Tag Archives: books/magazines

Managing The Custo/Member Experience With Aloha

by on July 19, 2005 in Business, Media, Work

I’ve written before about my dear friend Rosa Say and her book Managing With Aloha. While it is largely intended for organizational managers who want to create vibrant values-based relationships with their staff, I’m beginning to re-read it again from a slightly different perspective.

As an association executive, one of the more challenging relationships we have can be with our volunteer leaders. For instance, there is a different type of connection between executive-volunteer than there is between executive-employee. With the latter, there’s a kind of institutional setup that facilitates an adherence to policies and agreement to action (in other words, you know who to report to and how to get stuff done). On the other hand, in associations the executive understands that the organization “belongs” to the volunteer. That doesn’t mean that the association staff are unimportant and that volunteers make all the decisions. As any association professional will confess, it’s way more complex than that.

Yet, the ability to effectively manage a diverse group of volunteers and member leaders is an essential skill. Enter Rosa’s book and the brief, related Manifesto at ChangeThis. It’s a powerful guide to using some of the best of Hawaii’s values to help recreate the executive-volunteer relationship. There will definitely be more to come.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Dr. Seuss

by on March 3, 2005 in Media

I really meant to write yesterday evening, but life sort of got in the way. Anyway, for those of you who have kiddies, teach kiddies, or are just a big kiddie yourself, you probably know that yesterday (March 2) was Dr. Seuss’s birthday. In honor of this brilliantly whimsical man, the Bailey girls and I read some of our favorites: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and There’s a Wocket in My Pocket (unfortunately, we couldn’t find Hop On Pop). Not too long, we’ll introduce them to Oh, The Places You’ll Go.

Earlier, we found Seussvile which is a neat website with games, interactive stories, and all kinds of other fun stuff (I’m kind of partial to Catch a Thing).

I have to admit that I don’t know that much about Theodor Geisel and his biography on the site is a hoot. It seems he was destined to be Dr. Seuss. In his early years, his mother worked at her father’s bakery and would memorize the names of the pies on special each day and then chant them to customers. If young Ted ever had difficulty falling asleep, his mother would do her pie chants. He later credited her "for the rhythms in which I write and the urgency with which I do it." I think I’ll make learning more about him a higher priority.

And did you know this? One of Dr. Seuss’s publishers made him a bet that he couldn’t write a book using 50 words or less. Well, he did. Can you guess which book it is?

Green Eggs and Ham!

We’re all fortunate to have had Dr. Seuss in our world. What a creative, playful soul.

Tapping Your Hard-Wired Creativity

by on February 11, 2005 in Creative, Media

One of the creative habits I’m reinstituting is waking up early each morning as the sun rises and reading in the yellow, cheerful sunroom of my home. I used to do this each workday morning, but somehow I allowed myself to get away from it. Too bad, because now I remember how the act of reading great books on leadership, creativity, or purpose would energize me for the day ahead. Right now, that’s more important than ever.

I’m reading Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life, for the second time (my first read was through a copy from the library, but I recently bought it and now get to scribble notes throughout). It’s billed as a practical guide, which it truly is. She offers plenty of wonderful exercises to help stir the creative juices. One such exercise that I spent some time reflecting on today is a questionnaire she calls Your Creative Autobiography. Here are some of the questions she asks (there are 33 in all):

  • What are your [creative] habits? What patterns do you repeat?

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  • What is your creative ambition?

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  • What are the obstacles to this ambition?

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  • What are the vital steps to achieving this ambition?

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  • Who is your muse?

Challenging stuff. For a long time, I didn’t think I was terribly creative. Growing up, I was complimented on my creativity; I liked to sketch, build, create little scenes as only a child can. It was all driven by an innate curiosity of how the world worked. Then I hit adolescence and I tried to cram all of this creativity stuff in a plain box and deny my own creative spirit. Yet, it was always there smoldering, ready to reignite. Thankfully, I’ve rediscovered those traits that make me unique. I like this quote from Twyla:

Each of us is hard-wired a certain way. And that hard-wiring insinuates itself into our work. That’s not a bad thing. Actually, it’s what the world expects from you. We want our artists to take the mundane materials of our lives, run it through their imaginations, and surprise us. (italics added)

Each of us who are passionate about what we do are artists. So what are you hard-wired to do? What kind of creative surprises can you create today?

Can’t Sing or Bake? Do It Anyway and Love It

by on February 5, 2005 in Creative, Life, Media

One of the really cool fringe benefits of being a dad is getting to read great stories to my girls. One book that Leah (my oldest) and I share as a favorite is The Chicken Sisters by Laura Numeroff. It’s about three sisters – one who loves to bake, one who loves to knit, and one who loves to sing. They’re not very good at what they love to do, but they keep doing it anyway. However, their neighbors (who are rabbits and squirrels) don’t care for the constant smoke billowing from the kitchen or the off-key singing and are determined to put a stop to it. That is until an old wolf moves in next door and scares everyone to death – except the chicken sisters. They love visitors and invite him in for cookies and a singing performance that give the poor wolf a horrible tummy and headache. The neighbors come to finally say that they’ve had enough of the sisters when they see the wolf, semi-conscious and trying to escape the sisters’s house. The wolf (who turns out to be quite harmless) finally agrees to leave the neighborhood and move in with his mother in Atlantic City.

Each time we read this book, we talk about enjoying the things we love to do, even if we’re not very good at them. For instance, I’m not a very good softball player (though there was a time I was a decent athlete). I usually hit the ball consistently to the shortstop and frequently overrun the ball when playing the outfield. But I really enjoy playing and try not to let my more competitive nature kick in.

We also talked about how there were always going to be "neighbors" who get angry or annoyed with us for not being good at something. These could be any number of people in our lives who think we should either give up or desperately try to improve. But they will always miss the point: it’s not whether you’re good at something, it’s about enjoying it.

The end of the book shows the neighbors and chicken sisters having a party together. The sisters serve burnt cookies, offer itchy wool party hats, and sing. And their neighbors appreciate it all.

We Are Not a Product

by on January 7, 2005 in Career, Media

I find myself caught in a bit of dilemma. As a career coach growing his practice (while at the same time looking for new work within a company in organizational development), I have tried to follow the ideas behind The Brand Called You. It’s about marketing all that is distinctive and noteworthy about ourselves. It’s a way of getting ourselves out there, attracting possible clients and employers to us using many of the same ideas that companies use to sell their products.

Here’s the problem: We are not PRODUCTS. We have allowed the commercial and the economic to infiltrate even how we view ourselves. We might think we control the identity of our brand, but that’s unrealistic. When viewed in this light, the true valuators of our brand lie outside of us. No matter how much the folks at Coke try to build and rebuild their brand, it’s the consumer who determines whether it has any worth. And by allowing others to view us as a brand, we give them the same power to determine our worth. In the end, we become more about projecting an image and less about living and working toward our true purpose. In The Answer to How is Yes, Peter Block writes:

We become products measured by market value. And soon our relationships, our dreams, and even deepest insights become a means to an end.

Okay, so what’s the alternative? This is where I admit that I am still working on new ideas. Here’s what I do know: it must include a commitment to pondering meaningful questions, engaging in self-awareness, and slowing down from the hectic pace the U.S. culture demands. These three actions are not easily or quickly rewarded, but I believe the results will be far more enduring.