Professionally Speaking TV » ExpertPerspective

The Silent Muse: the Influence of African Art on Picasso’s Early Work with Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford (Audio)

cristina — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:23:59 +0000

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937. Oil on canvas 92 x 65 cm Musée National Picasso, Paris Pablo Picasso gift-in-lieu, 1979, MP158 (C) Succession Picasso, 2011 (C) RMN / Jean-Gilles Berizzi Click to play: Download 53.8MB MP3 Recorded: Wednesday, May 9, 7 pm in Jackman Hall Duration: 01:34:04 During the early years of the twentieth century a new form of painting was born. This was not a further resolution of the aesthetic conundrum that had been teasing European artists for centuries – this wasn’t an evolutionary step that took us closer to understanding the mechanics of paint and canvas – this was the establishment of a new kind of aesthetic aim. This is the beginning of a radical change in pre-war cultural trajectory, an unstoppable revolution that defined post-war popular culture, and continues to inform the arts. It was a shift that found its most dramatic form in the work of Pablo Picasso, but was triggered and inspired by the art of Africa.

Celebrating a moment

Michael Bungay Stanier — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:29:29 +0000

Box of Crayons does a lot of work with TD Bank, one of Canada’s big four banks. This is one of the reasons I’m very proud to call them a client. It’s not just that they’ve put out a ”it gets better” video. I’ve always known TD had a great commitment to diversity. It’s the fact that the leadership for this comes from the very top, with CEO Ed Clark speaking in the video to his and TD’s support of the GBLT community.

Flexibility is good for business

cybf — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:56:55 +0000

Scott Walton is the founder of Saint John, New Brunswick-based Enovex Technology Ltd., a sustainability-focused start-up developing a new class of gas production absorbents. He is also a Canadian delegate for the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit in Mexico this June. As a leader of a high-tech company, Scott knows that flexibility in the work place is critical to keeping employees productive and thinking creatively. He has this advice for entrepreneurs working to maintain flexible environments: Autonomy – Giving your team the ability to customize the location and style of their workspace is key. No one enjoys having their boss peer over their shoulder continuously or having little privacy. Checking in on Twitter, The Chive, Facebook are great ways to sustain productivity. Restricting employees’ freedom can lead to trust barriers. Have fun – We have washer toss boxes and bean bag toss set up in our office. Not only are they effective for winding down the week they are also real conversation starters when investors, partners, or colleagues walk in. Co-habitation – Split the office with another start-up. It is a great way to absorb ideas and hold each another accountable for your goals. You can offset costs, share services and it is a source of motivation. Find out more about Enovex at www.enovexcorp.com.

Lucy Jo Palladino, Find Your Focus Zone

Michael Bungay Stanier — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:29 +0000

If you’ve got too many plates spinning at once, feel overwhelmed by endless to do lists and no time to get stuff done, then my conversation with Lucy Jo Palladino, author of Find Your Focus Zone, is for you. Lucy is an award-winning psychologist and attention expert with thirty years of professional experience. In this conversation we dive into her eight key chains to help increase focus and manage distractions. Lucy and I talk about many aspects of attention, including: What she learned from Olympic athletes How changing your state can increase you focus The link between serotonin and attention Why you should be copying the lifestyles of the calm and the focused To learn more about Lucy, you can find her at www.LucyJoPalladino.com. Listen to my interview with LucyJo Palladino

Want to Improve Customer Service

Jim Clemmer — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:40 +0000

This is the title of a recent report in the University of Pennsylvania newsletter Knowledge @ Wharton. Part of the article reports on “a recent study conducted by Marshall Fisher, a professor of operations and information management at Wharton, and other colleagues.” He goes on to show how one of the keys to improving customer service is: “‘the power of management by common sense.’ When companies treat employees fairly and with respect, they have more loyal staff and they attract more talented people. He cites retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Nordstrom as examples. ‘What underlies those companies is that they have a different labor model. Staff and customer service are not a cost; staff is an asset you invest in.’“ Jill Donnelly, vice president of Customer Service Experts, an Annapolis, Md.-based consultancy, adds: “create a great employee experience so those employees can deliver a great customer experience. Do workers have to jump through hoops to get a day off? Is HR doing all it can to support them? Are their paychecks coming on time? A company’s service will be doing all it can to support them? Are their paychecks coming on time? A company’s service will be successful when the processes, leadership, communication, and learning and development are all aligned to support the service standards and the employees who deliver on them.” Years ago the title of an article on customer service in the Wall Street Journal said it all: “Poorly Served Employees Serve Customers Just as Poorly.” In the article, leadership author and consultant Robert Kelley explains the phenomenon this way: “Service providers treat customers similar to the way they as employees are treated by management. In many organizations, management treats employees as unvalued and unintelligent. The employees in turn convey the identical message to the customer.” Excellence guru, Tom Peters agrees wholeheartedly: “I can think of no company that has found a way to look after external customers while abusing internal customers. The process of meeting customer needs begins internally.” A large majority of successful customer service improvement efforts owe much of their success to effective employee engagement. An engaged workforce not only implements changes more effectively, if properly guided and trained, they make better improvement decisions. They are closer to the process and know from intimate personal experience — not some theory or model — what will work and what won’t. The separation of decision makers from those who will make the decision work is a major shortcoming of the traditional organizational approach. Excellence author and management consultant, Bob Waterman explains, “Carrying out a decision doesn’t start after the decision; it starts with the decision. Figuring out how to get something done is just as important as deciding what to do.” So why aren’t employees more involved in decision making? Waterman points to one of the reasons: “We are so busy grandstanding with ‘crisp decisions’ that we don’t take the time to involve those who have to make the decisions work.” Back in the forties, Allan “Mogie” Morgensen found in his consulting work with General Electric and other large companies that it was possible to increase the workforce’s output by as much as 50 percent by involving employees. One of the basic principles underlying his successful consulting work was “the person doing the job knows far better than anyone else the best way of doing that job and therefore is the best person fitted to improve it.” Key reasons employee engagement works so well in improving customer service are relevance and ownership. With their experience and training, managers and staff professionals can be a valuable resource to frontline teams. But improvements made by those who are using the process or system everyday are far more likely to be practical and relevant. And when they’ve been involved in making the improvement decisions, employees have a much higher degree of ownership for the customer service standards they have helped to set. How well are you serving the servers? How do you know?

Top Twenty Generates Revenue

Your Planning Partners — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:14:31 +0000

You don’t build your business by “earning revenue” you build your business by “generating revenue”. And you generate revenue by getting out on the streets and letting people know the value of what you do. But you don’t want to tell everyone; after all not everyone cares. But you do want to tell people who might buy from you or to people who will happily tell other people to buy from you. As you know we are all about focus. And so we are all about providing small business owners with the tools to help them stay focused. One such tool is the Top Twenty, used to stay focused on those 20 people who are most likely to generate revenue in the next 90 days; now that’s focus! So imagine a form with 4 columns (if you would like an electronic version of a blank Top Twenty email me nick@yourplanningpartners.com). Column 1 contains the name. In column 2 you write what your next step is; coffee, or email or phone call. Column 3 is the powerful column. It is the purpose or desired result from having this person in your Top Twenty. The 4th column is the done column; check it off! Here is how to start and use your Top Twenty: First step is to go through your contacts and identify the 20 people who you think can help you generate revenue in the next 90 days. Examples of types of people on the list: Top clients who will refer you People who are loyal to you and have referred you in the past That one person who has a big future and you want to be a part of their network of friends or associates who are just like them. Connectors You need to have at least 20 people in your Top Twenty but you can have more. As you are creating the list, ask yourself WHY? As mentioned above there is a column for purpose/desired result. The result may be to get a speaking opportunity, a meeting, establish a strategic alliance. This is not the end result it is the result of that activity. The next step (column 2) doesn’t have to be all about phone calls and dinners! It can be thank you cards and invites to a networking group. Create a unique experience for them. This is more than just a list; much more: Carry it around with you. You should look at it every single day. Integrate it into your schedule so you make those contacts even when you are busy with Money Now – client work. When you have a break in your day, pull out your Top Twenty to see if there is anyone you should be calling. Now you have your Top Twenty remember the fortune is in the follow up – it’s not their job to be in touch with you. You must follow up with them. Complete your Small Business Scorecard to find out how you are positioned for your business growth

The Wealthy Barber’s secret to success

Sheryl — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:27:01 +0000

Read this blog and comments on moneyville May 15, 2012 By Sheryl Smolkin David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber Returns, admits he doesn’t buy a lot of stuff. Glenn Lowson/Special to The Toronto Star Compared to a year ago is your credit card debt higher, or lower? Higher Lower The same VoteView ResultsShare This Recently I interviewed authors David Chilton (The Wealthy Barber) and Derek Foster (The Idiot Millionaire). When I asked them how they have been able to save so much money, both said “they are not stuff guys.” They don’t buy a lot of gadgets. In fact Foster says he doesn’t even own a cell phone because he never needed one. I realized that Chilton and Foster have their finger on the pulse of a pervasive problem when I saw survey results in which over half of the participants said technology has made it easier to spend and not save money. The poll of 1,005 American adults found that Americans who subscribe to online services spend an average of $166 each month for cable TV, home Internet access, mobile phone service and digital subscriptions, like satellite radio and streaming video – or the equivalent of 17 per cent of their monthly rent or mortgage. Related: 10 tips from The Wealthy Barber Returns I have no doubt that many Canadians are in the same boat. Even with the recent price adjustments I negotiated with Bell, my April bill for two phone lines, internet and television came to $137.22 and the Rogers bill for my cell phone was close to $100. If my husband’s smart phone was not covered by his employer, we would easily be paying $300/month in total. Families with teenagers who talk and text constantly are paying even more. And if you are not convinced, keep in mind that these figures do not take into account hardware and software upgrades to keep up with the latest hot new thing in the market, frequent toner cartridge refills plus laptops, tablet computers and printers for kids heading off to college. Even if we only factor in technology costs, it’s not surprising that the cost of living is on an upward trajectory. There is a huge difference between putting a computer on every desk, a big screen TV in every room and a cell phone in every pocket and paying for only one landline without an answering machine or call waiting, basic cable TV and a typewriter like our parents did. Related: Who needs cable? I get 20 channels for free But if you can figure out what you really need, keep track of how much you are spending and budget for technology purchases, you might just be able to find an extra $100/month or more to save for retirement. There are lots of articles on Moneyville with hints on how to reduce the cost of everything from putting up a television antenna in lieu of cable to getting better phone service for less. One-third of the year has gone by but it’s not too late to make a resolution that before next New Years Eve you will begin managing your technology spend rather than letting it manage you. Related: Why I’m cancelling my cable TV, Just by asking I saved $300 on phone, internet .

Is Social Networking supposed to sell?

randallcraig — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:47:39 +0000

Consider these Tipsheets: there are over 300 of them, and they certainly don’t “sell” anything. Each week, I give away a small nugget of information, and tie it to an immediate action. These non-salesy Tipsheets, like the vast majority of blogs, are designed to credentialize expertise and build trust, slowly over time. Interestingly, I recently received an email from a reader saying that he was about to unsubscribe, but he wanted to give me “a chance” and explain why, in person. As this reader was in the same city as I was, I took him up on his offer to meet for a coffee. Social Networking translated into real-world networking. Beyond the introductions and pleasantries, what I received was a high pressure sales pitch for their marketing services. As the service wasn’t needed, the meeting ended relatively quickly. There was no follow-up email post meeting. And a few weeks later this person unsubscribed. (It’s ironic – he is the one that needs to see this post!) Lessons learned: Developing relationships takes time, both in the real world and in Social Media. Trying to make a quick sale over coffee is great if you’re selling coffee, but bad if you’re selling something more complex – like anything. Bait-and-Switch is a bad networking strategy. If the invitation to meet is for one purpose, don’t trot out something different. A blog is a great place to develop and explore ideas over a longer term. And in so doing, a blog is also a great place to develop trust. Follow-up after a network meeting is critical. Like the blog, a real-life meeting and a follow-up email are merely steps up the relationship curve. Social Media can be used to sell, but one of the most effective strategies has to be Give to Get; the sale will take place, but only when you’ve demonstrated your expertise, earned the trust, and the buyer is ready to buy – which may take years. This week’s action plan: Where does your blog fit on the sell/no-sell continuum? If you’re not happy with it there, make a change. If you don’t blog, look back at your favorite blog (besides this one!) and evaluate it: where does it fit on the continuum? And how would you feel if it was changed? Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register. Randall Craig @RandallCraig (follow me) www.RandallCraig.com www.ptadvisors.com www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com Join me on May 24th at 4pm EST for a (free) look at Strategic Blogging. Click here for more information or to register.

Recipe of the Week: Greek Feta Burgers

Rose — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:03:08 +0000

Add some mushrooms, feta cheese and oregano and you have a whole new burger. Try substituting ground chicken, turkey or veal. Forget the bun-I love to serve these over a bed of couscous. But if you’re serving them on a bun, be sure to include lettuce, tomatoes and onions for an extra serving of veggies. [...]

The ideal “micro niche” market. (If you can find it.)

Steve Slaunwhite — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:30:32 +0000

Click here to subscribe in iTunes; or, listen to the audio version below: I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine the other day. She’s a successful video producer and boasted that she never has to do any marketing. “Business just comes my way through word-of-mouth,” she said, which is not a very friendly thing to say when you’re having coffee with a marketing consultant (me.) Especially when that marketing consultant (me) is buying the coffee! But a couple of minutes into the conversation, I discovered that she does a heck of a lot of marketing. She just doesn’t think of it as marketing. To her, it’s just meeting people and being helpful. You see, she belongs to an association comprised mostly of professionals in her target market. It’s a very active group with well-attended meetings each month. Now, here’s what she does for that association: Each year, she shoots the President’s welcome message for the association’s website, in return for a short blurb about her services on the website. During each monthly meeting, she walks around with a video camera on her shoulder, chatting with people and filming their comments and testimonials – pro bono. Each quarter she comes in and offers members an ultra low rate to shoot short welcome videos for their websites. In short, what she has done is position herself as the go-to video producer for just about everyone in the association. No wonder she gets so many “word of mouth” enquiries and referrals. Now that’s great marketing. I know what you’re probably thinking at this point. “Is there an association I can join and become active in?” Not every association is worth your time and energy. If you want to attract more clients using this “micro niche” strategy, you need to pick your group wisely. Try to find an association that is comprised mainly of your target market. This is fairly easy if you’re focusing on, say, fundraising executives. You can simply get active in your local chapter of their association (the AFP.) It gets a little trickier, however, if you’re targeting a group that doesn’t have it’s own association. In that case, explore sub-groups of larger associations. Many larger associations have several, smaller special interest groups. For example, I work with a lot of self-employed professionals in communications. There’s a humongous association called the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). On the surface, they seem to be comprised mainly of corporate communications managers – not my target market. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that the IABC has an active special interest group for self-employed communicators. In fact, I’ve done a few workshops for them. And don’t forget online groups. There are a gazillion LinkedIn groups; although some are more active than others. My rule of thumb is: if someone is posting on a particular LinkedIn group at least once a day, and members regularly comment on those posts, then the group is active enough for me to take a closer look at. Once you decide on an association to “micro niche” yourself in, don’t be a passive participant. Jump in with both feet. Volunteer. Do a talk. Explore other ways to become highly visible so everyone knows who you are and what you do. But do me a favor? When the word-of-mouth enquiries and referrals start coming in, don’t say you’re not marketing. You’ll hurt my feelings. And I won’t pay for the coffee!