Recently, I ran a brainstorming session (Facilitating Discussion manual, project #2) at my Toastmasters club. The problem we were discussing was “Toastmasters Training”, and I was looking for input on what they, our club members, were most interested to learn. Toastmasters has a plethora of prepared topics we can use, ranging from 10 minutes sessions to four hour seminars. Plus, we have some experienced members capable of creating some awesome sessions on their own.

As luck would have it, one of those members had just presented a Leadership Excellence Series module on Resolving Conflict, so I had a great example to point to right off the bat.

Did they ask for Team Building, From Speaker to Trainer, or Organizing your Speech? Nope. Nearly every idea in the brainstorming session centered on one theme: helping new members understand (and benefit from) Toastmasters. The topics?

1. Orienting new members to the club
2. How to run special events (contests, open houses and our annual Christmas Party)
3. How to use the club, district and TI websites
4. Toastmasters organizational structure (Area, Division, etc.)
5. How to be a Mentor (for new members)
6. Goal setting for members

Also, they mentioned a need for a more robust welcome packet and some type of display of our member’s progress (see an example here)

Next step: I need to turn this into usable information for my club. That is, how do we meet this need? Goal Setting, Mentoring, and Orienting New Members each have modules that can be downloaded (free). In fact, there’s even supporting articles for some topics, such as mentoring.

Here’s the initial plan I will submit:

1. Split Orienting New Members into multiple sessions
   1. The Toastmasters Education Program (successful club series)
   2. Meeting Roles and Responsibilities (successful club series)
2. Split How to run special events into two sessions
   1. 12-15 minute session on Club Contests – related article here
   2. We  will need to develop a 12-15 minute session on special events (open houses and parties) – there’s a related TI manual called, Put on a Good Show.
3. Split the How to use the club, district and TI websites into three sessions
   1. Using TI’s website to manage your profile, order items and find information
   2. Using the Club website
   3. Using the District website (calendar and resourses)
4. Discuss the Organization structure, including the service chart and WHQ Org Chart. Could be a 5-7 minute speech, including projects 7 or 8 from the CC manual.
5. Deliver the Mentoring module (successful club series)
6. Deliver the Goal Setting and Planning module (leadership excellence series)

We will need to get a volunteer for each session, and work with the VP Education to schedule these periodically, like one per month. I think this is very doable.

Running a brainstorming session with your club can be an eye-opening experience. In a short 21 minute session, I compiled enough information from my club to make the plan above.

Do this at your club, and you can find out what your members have wanted and it may allow you to better support them in their goals.

You may not find the same request in your club. But if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find what your club needs and you can make a plan to support your members. Give it a try! Leave a comment with the results.

Editors note: This has been reprined from the District 22 Blog

Now’s the time of year when we look at where we are, where we’d like to be, and why did my mother do this to me???

Ok…Freudian issues aside, how can we look forward to a positive 2012?

Start with a look at yourself. Look at these categories and ask yourself, “Where am I?”

1. Education - do you have the degree you want, the skills you need or the abilities that will get you ahead? How can you bridge the gap in 2012?
- Take a class. No you don’t always need a degree to make a difference. Pursuing a degree puts you ahead of your peers, plus as you finish each class, you know new stuff. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
- Read. Find your pace and bump it up a notch. Read a book once a year? Now read one every three months. If it’s already once every three months, up it to every other month. When you can, go with one a month. Look at “My Favorite Books” on the right side of this page for some ideas, or just browse your local library and/or Barnes & Noble (where I am right now).
- Join Toastmasters. Yeah, you saw it coming. No better way to improve your speaking, leadership and networking skills.

2. Job - I lovw the quote that 20 years of experience is usually just one year repeated 20 times. If you find that you fit into a similar category, what are you going to do about it?
- Take some additional training at work. Online or in person, most companies offer classes that can improve your skills. Take advantage of them.
- Look at the education options above. They apply at work in many ways.

3. Family - If you could make one change that would make your family life better, what would it be?
- Be specific! Don’t say “spend more time with the kids.” Try, “dedicate one hour on Mon/Wed/Fri to teaching my daughter to speak French.” or “Take my family out to a movie at least twice a month.” You get the idea?

2012 doesn’t have to win any awards for “best stresser” if you take a reasonable approach to setting that next resolution. You don’t have to bridge that gap from where you are to where you want to be in just one year. Take a look at wh

What’s the difference? I think that it is a decision that the club makes. Either A, you choose to treat 20 as a finish line (i.e. “we just need to get to 20 in June to make distinguished”), or B, you treat 20 as a minimum for having a successful club all of the time.

What are the pros and cons? Well, in option A you trade doing less work marketing for doing more work running club meetings and other functions. You may have an easier time getting speaking slots, but fewer folks are getting experience and the pool of great evaluators is small. If a few people miss a meeting, your speaking to a small audience and probably doing double (or triple) duty.

In option B, you do more work publicizing and marketing the club, and also a little more work scheduling. More members means more speakers, more evaluators, and more people having fun. It’s surprising how contagious that can be.

So how do you get from A –> B? There’s a simple (but not easy) process:

1. Decide to do it – it seems to take about four dedicated members to get the group on board.
2. Make a plan – how will you market your club? Website, Company paper, Library bulletin board, etc.)
3. Set the example – give manual speeches and invite guests
4. Hold your members accountable – don’t be harsh, but ask how they are approaching others, and how they are doing on their goals
5. Have fun!

Getting to 20 isn’t the finish line. Treat it like your minimum and you’ll see just how successful and FUN your club can really be!

How can that be? I was wondering that too, at first. It’s simple if you think about it. Lets say you have a group of tasks that you need help with. It doesn’t even matter what they are, or when you need them. Now, add in an e-mail from me that says, “How can I help?”

Do you send me the first task on the list? Do you send me something simple that I can’t screw up? How do you decide? How do you even start to figure it out?

This question comes up in my mind because of my work in Toastmasters. There is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of potential volunteers out there. The trick is trying to match the needs with the skillsets, which I’m sure is a common problem in any volunteer organization, and even in the corporate settings.

So what is the solution? I think that it comes in two parts. First, you have to be able to define your need. I say that, knowing that even well polished job descriptions coupled with accurate and truthful resumés don’t often lead to good matches in the corporate settings. However, you can’t let the difficulty of doing the job right paralyze you from doing the job, right?

Second, you want to get your volunteer pool to shift gears and start providing you with ideas on how they can help, not just offers of help. As an example, I recently had one volunteer step back due to some scheduling issues. Before I had a chance to look for a replacement, I received a request from another member to step in and help with an important task that was needed in the short term (next two weeks). That was far better that 6 “How can I help?” messages.

What’s my strategy? I’ve been working with our team to put together specific needs, much like job descriptions. This can work in your small business or Toastmasters club too. Define the job and see who fits the bill. If you can’t find anyone, change the description and see if you get the right experience to at least cover a portion of the job.

How do you get them used to volunteering for specific tasks? You have to be specific.

What is the job?
What is the importance? To whom?
What is time requirements?
What are the travel and communication requirements?
Who do they report to?
What defines success?

There are probably other questions, but answer those above and you’ll likely have a description someone can understand and decide on.

I recently tried this in our TM District, sending a brief description to 101 Club VPs of Membership. I receive about 7 positive responses, and ended up with 4 volunteers for jobs we had never filled before. So far so good – and more will be coming.

If you’re like me and you have tasks that need to be done, whether in a volunteer organization or a small business, take the time to outline your need first. Then you can answer the folks who ask the tough question, ”How can I help?”

I’ve never had a boss respond positively to that kind of statement. Do you know why?

1. Waiting implies inaction. No…actually waiting says “I’m not taking any action at this time.”
2. When your next action is to wait on someone else, it sounds like you’re passing the buck. Oops…you are passing the buck.
3. Waiting means you have no plan for your own next action, until you get the thing from what’s-his-name.

Once, a long time ago, when I used the “I’m waiting” answer on my boss, I learned fast and quick what a mistake that was. My boss told me, “Rob, when you say ‘waiting‘, I hear ‘failing‘.”

“But, I am waiting!!!”

“Not anymore, Rob. Go do something.”

What do you do?

#1 – Don’t wait, follow up. – “Hey boss, I followed up with Mike this morning and…”

#2 – Don’t assign work without a due date, or expected response time. – “…he said he would have the documents to us by 0800 tomorrow…”

#3 – Have a next step for yourself. – “…once I have them, I’ll have the summary to you by noon.”

#4 – Be ready for “what if…?” – “If I don’t have them by 0800, I’ll be parked at his desk until he’s done!”

Lots of people fall into the “I’m waiting” trap everyday. If you adjust how you handle the wait and how you communicate it, you’ll receive fewer stern looks from the boss, and you’ll avoid that perception…you know, the one where the boss wonders are you waiting, or are you failing?

The premise of this book, why right brainers will rule the future, may not leap out at you. However, the assertions he makes will likely wake you up. While left brain work (logical, mathematical, or process driven) will always be needed, the right brain activities that are High Touch and High Concept are going to be where the jobs are in our future.

Daniel talks about the modernization of manufacturing, which shifted jobs in the United States from building things to knowledge work. Yes manufacturing still happens in the United States, but not to he extent it did in the past. Knowledge work is moving in the same direction. You’ve seen it, the ability to automate or outsource that kind of work (think Turbo Tax and help desks) is causing the next coming shift in our skill sets: the move to creative (i.e. Right brained – high concept and high touch) activities.

Think about it. What gets outsourced or automated? Other people jobs? Not anymore. Now, any tasks that can be repeated, directly measured and doesn’t take creative thinking can truly be done by anyone, anywhere.

Of course, the more important question is this: What are you going to do about it?

Daniel goes on to say that the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) is becoming the new MBA. MFA programs are becoming more popular, more prolific, and more preferred by the business world.

This isn’t an all-or-nothing concept. Imagine there are (hypothetically) 50,000 positions this year for new MBAs, 40,000 of them are outsourced and 100,000 people complete their MBA. Completing their MBA looked like a great idea for the 10,000 that find MBA-related work. I’m just thinking that if you’re considering being one of those who pursue the MBA, but your not sure you’ll be in that top percentage, you might want to rethink that investment.

What are you going to do about it?

Daniel’s six senses: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning are described in this book, with ideas you can use to incorporate these concepts into your life, and start catching up with an ever-changing world. It’s not too late, but should you keep waiting, expecting that you will be the exception to the coming wave?

Look around. Daniel Pink is right about the change that’s happening. We’re seeing it every day, across diverse disciplines and industries. If you don’t find a way to add the value of high touch and high concept in your work, then someone else will soon be doing your job, and another person who has prepared will be handling the high touch, high concept work that is needed. Pink gives some poignant examples throughout the book.

If you find yourself thriving in a left-brain life style, you may be able to live out your days without change. But, it’s not the same certainty it was just a few decades ago. Now is the time to jump-start your right brain thinking and get ready for what is already happening to us. Read this. Today.

Do you have an old mind?

Tonight, for the first time, I was a guest speaker at a college graduation. The ITT graduation ceremony at the Century II Center in Wichita, Kansas.

It was a unique experience.

1. I’ve never spoke with the blinding stage lights before.
2. The whole event went much quicker than I expected.
3. The students seemed to stay awake when I spoke, and people laughed (mostly) when I expected it.
4. Be careful what you write for an introduction. They’ll gladly read it verbatim.

Unexpected lesson: I asked the audience (all told about 300) who was on Twitter, only a dozen raised their hands (maybe 5 of which were graduates). Facebook? Almost everyone. LinkedIn? Less that 10, and only one student. The LinkedIn response was expected (you’ll see below). But I was shocked that none of them were on Twitter. Weird.

Below is what was the planned text of my presentation. Of course the real thing had a few modifications. I’ve lined out the parts I didn’t say. 

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”

This quote came from a great teacher, Socrates. I received it recently in an e-mail from Lois, here at ITT. It made me think, which is what I suppose Socrates was shooting for.

I’ve been a teacher, both in school and on-the-job. I always thought that I was teaching. Your instructors here may have felt that way as well. In fact, we have a whole system designed to make sure that we’re teaching. You’ve done homework, written papers, even taken tests, right?

And presumably, sitting here as graduates –<look to dean> – can I call them graduates? Ok. Sitting here as graduates you passed all, or at least most, of those tests. Right?

Was Socrates wrong? Maybe I’m thinking about it wrong. Maybe those tests weren’t proof that someone taught you something. Maybe they were simply proof that you had learned something.

Socrates was probably right. No one can make you learn.  You have to decide that you’re going to learn. Sitting here as the graduating class for June 2011, – <look to dean> – still okay, right? As graduates … you like hearing that? I’ll say it again… as graduates you’ve proven that you made that decision, that you wanted to learn, that you wanted to achieve what you’ve achieved, that you wanted to be in the graduating class this evening.

 <pause>

Afternote: someone decided to clap for them when I paused here, so I suggested that we go ahead and clap. I went on to say that we should plan to clap about every 4 minutes throughout the evening, which was surprisingly accepted as funny. After I said that someone tried to clap again. I said that it had not been 4 minutes, only about 18 seconds. Be patient. I heard some mild “good try” laughs for that one.

What is your next decision?

<pause>

Of course, you’re going to make loads of decisions, “Where will I apply for a job?”, “Should I get a different apartment”, <hold cell phone> “Should I accept Stacie’s friend request?” You get the idea.

Afternote: I decided to simulate holding a cell phone – it was mildly funny

No, what I’m asking is, “what is your next decision for learning?”

I read a study recently from the National Endowment for the Arts. They found that in the last year nearly 60% of adults haven’t read a book that wasn’t’ required for work of school.

A good friend of mine, named Craig Valentine, likes to quote another statistic saying that the average adult reads just one book in their lifetime.

Now this friend of mine is a professional trainer. He showed me his reading list from the last 10 years. In that time, he’s read over 520 books. I use that number, to illustrate this: 520 divided by 10 years = 52 books a year, or…one book per week.

Books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Guerilla Marketing, and Talent is Overrated. Those are the three I’ve read.

Think how many adults are out there reading zero books per year to keep that average where it is?

Those zero book club members, as I like to call them, are your competition for employment.

But what I learned from Craig was more valuable than simply a reading list. What he taught me was this: You can’t wait to get ready, whether it’s to speak to a group, take final exams, or… answer the call for an interview.

You have to Stay Ready.

<pause>

How do you do it? <count on fingers>

Continue to learn

Stay current

Network

Because you didn’t come here to hear me speak for 90 minutes, let me just give you one quick story for each one.

I mentioned Craig’s almost alien pace of one book per week. But you don’t have to maintain that kind of pace. Pick a number, say, 30 or maybe 50 pages a week.

When I interviewed at Cessna in 2007, my second interview was with my future boss’ boss. During the course of the interview, he was talking about something “global…whatever”and he asked, “have you read The World is Flat?”

<move to the side> Pop quiz. You’re in an interview, and you’re asked a question you want to say “yes” to, but the answer is really “no”. What do you say?

Afternote: I did get a “Yes” from the crowd.

I said, “Not Yet.”

Of course, reading books will not only help you to Continue to Learn, they can also help you to Stay Current. There is a more timely way to keep up in your field as well – join up

There are groups, both virtual and local to help you stay current in your field. I won’t try to name them all, but I will tell you about two I’ve been a part of.

First, as a Project Manager, I belong to the Project Management Institute, or PMI. This is both a global organization and a local one with a chapter right here in Wichita. We meet once a month, and provide PMs here in Wichita a chance to get to know one another and hear topics in our field. We’ve heard from the Project Manager for the Arena project, PMs from Spirit, Cessna, Cargill, and other companies throughout town. All experiences to help us Stay Ready to be successful in our own projects.

Second, is a group called Toastmasters. Another global organization with 15 clubs here in Wichita. If public speaking is your weakness, then this group is for you. You learn a lot, get more comfortable speaking in front of others and learn some leadership skills as well.

The beauty of these organizations is they fit right in with the last point; network. But how do you network? Of course I already mentioned local and on-line organizations. Find the ones that fit your needs. But what about other ways to stay connected? Well, there’s Twitter. Show of hands, who has a Twitter account? Audience too…mom, uncle joe, Twitter accounts? How about Facebook? Look at that…LinkedIn? …Wow

What is LinkedIn? Imagine a business version of Facebook. Just one photo, and your business experience, education, and possibly some references. There are discussion boards for a variety of disciplines, and you make connections with other professionals.

I’m not advocating on-line networking as a replacement for face-to-face networking, but using those on-line tools can make it easier to get in touch and stay in touch.

Networking can be powerful, and it can help you to stay current and continue to learn. All three can work together.

It is time for you to make that decision. Are you going to wait and see, get ready when the time comes, and hope to keep up with your competition? Your competition hopes you do.

Or are you going to decide to Continue to Learn, Stay Current and Network so you can Stay Ready for what is to come?

Graduates, we cannot teach you anything, we can only make you think. The decision is yours.

Next week I’ll be speaking at a local career fair about interviewing tips. If you have a moment, please answer a quick and easy survey about your experience with job interviews. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C6RJBL7

There are just five questions, plus two more if you’ve ever been on the interviewing side of the desk. This would really help me out with helping out job seekers here in Wichita.

If you’re nearby, it will be Tuesday, 12 April at noon in the Century II Exhibition Hall.

Thanks!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C6RJBL7

This first person account of the growth of Zappos.com from the years of the IT boom and bust to become a billion dollar business in 2008 was, believe it or not, a page turner. Seriously…I read it all in one evening/night/I should really go to bed now. Tony tells an interesting story with lessons that any company could learn from.

One of his best (i.e. my favorites) comes from the section on what he learned playing poker. His business lessons told from that point of view give a refreshing look at how to be successful in either endeavour. The biggest lesson? The game starts before you sit down: Knowing which table to sit at translates into business as knowing your competition or, as he later describes creating your own table.

In the process, we learn how the purpose he found creating the best customer service translates into delivering your passion, and um…making money. Not a bad lesson all the way around - Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

Check out Deliveringhappiness.com to get some inside information.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now (today!) at full price (although I found it for 50% off at a Borders that was closing)
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the gist of it

In Talent is Overrated, author Geoff Colvin seeks to dispel that myth with some convincing and credible evidence about how the best really get to be the best. This includes an important caveat: Doing something (like your job) for a long time isn’t enough. Simple experience is not enough to be the best. He uses examples from sports and music (i.e. Tiger Woods, Mozarrt and Jerry Rice) since that is where we can see the results of Deliberate Practice from a common point of view, but the references to Warren Buffet and Jack Welch show tht this idea does translate into business as well.

By using the method of Deliberate Practice, anyone (in sports or business) can improve to be world class.

1. It is designed specifically to improve performance.
2. It can be repeated a lot.
3. Feedback on results is continuously available.
4. It’s highly demanding mentally.
5. It isn’t much fun.

Is there a catch? Of course – if it were easy everyone would be doing it. But of course you knew that.

More importantly, the focus of this book isn’t to tell you how to be a great golfer, composer or football player. The central theme is that these same principles can be applied to business life.

You may wonder if practicing your job would be of any value, and Goeff answers that with suggesting three models, the Music model (running through the process to improve it), the Chess model(case studies), and the Sports model (practicing certain skills) for use as templates for Deliberate Practice. He continues by showing where these can be used in our business lives with varying examples.

You may ask yourself, “do I want to do that much work?” That’s a fair question, but remember the times we live in. Any edge you can get can make the difference to getting and staying employed. The tools in this book, if put into Deliberate Practice, could make you more valuable to your current (or future) company.

One final thought: don’t misunderstand the title of this book. People (your boss) still value talent. The point is that talent isn’t born, it’s made. It’s up to you whether or not you want to get there from here.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price (although it’s already in paperback)
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the gist of it