Happiness CCCXLIII

Jun 8, 2010 | happiness

A day about, a day at home, a day filled with learning, a day filled with doubt, in the end a day fully earned.

Defining Your Role

Dec 2, 2009 | blog, leadership

I want you to succeed.

Whatever it is you’re passionate about and want to do – I want you to succeed.

For many of us it’s our career.  You know that 9 to 5, Monday through Friday effort that allows us to support our families and obtain our dreams.  Yeah, that one.

There is something that I wanted to share on that front, and hopefully it’ll help a bit.  I want you to define your role.  Define your role in your department, and in the organization as a whole.  It could be in the company you work at today or the one you want to work for tomorrow.  You need to take an active part in defining what you offer, and what what you bring to the mix.

Don’t allow yourself to be typecast or pigeonholed.  Letting other people define the boundaries of where you’re supposed to participate or allowed to participate is unacceptable.  You alone have that right.

You have the ability set boundaries and goals.  You have control of the decisions that move you forward or backward.  By defining your role, you establish your voice.  By being vocal and establishing a presence, you have the means to share your perspectives and expertise in any situation your role lands you in.

Its not easy and it can be a little scary when first starting out, but the rewards are unending.  Its also up to you to fulfil the role you define, but that sholdn’t be difficult because the definition of success and failure is also within your control as well.

Take that step to define your role in life, in work, and in the success that you want.  Without figuring out what you want from your efforts, and what you want for your family, it’ll take a lot longer to get to your definition of success.

I want you to succeed.

Photo Credit: yeah buddy!

Getting The Message Across

Oct 10, 2009 | blog

'I'll send an S.O.S. to the world...' by Mykl Roventine Sometimes I get tired of telling the same story, but very often, that’s exactly what it takes to induce change. That change is the very root of social media and its associated tools, networks, and concepts. Since everyone learns at a different pace, and in different ways, it becomes necessary to relate the concepts of something new, multiple times.

Take the many layers of an organization for example. You have the executive level, the management level, and the worker level. There are several variations on these, some unique to different industries and professions, but bare with me for a moment.

Each of these levels requires the same information to be related in different, unique ways. Sometimes it could be adding or removing detail, in other cases it might be exchanging case studies to make the point more relevant to the person listening or reading. In any case, being able to read your audience and recognizing how the recipient needs to digest the information is part of the puzzle of a good communications professional.

This is but one of many skills the social media professional needs to have in their toolkit, and goes back to being a multi-disciplinarian, what our grandparents used to call “a jack of all trades”.

Photo Credit: Mykl Roventine

The Youth Movement

Apr 21, 2009 | blog

'Queen's Commerce Class of 2008 group photo 18' by eddiehosa It’s an interesting time we live in. Economic turmoil, changing social norms, 100 year old publishing businesses crumbling, and new media powerhouses being established. You’d be hard pressed to give our present era a pass and claim it to be not as important as <fill in your favorite era here>.

Along with these incredible times are some challenges for every business, and everyone that works in them. The reality is that the past decade has brought incredible change in our communications and social structures because of digital communication. Included in this is the first generation raised entirely within the Internet, and mobile communication revolution of advanced technology.

This generation has experienced the freedom of wireless connections from an early age, and rediscovered the power of text communications. The “kids” in this generation have expanded their mental and reflex capacities through vigorous sessions of online, multiplayer, interactive & collaborative games. These folks have no stigma about being online, and this generation comes prewired for online social interaction. They have the ability to actively team-build without preamble and pep talks, can do business virtually without the need to meet in person and can work with folks on the other side of the globe as easily as they work with people in the next cube.

This is the youth movement of today, and they’re entering your business right now. These young folks are part of the largest workforce to enter the American business landscape since the boomers. They are your new entry level employees and they know what’s up. They’re smart, fast to learn new things, and anxious to prove themselves. With the Baby Boomers retiring and GenX/Y moving up, these folks coming out of college are bringing a revolution in relationship management with them.

Are you ready for them?

Photo credit: eddiehosa

Pin It on Pinterest