirty+ year habit. But, because of the legal definitions in a number of States, I’d be willing to go with another term if we (the professionals in the sector) can agree, adopt a word/term, and agree to spread the word.
I submit this question to you, and hope that this posting will engender a substantive discussion. Look forward to your comments.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? Contact me atHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions.
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