During my career, I have been given a few nuggets of wisdom from people with whom I have made contact. Upon truly understanding their meaning, those words shaped a paradigm shift in my thinking that transformed the way in which I did my work or lived my life. Other pieces of wisdom I heard simply reaffirmed what I already knew, but perhaps provided a unique way in which to describe or communicate the concept. One of those concepts seems to be rarer today than when my career started and I thought I would share it with you.
During my last year of undergraduate work, a guest speaker came to speak to my leadership class. Her message was inspiring and spoke to the good that can be done when only one person takes a stand to make a difference. Upon concluding her talk, she suggested that we always remember who we represent. In our daily interactions with the world around us we are representing the groups in which belong. Those groups include our family, our educational institutions, our religious organizations, our communities, our workplaces and yes even our sport teams. And whether or not we want the responsibility, our actions send a message to those with whom we interact about the people that make up our group.
What does your message send about you, your family or even the field of HR? If you are in HR, you most likely understand the negative perceptions that may exist about our ability to really contribute to the business or make a financial impact. But what are you doing today to change those? How are you leading change in your organizations? How are you modeling the core values you represent?
Think about the following:
. You are a recruiter for a company. In your personal time, you spend hours to complaining to everyone who will listen about how bad your company is. (This goes beyond the very tight inner circle of people with whom you have developed a deep relationship of trust and may even include those postings we have all heard about on all those social networking sites.) When you come to work, you spend hours wondering why you can’t get your network to send you any referrals.
. You completed your degree and are very quick to point out to others this new credential you earned. (Go ahead; you deserve to brag a little). But then at every opportunity, you bash the school and the curriculum. And talk about how it was a huge waste of time. Or you use your 10 years of experience working at a company as a credential on your resume, but during an interview with a potential employer, you spend 15 minutes bashing the company and everything they did wrong.
. You volunteer with a charity. You are put in charge of a project that requires the recruitment of volunteers. You schedule a meeting with those who may be interested in volunteering. While you are waiting to start the meeting, you friend who came to help out walks over and you spend ten minutes venting to her about how frustrating it is working with the leaders of the organization.
On the days when emotions take over and I start to resemble the examples above, I check myself. I take a moment and I think about who I am representing. The next step is to ask, “what can I do to make it better?”
Webinars are often used in the business training environment, but it is a newer version of that webinar idea with a host that is taking over when it comes to online/teleconferencing training: the teleseminar, which can be used to provide information, training, or promote or sell products to group of people interested in a particular topic. Teleseminars are similar to traditional seminars, in content and purpose, but they are given over a teleconference or bridge-line rather than at a specific location. The audience members can be a few or a thousand; it is a way to reach a lot of people at the same time, thereby saving training dollars in terms of travel and logistics.
Because it strives to be the personal approach reaching many people, the teleseminar must also provide the best direct contact with human beings–so, the better the technology, the better the “contact.”
The teleseminar can have a facilitator instead of a host, but may have both. The big difference between the two is the perception that the teleseminar is more personal–the next best thing to being there. At least, it’s being touted as such by its promoters. While I’m not so sure I agree that the concept is the best form of training, I would grant that in some cases it is the best we can do in this current economic environment. It will have to do–at least for awhile.
Because it strives to be the personal approach reaching many people, the teleseminar must also provide the best direct contact with human beings–so, the better the technology, the better the “contact.” So we have a concern now with presenters who use this training platform are expected to be more dynamic and more personable than the typical webinar leader–especially since the topic is of great interest to the audience or they wouldn’t have signed on.
Now, we have to train those who train online how to do it effectively. That’s not surprising since I and others teach acting to those who choose to act in front of a camera for a film or commercial; it is a different kind of acting from stage acting–or public speaking, or presenting.
One aspect remains the same across the board in acting, speaking, and training in that it all begins with the fear most of us have of speaking in front of others. If there are no “others” in front of us as may be the case in of a teleseminar, we’ll find those faces behind the camera thousands of miles away.
Kim Clausen, Founder and President at Confident Teleseminar Leader and Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, posted a question on LinkedIn–a variation of the overcoming stage fright question we have seen many times–only in this case she’s talking about overcoming stage fright doing teleseminars. She makes some very good points that I’m going to mention here.
I agree, for the most part, but with some clarifications with this complex, personal and emotional topic. Clausen recommends four ways to overcome stage fright, or teleseminar fright…”
Get comfortable with the content.
Be aware of how you view your audience.
My 3Ps – PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – Practice both the content and the delivery – nothing beats practice.
Become familiar with the technology – Fear of how to handle the technology or what to do if things go wrong is what scares people the most.
My answers are almost the same, too, but as you might expect, there’s more to talk about. In fact, she’ll be saying more about the topic in her latest teleseminar.
In my experience, trainers generally want more specifics to hand out; hence, the dialogue on LinkedIn. It never hurts to have more and get the advice of colleagues. It has been my experience and I’m sure other trainers and communicators will agree that the trainees or the audience wants less–less to remember. The audience wants it really basic, and sometimes, that isn’t enough as in this case.
To some people knowing their subject really well gives them confidence and courage; to others it won’t make a difference, but knowing their audience will.
Anywhere colleagues can get together and share ideas is a good thing. I am most grateful to LinkedIn and this forum for having the opportunity to share ideas and express my opinion on various training and in this case, a communication topic, as well.
If there were specific techniques that we could all certify as having worked, we wouldn’t have the jobs we do. People are individuals who react differently to different stimuli. To some people, being with others is relaxing, to others it is not. To some people knowing their subject really well gives them confidence and courage; to others it won’t make a difference, but knowing their audience will.
Helping people relax, letting them know the audience is rooting for you, that the whole exercise won’t change the world but we might as well enjoy it–are all things that help.
When I started acting I had stage fright like everyone else and in some cases even now I may get it after 30 years of “practice” because something is different in the mix. Maybe I’m not as prepared–maybe family or a critic is coming–maybe the boss.
We try to control for all that. We practice and gain experience. We meditate. We find our comfort zone.
The first time I used a microphone I was nervous–the first time I was in front of a camera I was nervous. It’s all stage fright. I may still get nervous depending on the environment but I try to channel it, accept that I may be uncomfortable and do the best I can. If I accept the environment as my own, if I accept I am the reason people are there–then I’ll be okay. But that’s just me, isn’t it?
Are there a set of details you can hand out to make others feel less uncomfortable? Only those people who will accept your details as gospel. What if I am a feelings person and not a details person? What can you tell me about my feelings? Can you define them for me?
We try to control for all that. We practice and gain experience. We meditate. We find our comfort zone.
Relating to your audience is key, says Ms. Clausen. And she’s right. But let’s give allow a speaker to be nervous if that is who he or she is. A word won’t change that. It might help, but it won’t fix it. When he or she doesn’t feel nervous they won’t be. Teach them to be themselves. Teach them not how not to be nervous or fearful, but how to use that nervous energy. Never ever let them say, “I’m nervous;” that will only affirm to them how they feel. Let’s not assume we can talk anyone out of how he or she feels.
We can give them the tools to be effective speakers. With those tools brings confidence and courage to push forward. With each win, more confidence and more courage.
I had a speech class moan a little and say, “Oh, you want us to be like you, and that’s not fair.” I didn’t want them to be a speaker like me; I wanted them to be a speaker like them. Who they are defines the speech they give or the presentation they make. We can make the process easier and hopefully make the act less stressful in the reality.
Ironically, if the presenter can keep focused on what the audience needs or wants to know and keeps trying to deal with that, the fears won’t have a lot of time to manifest. Feeling inadequate to deliver the goods to the audience is generally our true worst fear–unless we have a complex based on what people think of us in general.
Owning the moment and the stage is key to alleviating public speaking and networking fears. Practice means doing it the same way each time. Practice, practice, practice does not make a person less fearful; it makes them automatons. Experience is different. Different audiences. My mantra is know your audience, know your subject and know yourself. You’ll lessen those fears and maybe one day eliminate them. Some people never get over the butterflies but use them. Find the energy, the excitement, the thrill in them. I get butterflies on a roller coaster, don’t you? If I got rid of that feeling, riding a roller coaster might not be fun anymore.
As long as our audience believes what we are saying is a relative truth–as good as we can make it–they’ll listen.
People are complex creatures yet we like the simple answers; we like short lists. We want the black and white answers–the “fuzzy” being too “iffy.” Some people always look for the numbers and there are not concrete numbers for any topic we might cover. This one in particular is full of variations and approaches to help. You may have four points; I may have three–someone else, ten and we’re all as correct as any thinking human can be. As long as our audience believes what we are saying is a relative truth–as good as we can make it–they’ll listen. We are trying to help and to those trying to help us we are most gracious.
The toughest part of teleseminars, Clausen says, is being comfortable with the technology. I’m assuming we aren’t talking about an old-fashioned teleconference (which we still do by the way) a speakerphone, but a teleseminar, complete with video, music and presenters–images and presentations. While some challenges reside with the viewers staying tuned in or its their loss, the pressure is on the host/presenter to keep things moving and keep the audience involved–and tuned in.
Talking to ourselves does help. Don’t most of us practice with a mirror or use headphones to hear ourselves talk?
Still, being comfortable with the teleseminar platform means you are prepared–even if something goes wrong with the technology–or anything for that matter. Decide ahead of time a number of what ifs and decide on Plan Bs to deal with them. Even what to say. Don’t plan to fail (never say fail either–Gremlins happen), but if you must, do it with dignity. Armed with only our dignity, we can still feel okay and go on to the next project. Actually you should never consider it failure; but rather Murphy’s law, sh** happens, etc. That’s life.
I have to tell you I am never thrilled with teleseminars either as a participant because I have to see someone who, unless he or she is very charismatic, is not connecting to me personally. As a presenter, unless I have an audience in front of me to focus on, it’s hard to focus on my camera audience, too, but a little less so with some kind of physical audience; that helps me as a presenter to be audience-focused. In radio, my first job often left me alone at the station. To have the feeling of another presence to talk to (and many DJs do this on the night shift) I put up a mirror to see a person–even if it was only me, it seemed to help. Talking to ourselves does help. Don’t most of us practice with a mirror or use headphones to hear ourselves talk? It’s also reaffirming that we are an entitled presence to speak.
It seems what is happening to me is not fear so much as uncertainty of the outcome. Maybe you can focus that is the real “fear” or “stage fright”–uncertainty.
Teleseminars have an artificiality about them because of the medium. Maybe that artificiality will go away with realistic 3-D or holographic images. I don’t think we really want that. I wrote a novel about what happens when people stop talking face-to-face and it isn’t pretty. We lose touch with our humanity, depending on machines to make us more than we are. We let the machines run the show, and we don’t really want that. At any rate, teleseminars have a place and it’s up to all of us who do them to make human contact while on the other side of the machine.
Remember, we aren’t talking to a machine but a whole person, with a set of ideas, agendas and need for our knowledge. Know that audience. Know your subject and tell them what they need and want to hear. And, know yourself so you can make it interesting and lively, and no one will want to fall asleep, look at his or her watch, check their smart phone or take notes unless you want them to, and they want to, too.
As always, I like to remind readers, the views expressed are mine alone, but I am not the only person with an opinion so please comment here, or on my website, where as you may have guessed, I open my mouth on other subjects like communication and theatre. Email me, if you like. Better yet offer me a job, an interview, or a smile. Give me an idea to write about. Be a guest blogger. Check the site at the top of the page. Meanwhile, I hope I’ve given you something to think about. 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.
How do you manage your career when you work for a non profit or community organization?
That was a question asked of me during a recent presentation at a conference for community health care professionals. No matter if you work in human services or business services, one thing is for sure…your career is your responsibility. Yes, of course your manager should have your best interests in mind, but your professional development is not at the top of his or her daily to-do list. It should be on the top of yours.
Here are 7 key strategies for moving up in the non profit world.
1. Develop strong competence in your specialty. You need substance. Produce outstanding results that add major value in one of the big areas of your organization. Do it on time, under budget, and without a big hassle.
2. Build a web of contacts throughout your organization. It’s difficult to survive on skills alone — you need a network of allies who know and appreciate your value. Join committees and task forces so that you can show your capabilities and make yourself known.
3. Listen to the talk around the water-cooler. Most of it is gossip, but you’ll learn a lot about the politics in your organization. Focus your attention not so much on what gets said, but rather how it gets said.
4. Move in the direction the organization is going. When change occurs, your energy is better spent on trying new things, not putting extra effort into old ways. Most of all, don’t waste time complaining about the change.
5. Develop broad management expertise. Professionals, no matter what your expertise, will be of greater value if they develop a broad base of practical management skills including budgeting, grant writing supervision. Therefore, you will more likely be chosen for greater leadership responsibility.
6. Reorder your work priorities. Meet the needs of your boss first, then co-workers and your personal ones last.. Treat them like customers. People may not always notice what you do for them, but they are well aware of what you don’t do. That means balancing the various demands on your time selectively.
7. Seek out a mentor and others who can help you. You need people who will help you understand how they managed their careers so that you can learn how to manage yours. Also, find a coach who can build your skills and help develop your long term career strategy. The use of coaches has been commonplace in the business sector for many years and the practice has taken hold in nonprofit world.
Career Success Tip
It’s okay to have personal career goals and be ambitious in the non profit world. It doesn’t mean you have to climb over people but it does mean you have to have confidence, assertiveness, and of course integrity.
A couple of weeks ago I saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Having enjoyed the first Kung Fu Panda movie as a light children’s movie, I was surprised by the depth of the messages in the sequel. Though still a nice children’s movie, I walked away with several key ideas that are worth remembering.
Just to give a short summary of the movie, the main character is a large Panda named Po, who was raised by a goose (only in movies can this happen!). The panda is devoted to his ‘father’, a goose that runs a Chinese noodle restaurant. In the first movie we see how the Panda becomes a Dragon Warrior and in the sequel he continues to use his Kung Fu prowess, with 5 other Kung Fu masters, all different animals. In Kung Fu 2 Po learns that the goose is not his real father (shock!) and sets out to find out who his real father is. Of course the journey takes him far from home and he has to risk everything to face the mean opponent who killed the Panda clan years earlier.
Many mythic hero stories have the hero venture far from home to face a life threatening ordeal and an evil opponent to battle in the classic good vs. evil story line. Most heros have been abandoned or lost their parents when they were young (think Harry Potter). And in all these classic tales the hero must face his/her own inner demons to find his/her real powers and inner strength to defeat the opponent.
Let’s see how this story can provide lessons for your work. A major lesson in these hero stories is that our victory isn’t over an outside other entity, not from a spiritual sense. The ‘enemy’ is merely a prop or actor for the story line. No, it is a victory over our own inner dragons that is the real story. It is an inner quest to discover your true destiny, your inner strength, and connect with the Source of your being.
Think of the last time you had a boss, co-worker, client, or stakeholder who you really disliked. This person was at least a thorn in your side, if not made your life miserable. Who (what) is the real enemy here? Is it the other person, or is it your own ego, pride, hatred, fear, doubt, insecurities? Once you master your own inner dragons- hate, pride, insecurity, then no one can be your nemesis. As Peter Calhoun says, “An enlightened being has no castle walls to defend.”
The Panda learns an important herioc lesson from his mentor, Master Shifu, (I’m not sure what type of animal he is but think Obi-Wan Kenobior Dumbledore). This lesson is to still the mind (or in a similar vein, think of Luke Skywalker’s training to Let the Force Be With You). With a still mind, connecting to your Source, inner peace and clarity prevail. From here intuition, guidance, and your inner wisdom can emerge. This inner peace conquers doubts, worries, distractions, and obstacles by having them flow effortless around you. When the panda learns how to allow the rain drop to fall on him without breaking his concentration and inner peace, he uses the same practice to deflect the barbs and arrows (and cannon balls) that are shot at him.
Again, let’s look at your workplace. Do you let everyone’s petty comments, judgments, grudges, insults annoy you and distract you from your work? Can you learn to let these go, in one ear and out the other, without staying attached or connected to the power and negative energy of them? When you learn to let others have their opinions and judgments, saying what they will without it disturbing your inner peace and concentration, you’ll learn the way of the Tao.
The last lesson is a particularly good reminder even if you aren’t on a hero’s journey. Your history doesn’t determine your future. No matter what your background is, you now choose who you want to be and become. Even with the best schooling or family upbringing, success isn’t guaranteed. Nor is the worst family or school a set-up for failure. How you live your life, with what you have in front of you now, is what counts.
So at work, even if you don’t have all the resources at your fingertips, or the training you need, or the extra support you’d like to have, how can you navigate your way through to achieve your goals? What’s been put on your desk today is your challenge and your future. How will you respond to that challenge? Will you take on a ‘poor-pity me’ role or will you step into your power and do what is yours now to do? How are your unique talents and gifts being called upon today in the work you are doing?
Lessons from the Kung Fu Panda- Summary
1. Once you master your inner dragons, no one can threaten you
2. Once you find inner peace, nothing can distract you from the work you are called to do
3. When you understand your history doesn’t determine your future, you choose how you use your gifts and talents to fulfill your destiny (or at least complete what’s on your desk)
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.
I just had to share with you both of these incredible people for K. All along I was planning to highlight Cynthia Kersey and then I just listened to a webcast with Ken Blanchard and am so inspired by the way that he lives out his spirituality that I thought why don’t share about both of them. Both of these amazing people put their love in action as they serve others through their work.
Work is love made visible. – Kahlil Gibran
Ken Blanchard
Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm. He is also the cofounder of the Center for FaithWalk Leadership.
Being in the training and development industry, I was first introduced to Ken’s work by getting certified to teach one of his programs called Situational Leadership. Ever since then Ken’s been a mentor for me in how to live out my spirituality at work. I love that even his work title is being the chief spiritual officer for his organization. His philosophy, from the perspective that I know about him through reading his books, listening to presentations of his and attending workshops, is that Ken is passionate about spreading servant leadership. A way of leading and being that is “not all about us” but is all about how you can serve others to really make a difference for them.
I feel like he’s done that for me just from afar by living his life this way. His influence continues to spread to others as well. He recently partnered with Colleen Barrett, the president emeritus of Southwest Airlines, to write the book Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success. It’s a great example of a company that puts love in action through creating a culture in which people are inspired to be who they are and share that love with their employees, customers and shareholders. In an earlier blog, I wrote about Southwest as a model example of an organization embracing spirituality in the workplace.
One way Ken does this at his company is that he sends out a daily inspirational message to his 300 plus employees. When asked if he had only one practice that he could do that would matter the most, he said it would be to “wander around and catch people doing things right.” This is the concept he introduced in his best-selling One Minute Manager book. His work is impactful, his message is inspirational and his contribution to spirituality at work is invaluable.
Cynthia Kersey
Cynthia Kersey is unstoppable. What I admire most about her is that she has an unstoppable heart that keeps on giving. She quit her high-paying corporate job to write the book called Unstoppable and to form her business around this same concept. Now she recently shifted her focus to be on living an unstoppable live by her vision of wanting all children on the planet to receive an education. Thus, she is putting all her time and energy into her Unstoppable foundation to build schools for children in Africa.
I’ve heard her speak multiple times on recorded presentations. She shares how she’s able to keep going with her unstoppable work is that she first has a practice of giving to herself each morning to connect with her mind, body and spirit. When she fills herself up, that when she is able to fill up others as well through her work. In regards to finding her calling she said, “When you are called, the miracles come when you fully jump on board.”
A few months back I participated in her “give a little, get a lot” program in which she sold educational online programs from some of the top personal and professional development gurus to people like me. They donated their programs, she sold them at a reasonable cost and then used the money raised $270,000 to build the schools. I felt great being part of her program and look forward to the many ways that I’ll learn from her on how to be unstoppable with my giving and putting my spirituality to work.
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.
In my imagination I see a fair world,
Everyone lives in peace and in honesty there.
I dream of souls that are always free,
…Like the clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like clouds that fly,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.
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 an earlier post on job satisfaction – “have you lost that loving feeling” – I presented three reasons to stay and three reasons to leave your present job.
Well here are additional options to consider before making that critical career decision. It is based on the principle that there are only two things you can change: you can change YOU or you can change IT.
Changing YOU refers to changing things that are under your control. Changing IT refers to changing any of the influencing forces or people in your life and work. It is basically everything that isn’t you.
The choice of whether to change IT or YOU is up to you, and it can be difficult to determine what is the best route to take. A lot of times we make the wrong choice and try to change IT when we should be changing something about ourselves, and vice versa.
So, to stop hating and start liking your job, you can:
Alter your attitude toward the company or the circumstances. Try to find new and better ways of interacting with coworkers and even your boss. Mentally readjust and try to make peace with the situation. That’s changing YOU!
Change your work environment even in small ways. But be mindful of what is allowed and what’s not. I’ve seen cubicles decorated with pictures and drawing; people at their computers working intently with earphones; an inexpensive pool for championship sports events that generated great excitement. That’s changing IT.
Accept what you can’t change, change what you can and know the difference. Respect final decisions that cannot be changed and also realize you can impact decisions that are in progress. Then figure out how you or your team can influence the situation. That’s changing YOU and IT.
Do nothing. Stoically endure the situation. Whine and complain hoping somehow things will miraculously get better. I’ve never seen this work. I doubt you have either! That’s not changing YOU and not changing IT.
Career Success Tip:
Changing YOU is not necessarily preferable to changing IT – nor is the opposite true. It depends on the situation. However, once you are aware of a specific YOU or specific IT option or both, you will see situations differently and you will have a much more satisfactory experience. You will no longer feel that you are just a cog in the wheel at work. Rather you will believe that you do have some control over your career. What a great feeling that is to have.
So they tell us. I’ve always thought the most valuable part of a conference was the networking and the contacts that I had made. I thought most of the sessions were poorly delivered or that would have been better as a handout or a well-written article or white paper. There are some people who think it is easier and better to do a conference presentation because all you have to do is stand up and read your presentation…and basically tell everyone what you did to get the job done.
There are some people think it is better to do the conference presentation because all you have to do is stand up and read your presentation…and tell everyone what you did to get the job done.
A conference presentation is better only when the information is presented as you would to impress colleagues—with information that will interest them, with information they can use, and takes advantage of the interactive format. Otherwise, you might as well stay home. I think some of the smarter people do.
In my 30 years of government, I’ve been to many conferences all claiming to be a focal point for Innovation, Collaboration, and Communication (you can substitute networking if you want). “WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?”I hear a song from the 1970s coming on… “ABSOLUTELY…”No I won’t say it because they are good for something.
Shopping. Site-seeing. Time-off. If that’s what you make it.
That’s just it. It is what you make it. Unfortunately, unless we are the conference planners, we only have control over how we take the conference. Yes, for some it is always good to put a face to an email or a voice on the phone. Really? I guess to us introverts that doesn’t really matter. However, as I said earlier, the best part may be the networking–the meeting of others engaged in the same or related business you are.
I have an idea that if we took the approach of expecting less than we get and making more out of it when we get there, we might come close to getting something out of it.
People who go expecting the conference as touted to be a fantastic experience are almost always disappointed. Immediately their attention levels drop. Their enthusiasm for the conference moves on to whatever else is around. Of course, there are always those people who go for those things above. If you pick an uninteresting location, forget it–they’re not coming. Even with the professional enticements you listed below:
Do your job better with the knowledge you gain at workshops and plenaries on issues critical to…
Expert presenters from around the world will share their knowledge and expertise with you.
Network with colleagues in the field, and make those important connections to exchange information and advice throughout the year.
Learn about the latest solutions and programs from the Nation’s top providers.
Earn your mandatory professional certification credits. (Lawyers are always looking for easy ways to earn CLE credits, and this is one way.)
So, how do you get attendees to come, stay and learn?
You make sure attendees are comfortable, and if that’s not possible, just apologize. It makes the situation more of “we’re all in this together and we’ll make the best of it.” Don’t make excuses. Tough guys and professionals who know these things say it makes you weak. You want to appear strong, confident, and professional. So, you are either a tough guy or a professional. Which do you want to be?
Give attendees something they can use or the motivating to think along the same lines as your speakers’ who are the experts in the fields. Energize them with good new stuff, invigorate the old stuff with exciting new variations that hold promise, and make sure attendees know why by asking for their input throughout, not just at the end. That will make the whole experience interactive rather than a few sessions with exceptional presenters who can handle it.
Treat attendees as the professionals they think they are. Does artificially pumping people up by repeating, “Aren’t we glad we’re here?”–really work? Or, does it just get irritating? It’s cheer leading! No one said (except a cheerleader) that cheer leading is fun. To some, cheerleaders may be fun. There’s a difference.
Ensure what you promise is what you deliver. Granted that is the toughest and you can’t deliver miracles but you need to show you did the best you could. You may not get everyone’s idea of the best seminar or workshop topics, but make the conference flow smoothly–and staff should be as accommodating as possible. If you promise “expert presenters,” do you mean presenters who are experts, or presenters who are experts at presenting? Either way, you have to make it happen. Bringing in the same old presenters or the presenters who did such a bang up job last year is not the same thing.
One networking event is never enough. In fact, breaks are never long enough because professionals have to check-in with the office and family sometimes. Make the breaks long enough–even if it means extending the conference a day–so that people have a chance to network. Here’s a suggestion: instead of one big ballroom mixer, try several in different locations (bars and lounges), etc. Smaller groups tend to get tighter with and without alcohol. Smaller groups of people are easier to remember later when you need them, and since you know each other better than someone you may have met at the buffet for 30 seconds, are more prepared to be a real contact worth having. Just a thought.
If you’re offering certification or credits like CLEs make the process of getting the certification as simple and streamlined as possible. Sign-up, attend, get certificate!
Now you have a conference with some zing.
A final word. Don’t try to make the conference something for everyone. You’ll never make it happen. Don’t focus all your energy setting up a sporting outing because a favorite baseball team is located in this locale. Some people actually prefer to watch sports on television. Some could care less about sports and would rather go to a good play or eat dinner in famous restaurant. Whatever you do, make a list of activities and where to get more information on attending them. Just make sure the hotel actually does have information on hand, and you might be surprised that the hotel has entertainment packages or transportation that can be made available for your attendees–even if they are not hotel guests.
Believe it or not, I have other outrageous opinions on other subjects on my website under What I Say. I even talk about theatre and the practical application of acting skills, review plays, and talk about most communication topics. If you don’t see anything you like, just ask. Feel free to comment on my posts anywhere you find them. I appreciate the feedback and welcome views that differ from my own. Life’s complicated and so are we. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be very interesting. Although I do try to break down ideas to some basics and take some of the loftiness out of labels and categories, I am a regular guy who works like everyone else at trying to do the thing he loves best for at least a small part of his life. I hope you’re doing what you love. If not, get working on it. Do it for you and everyone around you.
Caren Hamilton& John Watkins share the second part of their blog on Leadership Grace. See last week’s post for part 1
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The Power of Leadership Grace
There are different aspects of power that we have found help us to express and lead with grace. These surround our core and they are the energetic expression of grace. So grace empowers us to lead through clarity, focus, and ease, to achieve recovery, unity, and service. From that work we create the possibility to live a happy, free, and joyous life.
Clarity emerges out of chaos and reveals what needs to be destroyed or created. As we honestly inventory our lives, our recovery and healing begins, and we find ourselves returning to this wellspring over and over. This is the essence of the goddess Kali in yoga philosophy. It is our spiritual compost – the stuff out of which new things are created. Kali is the forth “R” in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. Here is the uncomfortable, yet fertile place, where necessity births invention – the muck out of which the lotus grows and blossoms.
Focus comes from the healthy application of the brilliant searchlight of our mind in service to the Heart. Here we access our knowledge and arts, and we set an intention to apply this wisdom in our lives. In yoga philosophy, the goddess Saraswati represents this power, calling forth discernment and the skillful use of all our resources to achieve unity.
Ease is the beautiful, radiant, and abundant aspect of Leadership Grace. This rich and cultured expression is known as the goddess Laksmi in yoga philosophy, representing the culminating expression of our artistry, beauty, and abundance. We aspire to use this power in service to the Divine in all situations.
The Inner and Outer Practices of Leadership Grace
Both yoga and 12-step traditions require our regular and consistent practice. A strong inner practice gives us a significant competitive advantage because it gives us access to unlimited resources from which to act. That inner practice involves opening to grace, engaging and hugging to our core sense of meaning and purpose, and learning how to express that outward clearly, skillfully, and directly. A strong inner practice is portable, allows us to be centered, courageous, and steadfast, yet adaptable, dynamic, and flexible in any situation.
Leadership Grace is our divine embodiment fully expressed in the grit of our daily experiences. Healthy and effective leadership is nothing if it is not full engagement. “As much, so much,” goes the yoga expression, reminding us to apply a hundred percent of our power for each place we choose to engage, and yet, never more than is needed. This balanced action keeps us from over-exerting ourselves.
This is not the same as “do-er-ship,” the need to do something to fix things. Instead we can be the calm center that steadfastly holds us and our anxieties about our lives, loves, and work in a place of loving and compassionate reflection. It may be a fiery reflection that allows us to see with discernment the contrasts between our stories of our experience and what is real. It allows us to disengage from what is no longer serving, in order to re-engage healthily in each new moment.
Leadership Grace allows all of us to feel safe enough to open our own hearts and let our innermost selves flow into expression. That leadership connects with our deepest, most heartfelt longings, creates a place that is safe and trusting, yet holds us to high standards of responsibility to self and others, and as a result, frees us to be more whole. Then we can more easily align our “views, means, and fruit.”
Leadership Grace asks first, often, and always, “How might I be of service in this situation?” “How might I act from a place of clarity, focus, ease, and grace?” “How might my service aid recovery (healing) and build unity, such that we may all become more happy, joyous, and free?” “How might I use the power of grace to illuminate the dark places of fear, dissolving away that which is no longer serving, opening to the growth of what is emerging, naming things with clear and articulate words, and supporting the fullest expression of beauty, abundance, and art?” And at each point, Leadership Grace starts with ourselves first, yet also we realize, there is no end, no goal, no final solution. Leadership Grace is a continual process of disciplined practice to allow us ever-deeper access to our divine nature and its ever-fuller expression in this amazing world we inhabit.
Finally, regardless of whether the dis-ease we encounter is within ourselves, at work, at home or next door, it is all a symptom of disconnection and imbalance, a sort of soul sickness. Awareness is the first step, then regular and consistent practice is the pathway that returns us to Grace. We invite you to join us in this practice!
Janae: Janet, thanks for joining me to talk about spiritual deepening in life and work. As you know, you’ve been one of my mentors who has inspired me to deepen my spiritual evolution. I know you are passionate about this and I’ll be interested in hearing more about your perspective. I remember when I first met you. I had asked you to come to speak on Spirituality and Work at Custom Research, the company I was working for in the early nineties.
Janet: Janae, thanks for inviting me to dialogue with you. I’m so pleased to help your readers explore this topic, Spiritual Deepening in Life and Work. My most vivid memory of my work at Custom Research was asking the group a question to get us started, “Have you ever had a spiritual experience at work?” and spending the next hour hearing all those amazing stories. I was so moved hearing people tell stories about being kind on purpose, praying for clients, sensing a power beyond them in their creative work etc. In my recollection we all left longing for more time and more conversation because of the spiritual energy that was underneath the surface of most people’s lives. It inspired me.
Janae: And since then you’ve gradually come to dedicate much of your time to spiritual deepening in life and work, right? What forms has this spiritual deepening taken for you in the last several years?
Janet: As a summary, I’d say that I now experience life as an amateur Anchoress, which means a grounded presence in the world. As a direct result of what’s happened in my own life experience I’ve developed classes and products that feed and open the hearts of people who are longing for more meaning and spiritual intimacy. I could just list some things that I’ve developed but I think it would be more interesting to tell my story of how these things evolved from my own struggles and from a call to surrender my life and work in favor of a smaller, simpler and more peaceful way to live.
Janae: I’d like to hear more of your story too, so where do we begin?
Janet: One example of my initiation into the deepening way of life was to co-author the book, The Critical Journey. This book described the stages in the life of faith and it included the Wall, which is the place where we release our old way of life, heal spiritually and psychologically and move beyond our ego. That book and the fact that I had begun spiritual direction in my own life, furthered my journey into spiritual deepening personally and professionally. Then fast- forward several years, into the early years of the new century: I met the Wall squarely in my own life and it has never been the same since.
Janae: I had, by that time, joined yourReal Power Network and was able to see some of that transformation myself. It’s been powerful to watch you over these last ten years. What was most memorable and what ways has it changed you?
Janet: What was most memorable was that, as I was coming through the Wall myself, I couldn’t work in the same way I had before. I was a high achiever and was not only running my own business of speaking and writing but I was also the executive director of a national non-profit. Almost overnight I couldn’t sustain that life style any more. I was very anxious and I got nosebleeds when I spoke in public. Clearly my body did not want to work that way any more. But I was newly single and felt a lot of pressure to keep up that pace. I “knew” that this anxiety was a spiritual call for me and that my life had become disordered and needed to change. So I started letting it change, started letting go, and holding onto all things more lightly. I spoke of this change in a video recently in case anyone wants to hear me describe it live. It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0bmPd-CZjM
Janae: I think that was during the time we were doing the training certification for the Real Power Network, right?
Janet: That’s right. I was being certified along with six others in our network (in a process you helped design, thanks! Picture of us with certification.) and I chose as my culminating project an art book depicting Beauty as Thin Place, a place where the holy breaks through and we get a glimpse of something beyond us. I chose twenty personal examples of thin places in my life. So, for example, I depicted the beauty of forgiveness, the beauty of the fire, the beauty of self worth, the beauty of inner storms, the beauty of relinquishing as well as the beauty of the double play in baseball. 🙂 It was an amazing project and it opened the door to more creativity that had been hiding inside of me, unable to surface until my spirituality caused my life change. I started moving from making it happen to letting it happen. That made all the difference. I trusted the Holy more and started allowing for a different scenario for my future. Several others in the network were like angels to me during that time, encouraging me to take this road less traveled.
Janae: And that kind of opened the floodgates as I recall. How did it all happen from that point on?
Janet: The first step, as I recall, was the gift of poems. I wrote about fifteen poems in one summer and they just fell into my lap. I’d never experienced that kind of creative energy even though I’d written books. These poems were different for me; simple, straight forward, and honest. One of my favorites was just four lines long. It’s called “That’s All I’ve Got to Say” and it goes like this:
I created you
now let me love you
that’s all I’ve got to say
would you like me to repeat that.
I wrote poems about how we don’t let ourselves feel God’s love, about how addictions are a way of looking for God, and about the inevitability of pain as a way to break our hearts open. These poems just arrived, as friends from home.
Janae: Yes, I remember those. My favorite was the one in which you and God had a conversation about whether you would go into the scary places or not. God was willing to let you have your way, by not facing your fear. Alas, you discovered it didn’t work. And I know you put those poems into a small booklet to share on your web site www.janethagberg.com.
Janet: That poem you mentioned was called “God Smiles.” I love that one. And yes, I was starting to share these gifts with others through my web site. The next thing that emerged was a whole new art form for me, emerging from my Beauty project. I love beautiful paper so for my birthday one year I went to an art store and bought several sheets of exquisite paper. When I brought it home it took the form of poignant depictions of the ways we rest in God, all different images on black paper backgrounds. I see these as contemporary icons, an art form that draws you into its story and then points you towards God. I made fifteen of them in the next several months. A few examples are: Resting in God…In the middle of a storm, in the potter’s hands, under the protection of God’s tent and in the presence of our enemies. Other products emerged at about that same time, like a small set of sixty-four specially chosen scripture cards about the inner life wrapped in a little purple bag. They were remarkably pertinent whenever I drew one to find out what God was saying to me that day or in certain situations.
Now I can imagine that some readers are nodding off to sleep so it’s OK with me if anyone wants to tune out about now. But there is more…
Janae: Yes, as I recall some of the most interesting things are yet to come. You started getting much more involved with people on the margins of our society at that point, as I recall?
Janet: You are spot on. I had gotten involved with an inner city multi-racial church and an organization that encouraged suburban people to get personally involved with marginalized people. I taught classes in which people from these two worlds became mutual friends and we also took them on inner city pilgrimages. It was utterly amazing to see the spiritual transformation that occurred when people who thought they were so different actually found out they weren’t that different and in fact could learn from one another. One man who hosted us for lunch at the homeless shelter told us his story. He had a master’s degree in engineering but when his mother got sick he had to take care of her. He had promised her he would take care of her as she, a single mom, had taken care of him. As she got worse he stayed home more and eventually lost his job. When she went into a care facility he had to leave the house and soon he was homeless. This story really stunned the people in the group who had never expected homeless people to have advanced degrees. And yet there are many homeless people with college degrees.
So the conversations began and spiritual change started to happen. At that time in my life I was also journeying with two refugees, one from China and one from Africa (a survivor of torture), both of whom became my friends. I was learning about survival, about faith and about the idea of living my priorities. When you’ve had to give up everything, you care less about material things and more about what matters most. I gave away a lot of my things, reduced my expenses and began to live a simpler and more creative life. It was a freeing time rather than a time of diminishment.
Janae: It seems like you are getting more actively involved in spiritual deepening within your own life and in these classes involving the marginalized? Were there any other classes like this?
Janet: Yes, it sparked me to concentrate on teaching things that would deepen people spiritually and thus change their lives and work. So I began to co-teach classes on moving from success to significance to surrender, on the process of transformation at the Wall, and I also taught on-line classes on the inner life. In my spiritual direction practice I worked primarily with people who were at the Wall and wanting to make significant changes. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. First came all the essays…
Janae: I love this story because you really didn’t want to write them, did you?
Janet: No, I didn’t want to write any more. I felt I was finished writing and one December my spiritual director asked me if I was writing about any of the things that were happening to me. For instance, I had a gift of tears. I couldn’t stop my crying episodes. I was not depressed or under stress, I just couldn’t stop crying. She pointed out that one of my favorite mentors, St. Igantius had the same experience and asked me to read about it. I did and it all became clear to me, that this was a new way for me to deepen and experience more intimacy with God. So I wrote. And since writing about that particular gift of tears, I’ve met several other people who’ve experienced the same thing, a gift I knew nothing about earlier. I also started listening to my body giving me messages through physical symptoms that were directly related to what was going on in my life. As I said, I was not that interested in writing, but my director strongly encouraged me to do it any way, just to see what happened.
Janae: I’ve heard that spiritual directors are like angels sometimes, asking us to do things that we may not see for ourselves. Sounds like she was one of your angels.
Janet: Believe me, I’ve had a lot of angels along the way. Sooo, kind of against my better judgment I began writing short essays, at my spiritual director’s request. They began falling into my lap too, just like the poems and the icons. Since then I’ve written about seventy essays about a wide range of topics pertaining to the inner life, many of which are honest questions I’ve had or the real ways in which God shows up in my life. Many are about pain or questions about God or about our shadows. Several of the essays end up being about how funny God is. One is about the spirituality of baseball—no surprise! I don’t know where these essays are headed yet, but Fay, one of my friends in the network, encouraged me to start a blog. I didn’t want to do it because of the pressure to produce writing regularly, but when she said I could load all of my essays on the blog and then publish one a week, I decided to try it. Wow, it’s amazing. Now I just invite people to subscribe and then I send the essays along. The theme of the blog is “at river’s edge” and it depicts how God is inviting us deeper and deeper into the river’s current so we can be more trusting of God’s hand in our lives. The address is atriversedge.wordpress.com FREE!
Janae: I subscribe to your blog and you need to tell us what else you have in creative storage on your blog. It’s not just writing.
Janet: No, I’ve not limited it to words. I also include icons and photos and poems and videos from time to time. One thing I’ve not mentioned is that my paper icons have morphed into quilted icons, since quilting is one of my favorite things. I would not have thought of this but a woman in my quilt group suggested it. And voila, it worked. I love putting these images on cloth and hanging them on my wall or giving them away. Just a month or so ago when I was in the middle of a stressful time with a flood in my condo, a business transition, and no heat or air conditioning, I had another creative gift, the idea that I could have a signature scripture verse that I could use for icons, one that fit what I’ve been teaching about for a long time. The verse is “Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes with the morning.” Ps. 30:5 It fits so well the idea of the Wall and freedom, darkness and light etc. So I’ve made several six-inch icons of this idea, that I call pocket icons, and I will be selling them on my web site and perhaps on the blog in the future. Here’s a couple of examples of my smaller icons. So more creative ideas are breaking through…
Janae: It sounds like you are willing to let things evolve and just see what the Holy has in store. That takes faith. What gives you that kind of faith?
Janet: It does take faith. I believe that it is primarily due to my quieting down and letting intimacy with God infiltrate me more thoroughly. I’m actually grateful for my anxiety reaction those many years ago. In fact, I have to monitor this regularly since it is my body’s sign to me when I’m overdoing things or facing an unsafe situation. When I trust God, my life doesn’t lose all stress but I manage it differently and hold all things more lightly. I laugh more and I’m continually surprised by grace. My overwhelming feeling is gratitude and now I feel that my cup is truly running over. “That’s all I’ve got to say. Would you like me to repeat that??” 🙂
Janae: Thanks so much for telling us about spiritual deepening in such a personal, honest and beautiful way. It certainly is an inspiration for me and I’m sure for others as well. I appreciate knowing you. If people have personal questions may they contact you?
Janet: Yes, by all means. My email is janethagberg@comcast.net
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