3 Examples +2Groups +1Answer =’s 1Valuable Biz Lesson

If you are in Business and have Clients/Customers, you’ll appreciate this video.  However, if you’re Consulting, B2B Sales, or a similar position you will more than IDENTIFY with this, YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!  Trust me!  Two Groups referenced in the title are 1) those that have had this experience & 2) those that haven’t…YET!!

Actually, we did a blog posting on this scenario earlier this year ~ based on a REAL WORLD example.  Unfortunately, said post was also REALLY BORING!  It was extremely cathartic.  If you’re brave, bored or having hard time sleeping, here’s a perfect link for you:  Lost your Marbles?

I quickly discovered that this scenario, albeit extremely common, was/is surprisingly difficult to accurately communicate.  This is another reason I can not only identify 100% with its content, but also with it’s fantastic delivery.

Bottom Line: when a company demonstrates these behaviors, its usually a symptom of much bigger problems…  Yup, just the tip of the iceberg.

Stop trying to “fix” them, that rarely works.  If you’re a rookie, please dont take it personal, IT’S NOT YOU.  Regardless, if you work harder, longer, better, faster, ad infinitum.

Finally, a friend & colleague of mine offers advice which is perfect for these situations, ‘Dont spend Retained time/energy/resources on a Contingency Project’.  Remember that people tell you how they want to be treated.  The real question is ARE YOU LISTENING?

Is Your KUNG FU strong enough to get the INTERVIEW?

BEFORE you can ever hope to gain their attention…the first step is to simply get noticed.  Here’s a great example of a response I received today from a candidate for one of our positions – this is classic, check it out:

Most Respected and Honorable Kung Fu Master:

While my pedigree is strong I stand before you a humble student ready and willing to learn. I bring with me great skills, the most beneficial being flexibility and respect for those who have traveled before me. It would bring great pleasure to meet with you and discuss the opportunity to associate myself with your most esteemed company.  Jon Sxxxxxxxxh, a man known to sell ice to Eskimos.

Tell me, would you remember this guy the next time you had an opening? 

 

 You can bet I will… 

 

 PS: Grasshopper UR free to walk on rice paper! 

You might be a Milennial if (fill in the blank)

So, what’s the definition?

They are young adults and have been coddled by their parents to the point of being ill prepared for a demanding workplace.

The Milennials are here!

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This Memorial Day weekend ‘09 ~ Never forget…

Want Goosebumps  in <2 mins without traveling to the Halls of Montezuma or the Shores of Tripoli?  :)  

OR

Click here if unable to view @  http://tinyurl.com/semperfi…  

 

Google CONTINUES to amaze us…

This is so incredible and amazing…frankly…it’s kinda spooky.  

 

Brought to you courtesy of the same 2 brothers that brought us a little program called ‘Google Maps’ - perhaps you’ve heard of it?  

:’)     WOW!!!

Here’s one story…on the 65th Anniversary of D-Day

Know a Vet? We do. In fact, he’s an original American Hero I’ve been lucky and blessed to call him my Grampa.

Grandad, as he likes to refer to himself, turns 90 later this year. His wife of 60+ years passed on a few years back. I know how much he misses her. Its getting harder for him to get around, and that is frustrating…which includes no more golf, one of his favorite activities.

Ahhh, what a life…a life of significance. 

If a certified, distinguished Veteran of Foreign War is how his military career ended, it sure didn’t begin nearly as glamorous. Rising through the enlisted ranks from Private to Staff Sergeant, and ultimately to an Officer, Lieutenant John Abraham participated (literally) in the first wave of D-Day landings, at 6am, Normandy’s beach head designated ‘Utah’.  

Grampa was awarded a Bronze Star and received two Purple Hearts as a result of this service. When I asked him many years later to send me a copy of his award, he wrote a note and sent along with the copy of his citation. Herein was honor,  humility; it was incredible. It made an immediate, profound impact on me. 

He wrote, and I still remember it from memory, “Kirk, you asked for so Im sending you this citation. It describes my actions in combat as heroic, but I was merely acting in a manner which I had been trained.”  

Our family’s patriarch and a role model for me, Grampa is an example to all of what a life well lived looks like. A truly significant life also means well balanced. 

As a business man, member of the community and the church, a life of faith, service and honor. Not unlike his military service, he progressed and excelled in each area, i.e., Clerk to Vice President of Insurance Company, and a Deacon at Fee Fee Baptist church. On a personal note, I can further attest that he was present at all but a few of my baseball, basketball, and football games as a kid. By my recollection, I can count the number of times he missed on one hand. Now that’s impressive!

 

An original American Hero

A significant life also has blemishes.  No one’s perfect.  As an example, I recall him receiving much notoriety for being the only fan at ANY of my little league games to EVER receive a Technical Foul -resulting in free throws for the other team.  True story. LOL

Thanks Grampa for your service, but thanks even more for coming home!!  We love you…and thank you for all that you’ve done for us.  

Kirk and Family

PS: You may also like these 2 posts I did for Memorial Day weekend 

Marines: http://easteam.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/this-memorial-day-weekend-09-never-forget/

Flags of our Fathers: http://easteam.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/will-history-remember-lst-779-will-you/

Different paradigm? Maybe. Maybe it just makes more sense.

Hey Hoosiers, interested in a microcosm of the market? Need look no further than our own backyard…see for yourself:

GM announced a potential expansion in Fort Wayne, IN – (see also my previous post) ~ Good news, right?

Highlights:

• General Motors’ plant in Fort Wayne is in the running for a proposed $46 million expansion as they close plants as part of its reorganization under federal bankruptcy laws
• GM seeks a 10-year tax break on $27 million in equipment needed for the expansion
• Investment would help retain about 50 positions but not expected to create addl’ jobs
• Said expansion would allow a second shift at the Fort Wayne plant to continue operating

Earlier this week, NCR Corp announced they’re also expanding…

~ Internationally to Brazil

Highlights:

• NCR will spend about $37.6 million to build a new manufacturing and research and development center in Brazil to make ATMs for Brazil, Latin America and Caribbean markets.
• The company said the new facility will be up and running by December and will create 250 jobs.
• Plans for the expansion come about two weeks after NCR (NYSE:NCR) announced plans to move its headquarters to Duluth, Ga., from Dayton.
• NCR also will establish a new North American ATM manufacturing facility in Columbus, Ga., creating 870 jobs (Dayton area loses approx. 1300)

Here’s a Quick Comparison:

• NCR deal is nearly $10 MILLION LESS
• NCR simultaneously building an Intl facility and moving HQ to Atlanta area
  • GM simultaneously closing plants as part of bankruptcy
• NCR presumably maintaining production with literally hundreds fewer employee’s
  • Atlanta will appreciate the approx 900 new jobs
• NCR plans to go from a Green Field to a functioning manufacturing facility, on the other side of the planet, including identifying, recruiting, hiring and training approx 250 people, by the end of calendar year 2009.  (WOW)
  • GM will create ZERO jobs and indicate this will help retain 50 existing employees
• FINALLY, and this really sums it all up for me…please note the individual referenced as well as their quote representing each of said organizations, as follows:
  • United Auto Workers Local 2209 President Orval Plumlee said possible investment could “guarantee the plant’s future for years to come and eventually create jobs in the area”
  • CEO Bill Nuti said that the company has been doing business in Brazil for more than 70 years & sees the move as “yet another step in our commitment to this important market.”

(FYI: Brazil is the third-largest ATM market in the world. Retail Banking Research predicts the Brazil market will grow 16 percent by 2012)

If you were betting on a horse for this race, which one would YOU choose???   Unsure? I’d suggest you dont bet…

Please describe your Company’s Culture?? OK, now prove it…

“People get hired for what they can do, but they get fired (or promoted) for who they are”.  I love that phrase.  However, that knife cuts both ways…

Not unlike any other relationship, there is a courting period, and at some point we decide it would be a good idea for us to form a union.  But ask yourself this: do you still open the car door for your spouse, now that you’re married (rhetorical question). Do you still cozy up on the same couch and watch the same shows and like the same stuff???  Do ya? 

Here’s an Example:  Interviewing for a new job?  OK, great.  You want to put your best foot forward and demonstrate your a high caliber top notch super star, right???  Well, ok, maybe not…  But, you ARE on your BEST BEHAVIOR.  YES?  Well, why would it be any different for the organization at which youre interviewing?  Guess what? IT’S NOT. 

Why are you so surprised when the faceless corporate giant you went to work for treats you like a number? 

Hey, this has been happening since your first contact…IF YOU’VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION!!  Hellooooo…. 

Remember filling out the application and depositing your resume in the black hole, errr uhh, I mean, resume database?  How about the follow up email (if the spam email filter didn’t get it), or the HR person that called you up several months later to make you aware that YOU, that’s right, lucky YOU have been CHOSEN!  You get to interview.  Woo Hoo!  We’ll expect your arrival, tomorrow at 10 am, that’s not too soon is it?  I could go on and on but wont.

Don’t make the mistake of missing the forest for the trees. After all, its human nature to want flowers and applause, ie, to be COURTED…

But sadly, many top flight professional has been sucked into this trap.  Bright Lights and fabulous Logo ~not to mention the looks on the faces of friends and family when they say, “yup, I’m going to work for (fill in blank here)”. 

Boo Yah ~I’ve got an Ice Scraper with my employers name on it!  Therefore, they MUST love me!!!    Company Swag proves it!  :’)

Here’s an interesting article on Corp Culture via ThomasNet: http://tinyurl.com/UR-Corp-Culture

Who’s in your CORNER? Who’s your GURU?

This is kind of a silly, albeit highly entertaining <30 second video clip.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy:

http://tinyurl.com/Do-You-Need-a-Guru

But the topic is a very serious one…  Put it in perspective:  Don’t you go to a Lawyer when you have legal difficulties, a Mechanic w/specific knowledge of your vehicle when your car breaks down, a Broker or similar expert for your financial planning, a Doctor when you’re sick, a Dentist when you have a toothache…ad infinitum.

Point is, when do you feel the best time to initiate a relationship with said party? When you NEED them or BEFORE you need them? Wouldn’t they be better suited to provide value to your situation if they were apprised of your goals, obstacles, and were able to help facilitate a solution via planning and collective sharing of info.

Who’s IN YOUR CORNER looking out for YOUR CAREER?

Who’s ADVOCATING YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS TODAY?

Government Motors: you may want to review this one…

If there is any doubt about the disparity between many US Automakers and the Global Competition…review this video.

Just imagine, if you will, proposing a 46 million plan similar to the one GM in Fort Wayne, to these folks?  What kind of response would you receive?

Just to add insult to injury & FYI, this plant is located in Dresden, Germany

~NOTE~
Generation Y (Google it and include WW2 in said search…)

Do you LOVE your job? Steve Jobs thinks you should…

I agree.  Do you?  If so, to what degree? The guru behind Apple  and our beloved iPhone IPod’s had this to say @ Stanford commencement address:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Are you passionate about what you do?

Time for an honest appraisal of your current situation:

How does my company market themselves?

How do they benchmark their online reputation?

Are they acutely aware of how important this can be?

Do they assume that everyone holds them in high regard – without this presence? If so, why?

SocialMedia ~You get it, but know how to effectively utilize?

You may understand the importance of SM (SocialMedia), but very likely you’re unable to recognize an effective implementation within the day to day functions of your business. You get the WHY but not the HOW…

You are in luck, because this is an EXCELLENT example... I had done business with this company and they were following up with me via email.  Please note that this was not only a necessary communiqué, but certainly wanted and/or welcomed.

The point: it wasn’t an email BLAST/SPAM with Zero Value.  Quite the contrary; this was an important step in the process. They seized this opportunity to make us aware of additional SM presence whereby we could maintain contact with the organization all the time and benefit by being ‘in the know’ of events, specials, etc…

But wait…that’s not all… Because we were also invited to have a chance to tell them: ‘Why we love their COMPANY‘ via video. The grand prize is a year’s worth of free visits. Outstanding!

What just happened? We’ve just been asked to enter a contest to communicate our video testimonial. I was really impressed. These folks really get it.  So I called and told them so…

Understanding importance of SM is just a good start...

Turns out they’d hired a 3rd party to handle this component of their marketing efforts. Which indicates they also understand their limitations, ie, they outsourced the process to a firm that specializes in this type of work.

After being referred to this company, based in Chicagoland, I visited their website. Tap tap tap & click… BOOM!

Im on their site…first words I’m greeted with: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” –Steve Jobs

They go on further to state their intentions/business focus: “Our management team is focused on doing the things we love…creating great work, developing great products and working with great people.” Assume this was a quote via Jon Schepke, President and Founder. Need any help with YOUR SocialMedia presence??  http://www.simpartners.biz/

Bottom Line: BOTH OF THESE  COMPANY’s “GET IT” ~ DOES YOURS?

X-cavators Sunset

X-cavators Sunset

Originally uploaded by DanielKHC

‘Abandoned Paradise’

Abandoned Paradise

Originally uploaded by Souvik_Prometure

This is absolutely one of the most beautiful & unique pics I have ever seen….. WOW! Thnx!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!!

America the Beautiful

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SocialMedia -understand its relevance but how do you implement?
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