Nina Burokas on Better Living Through Brand

Every Video, Mashup, Comment Tells a Story

Three acts in an ongoing play (conversation). Credit to Pete Blackshaw's cgm for the original post, Selective & Arbitrary for a heads up on the riff and odd professor's comment, and BlogPulse for connecting the dots.

Act One: Onslaught ("Dove Self-Esteem")

Act Two: Dove/Axe Mashup (aka Talk to Your Daughter)

Act Three: A Conflicted Response with an interesting close: "which came first, the desire for ['X' (beauty or attraction, however defined)], or marketing creating a hitherto-absent desire for same?"

Walking the Brain

If you share my passion for physical fitness and mental agility (or one of the two), give The New York Times’ Exercise on the Brain article by Welcome to Your Brain (March 2008) co-authors Sandra Aamodt & Sam Wang a read.

The espresso version: Although “environmental enrichment” – computer-based brain exercise programs – has been proven to improve brain performance in laboratory animals, the findings don’t necessarily apply to humans. Also, in terms of the impact on aging, improvement seems to be limited to a specific activity or function, for example, Scrabble or memory.

What has been proven to provide a generalized mental fitness benefit is physical exercise. Exercise improves our “executive function,” a range of abilities that include processing speed, behavior response, focus and working (current) memory. Physical exercise yields three primary brain benefits: (1) reduces age-related shrinkage of the frontal cortex, (2) reduces risk of brain damage due to heart attack or stroke, and (3) stimulates connections between neurons.

Art Credit: Graham Roumieu

Living the Brand & Other Stories

No need to wait until Thursday's Brand Your World Summit to get your brand on! Click over to Personal Branding Magazine for a dose of brand attitude and expertise (37 authors on topics ranging from authenticity to social media and SEO). Annual subscription (4 issues) is $12.95. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.

Issue #2 highlights: Jack Welch on Development, interviews with Linden Labs’ founder Philip Rosedale and the ever-interesting ; ) Greg Verdino (my Living the Brand column), and our “Young Turk” Publisher Dan Schawbel’s pick for 2007 Personal Brand of the Year. Kudos to editors Connie Bensen and Rebecca Thorman for distilling the essence of my 3,100 word submission. Finally, a shout-out to my Reach colleagues Rob Cuesta (Brand Assessment column) and Paul Copcutt (Engaging and Retaining Employees) - great articles!

Get Your Brand On...

...at the Brand You World Telesummit!

Join me and a global cast of bestselling authors and personal branding experts for a marathon event in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Tom Peter’s seminal “The Brand Called You” article.

Date: Thursday, November 8th
Time: 7A-7P Pacific
Program Schedule; Speakers & Panelists
Registration: Upper right hand corner, any page

Registration is free; participants are invited to make a donation to Kiva, a non-profit organization that provides microfinance loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

I'll be interviewing blog consultant and The Corporate Blogging Book author Debbie Weil on How to Write a Great Business Blog at 8A Pacific/11A Eastern on Line 1. Questions are welcome; ping me or submit via the session comments section.

Content Streams:
Career Management Success
Relevant for career professionals who want to apply personal branding strategies to support their career success as well as professionals in the field of career coaching, resume writing and career counseling.
Talent Management
Relevant for HR professionals and business leaders who want to discover how to attract, develop and retain talent through the application of personal branding strategies.
Entrepreneurship
Applicable for business owners and solopreneurs who want to apply personal branding strategies to grow their business.

Keeping It Hot - Debra Feldman on Strategic Networking

Strategic Networking Q&A with - & 3 Essential Action Items from - "Job Whiz" Debra Feldman

1. Being a strategic networker requires more than simply adopting a "pay it forward" mindset. What's your networking philosophy?

Debra: Once you establish rapport, keep up the contact periodically on a regular basis, eg. monthly, quarterly, etc. by exchanging some news or information that the recipient will appreciate and remember you by. Depending on how close the connection is as well as an opportunity to send someone or something relevant their way.

2. What’s the most critical mistake experienced networkers make and how can it be avoided?

Debra: Lack of consistent follow up and lack of a direct, clear focused message that unquestionably says that you are a go to resource willing to offer assistance anytime. Position yourself as not only an eager networker, but make sure they understand your prospective value proposition and what you can do for them and others (eg., she knows how to get gatekeepers to make an appointment for her! Or she can spot and fix barriers to getting a new job just like that!)

3. Given the power of weak ties, what process do you use or recommend for building a diverse network?

Debra: Rely on your connections to generate additional introductions, take them up on an offer to connect you with others and definitely follow up on leads offered – it is good business and good manners.Circle back to the originator thanking them and tell them the results of the interaction they initiated for you.

4. What tool or technique have you found most effective in facilitating the ongoing process of adding value to your network?

Keeping It Hot - The Concept

"Keeping it hot" is all about your intention...about being both a fierce competitor and a strong team player. It's a phrase I was originally introduced to as an outrigger paddler.

Outrigger canoeing is a competitive sport in Southern California (and internationally), with local races along the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego. During the season, individual boats are composed of six people; the steersperson in seat six is the boat coach, providing encouragement and feedback. One of our steersmen used a phrase I found particularly motivating: "it’s all about the intention". For me, this phrase sums up the three key elements of performance, be it sports, business or life: focus, timing and passion, or "keeping it hot".

This series is dedicated to those from whom I have learned and continue to learn. The idea is simply to share our experience and raise our collective game. Ping me if you have a story or expertise you want to share.

It don't mean a thing...

…if you ain’t got the swing. The swing, in the case of personal branding, is not "spin" – as the current Business Week Creating Brand You article suggests – but authenticity. As Valeria Maltoni notes in her Baron Hilton vs. Paris Hilton post, building brand value is not about selling the sizzle, it’s about delivering on the brand promise.

Perhaps the Gen X writer was more interested in cultivating her "skeptical, doubting" brand than providing insight. My pick of her "Make 'Em Take Notice" recommendations: mimic a popular brand. Good advice if you aspire to be a #2.

Runner up for bad advice/attitude (though credit for being on-brand): Trump's comment that most people don't have 'it' [what it takes to be a brand]. The reality is that we all have the potential to be unique and compelling brands.

My counter: forget the superficiality and manipulation and show some emotion. For perspective on jazz, business and life, check out Brand Autopsy’s (John Moore) Jazzy Business Quotes | 4 and Presentation Zen's Jazz & the Art of Connecting (Garr Reynolds).

Image credit: Your Guide to Jazz Guitar

Picking Up the W Thread

I thought it was strangely quiet on the topic...apparently a few F/U posts hadn't indexed when I went to post. Pick up the main W thread at Successful Blog - or create your own spin-off on the conversation.

("I Google Myself" paraphernalia at t-shirthumor.com & CafePress.com)

The "W List" - Shouldn't You Be On It?

So read the email from fellow blogger and brand strategist Krishna De, a shout-out to add my perspective (and blog) to the "W List".

One step back: Valeria Maltoni of Conversation Agent started the conversation with her post on the Top 20 women bloggers in the PR and marketing profession and suggested the creation of a "W List" as a means of discovering great blogs authored by women. Krishna at BizGrowth News added a global perspective in her W List aka Women Who Blog post. Tiffany Monhollon at Little Red Suit took it the next step forward with her The W List Goes Viral - Help Promote Women Who Blog.

My additions to the list:
Business Communicators of Second Life by Linda Zimmer
Deborah Schultz
Jennie S. Bev Post by Jennie Bev
Social Media Group by Maggie K. Fox

The W List – Women Who Blog (As of 8/9/07)

45 Things by Anita Bruzzese
advergirl Leigh Householder
Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
Better Living Through Brand by Nina Burokas
Biz Growth News by Krishna De
BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk
Business Communicators of Second Life by Linda Zimmer
CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht
Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg
Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
Flooring The Consumer CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield
Hey Marci by Marci Alboher
Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights by J.T. O’Donnell
Jennie S. Bev Post by Jennie Bev
Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
Little Red Suit by Tiffany Monhollon
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
Manage to Change by Ann Michael
Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
Modite by Rebecca Thorman
Narrative Assets by Karen Hegman
Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall
Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning
Social Media Group by Maggie K. Fox
Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
The Blog Angel aka Claire Raikes
The Brand Dame by Lyn Chamberlin
The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg
The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
The Podcast Sisters by Krishna De, Anna Farmery and Heather Gorringe
Water Cooler Wisdom by Alexandra Levit
Wealth Strategy Secrets by Money Gym author and Founder Nicola Cairncross
What’s Next Blog B L Ochman
Wiggly Wigglers authored by fellow Podcast Sister Heather Gorringe
Ypulse by Anastasia Goodstein

Should you be on the list?

Living the Brand: It Takes a Village

The ability of an organization to live its brand – that is, to consistently deliver on its brand promise – is crucial to both business performance and brand value. And yet, the operating reality tends to be ignorance or disengagement rather than ownership. For example, a survey by Tom Peters Company (not statistically representative but true to my 20+ years of business experience) found that 51% of employees don’t understand the concept of a brand. Of the 25% that do understand their firm’s brand promise, only 9% actually live the brand. Recent word-of-mouth examples of disconnects between an organization’s brand promise and the brand experience include the W Hotel – Form over Function? thread on BlogHer and a Tom Peters disappointment voiced by fellow personal brand strategist Paul Copcutt. Will there be cases when a brand fails to deliver on its promise? Absolutely. Failure is inherent in the innovation/evolution process. However, a failure to learn and take appropriate action is not.

Although product knowledge and messaging are key (see Krishna De's Talent Magnet podcast for three tips on building your employer brand), I would suggest the task at hand is more fundamental. In terms of the brand engagement statistics cited, the critical action item is commitment to and alignment of values and purpose at both the individual and organizational level. For perspective, see Heartlines' initiative to move from expressed to lived values in South Africa.

William Arruda's riff on the African proverb is apt: "It takes a village to build a brand."

Google Goes to Harvard

The first interactive Harvard Business Review case study is - a sign of the times - "We Googled You" (via fellow Reach strategist Miguel Coelho).  The fictional case:

Hathaway Jones CEO has found a promising candidate to open the company's flagship store in Shanghai. Should a revelation on the Internet disqualify her now?

What's on page 9 of your Google results?

Technology Adoption Upside

The good news is that more than 70% of the women business owners surveyed in a recent study (1) leverage technology to achieve profit, innovation, quality and efficiency goals. Indeed, the study found that women business owners are as likely as men business owners and more likely than women in general to be willing to adopt new technology (Center for Women’s Business Research; via Lena West, guest blogging at Lipsticking).

However, in her Women & Technology Battlecry post, Lena highlights the upside potential: only 24% of women business owners consider themselves advanced or leading edge technology adopters. The remaining respondents fell into one of the following categories:
    51% : “average” rate of technology adoption
    15% : technology adoption laggards
    10% : trailing the adoption curve

The key takeaway, as West notes, is the opportunity for 76% of women business owners to improve their business performance through better use of technology. Her challenge: let’s step up our collective game.

What’s the action item?
Join Lena and women business owners for a discussion of how to leverage technology to improve your visibility, credibility, impact and revenue potential.

What: Women & Technology Brass Tacks Roundtable Discussion
When: Wednesday, July 11th, from 4:00-5:30P Pacific
Dial-In Information: + 1 218 486 1300
Bridge Number: 405772

1 - Solutions and Sophistication: Comparing Women and Men Business Owners' Use of Technology was conducted by the Center for Women's Business Research and commissioned by IBM.

Brand Triage: "Tough Choices" Review

“To the victors, go the spoils”. Including the option to (re)write history. Walking away from her summary firing as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Hewlett-Packard with 21 million in cash and parlaying that experience into a book deal is clearly not a total loss. However, the fact is that her personal brand was devalued in the abrupt and public ouster. Carly Fiorina’s Tough Choices is her attempt to reassert her leadership legacy and revive her brand.

As the title states, Tough Choices is a memoir: Carly’s perception of her professional history from AT&T through HP. It has an agenda, illustrated by the Wall Street Journal quote selected for the inside front flap: “So, was Carly right after all?” My mistake was assuming that, despite the signposts, Carly would have a unique and valuable perspective on gender, politics and leadership in the C-suite. Instead, it reads like a 350-page pitch - a seemingly endless series of Challenge-Action-Results statements.

If you’re looking for insight into how to navigate a “man’s world” as a woman, Tough Choices isn’t the book. Aside from a scene in a strip club and an outrageous stint at a conference – situations that would probably not translate outside a sales culture – there is nothing to be learned from a gender politics standpoint. On this topic, I recommend instead Robin Wolaner’s Naked in the Boardroom (excerpts at 800-CEO-READ).

If it’s political insight you’re seeking, go to the master: Machiavelli’s The Prince – still relevant (albeit not literally) after 500 years. In an interesting coincidence, there was an article on power and politics citing Machiavelli’s principal subject, Cesare Borgia, in the Los Angeles Times when I began reading Tough Choices, and it served as my bookmark – and, perhaps, a point of reference.

The one – and pivotal – lesson learned from Tough Choices was how to deal with shifting alliances. Generally astute and decisive, Carly “blinked” on the verge of victory. Despite clear and present danger - a board betrayal - she failed to exercise her option to remove the board and effectively surrendered. The rest, of course, is history.

Carly simply never came to life in the pages of Tough Choices. For more compelling perspectives, see her “Brand: A Guiding Light in Tumultuous Times” speech for the Nikkei Global Management Forum or watch the five minute excerpt of her presentation at the Amazon.com offices on what fear and choice have to do with leadership (scroll down on the Tough Choices listing on the site).

Excerpt of review for Women In Technology International's (WITI) Savvy magazine. Cross posted on brandingpersonal.

On Courage

Demonstrating courage and a tolerance for risk is critical in all aspects of our lives. Given the pace and complexity of our world, we need the courage to make decisions with limited information, the courage to envision possibilities, and the courage to honor our values and culture while embracing change and new ideas. To quote Anais Nin: “Our lives expand or recede based on our ability to be courageous” (via Cindy Solomon, Creating Courage).

One of the statistics Cindy cited was particularly compelling: 86% of people surveyed who were 65 or older or terminally ill indicated that they wished they had shown greater courage in their life.

I’ve been wrestling with the concept of courage for a few weeks. My friend Jenny’s mother died of cancer recently. Jen was with her mother when she died. The edited version is that her mother fought to the end. This was a woman who was 5’7” and weighed less than 75 pounds. She was physically incapacitated, her quality of life was virtually nil, and yet she kept fighting.

The question I would pose is what are you willing to fight for? All of us are in a far better position to achieve our objectives than Jen's mother was, and yet we sometimes simply abandon our dreams without a whimper, much less a battle. What haunted me about this situation is that there were a couple of goals on my 2007 list that I had summarily decided were unrealistic. I have since reversed that decision.

A follow-up question: are you fighting for what’s important to you? In the February issue of the Harvard Business Review, there’s a case study that involves a female executive who is struggling with classic parent/promotion issues. Although she’s effective in her current role, she exhibits a disturbing lack of initiative in reconciling her conflicting priorities. One of the commentators lays it on the line: “she isn’t displaying the most important qualities needed in a senior manager: decisiveness, a knack for proactively identifying and solving problems, an ability to prioritize, and courage.”

Courage is not inherited. It is not something that is awarded or bestowed. It is, to quote Ruth Gordon, “like a muscle…strengthened by use.”

Art credit: Julie Paschkis, Courage. Limited edition prints available at www.artforallofus.com. Paintings are available at Grover Thurston Gallery. Books are available at www.allforkidsbooks.com or amazon.com.

The Passion Principle

“Making success last takes a level of tenacity and passion only love can sustain.”
- Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery & Mark Thompson, Success Built to Last

Passion is the new differentiator. To excerpt from Success Built to Last: “if you don’t love what you’re doing, you’ll lose to someone who does.” Larry Bossidy, author (et.al.) of Execution and Confronting Reality, calls love “a competitive imperative”. According to (retired) Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, “you can survive without loving it, but you will be second-rate…not knowing why you’re there will take your power away.”

Get your (or give a) dose of passion and perspective at a 35% discount: WITI/Wharton School Publishing joint initiative.

Related links:
Knowledge@Wharton: SBTL Co-Authors Mark Thompson & Stewart Emery on How Successful People Remain Successful (4/06); Excerpts from Lasting Leadership: Lessons from the 25 Most Influential Business People of Our Times (10/04).

800-CEO-Read Interview with Larry Bossidy (10/04)

Art credits: Big Headed Girl, by Tom DePue, Nancy Dick, Mark Kregal and Artist in Residence Wendy Minor; Passion Works Studio. PBS Documentary on PassionWorks: A Story of Flying available on DVD or check your local listings.

Open Source Mentality

Interested in what 765 CEOs from 20 industries and 11 geographic regions have to say on the topic of innovation? With the publication of it's Global CEO Study, IBM continues to raise the collaboration bar and generate significant differentiation and thought leadership value. Bravo!

Is collaboration in your DNA? Take IBM's innovation assessment for perspective and insight.

Technology-Evolution Gap

For all its glitz and swagger, technology, and the whole interactive revved-up economy that goes with it, is merely an outer casing for our inner selves. And these inner selves, these primate souls of ours with their ancient social ways, change slowly. Or not at all.

-W. Brian Arthur, from How Fast is Technology Evolving?" via How Women Can Beat Terrorism

On Sustainability

My recent travels sensitized me to the implications of terrorism on my vision to drive exceptional, sustainabile business results on a global scale. Terrorism is not only a political, military and social issue, it is a critical business constraint. In order to achieve the commercial potential of a flat world, we must address the issue of sustainable development. As Curt Weeden notes in the Prologue to his book How Women Can Beat Terrorism, dealing effectively with terrorism requires that we address the conditions that foster and encourage terrorism; namely, poverty and hopelessness.

To quote South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, "A global human society based on poverty for many and prosperity for a few, characterized by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty, is unsustainable."

Always On versus Flow

The reality of globalization is that we live in an “always on” world – especially online. However, from an individual perspective, that standard is neither practical nor desirable. If you’re suffering from information overload, an addiction to your BlackBerry, Treo or other communications device or general organizational paralysis, I recommend Inbox Zero, Merlin Mann’s series on personal productivity. His tips are spot-on, his humor refreshing and my empty Inbox (one month and counting) is proof that you can break out of an “always on” mentality and get back into the flow.

Here’s the essence of what worked for me:

1. Set up an In Process folder with three subfolders, Archive, Follow-Up (or use the Follow-Up flag) & Priority.
2. Move all Inbox items greater than 60 days old to Archive (set date to delete) and move remaining emails to In Process.
3. Cull the strategic, revenue-impacting emails from In Process and transfer to Priority. Commit to addressing daily or weekly.
4. Unsubscribe from all but essential communications that can’t be RSS’d or otherwise read online.
5. Check email at limited intervals and respond based on priority, not necessarily the senders sense of urgency (or tactical use of “!”).
6. Clear Inbox and Priority daily.

Developing Creative Leverage

No matter which new media emerge and which old media fade away, one factor remains crucial: the power of applied creativity to move the market in your favor.

The premise is deceptively simple: creativity can be a powerful tool for gaining competitive advantage. However, like any big idea, the proof is in the execution. In Juicing the Orange, Fallon Worldwide co-founders Pat Fallon & Fred Seen share their extensive execution experience (both successes and failures) across industries, geographies and media. The authors distill their insight into a 7-step process for making creativity both actionable and accountable:

1. Always start from scratch.
2. Demand a ruthlessly simple definition of the business problem.
3. Discover a proprietary emotion.
4. Focus on the size of the idea, not the size of the budget.
5. Seek out strategic risks.
6. Collaborate or perish.
7. Listen hard to your customers (then listen some more).

An expanded review will appear in the Fall (October) issue of Women In Technology International’s Savvy magazine. Savvy's Editorial team welcomes your input on books and ideas that matter. Send your comments to the Editor: saraf at corp dot witi dot com.

As always, I welcome your comments below. If your thoughts are off-topic, please route them via email.

Side Order of Attitude

Occasionally inspired, often profane, Hugh MacLeod’s Gaping Void cartoons are oddly engaging. For those who can relate to his distinctly SWM voice, the “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards” widget is available to add to your web site or blog in either a filtered or unfiltered (“adult language”) version. If you prefer a more selective experience, you can opt for a starkly cool alternative business card or "blog card" featuring one of his cartoons.

Trash Talkin' the Blogosphere

From the Advertising Research Foundation's Audience Measurement Symposium (ARF AMS), Day 1:

"If bloggers achieve fame, the first thing they do is move out of the blogosphere." - Jeffrey Cole, Director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future

An alternate perspective, from Tom Peters Forward for Naked Conversations: "Biz Blogging...WORKS. It is of...MONUMENTAL IMPORTANCE. (Or can be.)

A point of Cole's we can all agree on: "Convergence is real."

Come & Get Your Ohana!

Looking for an effective alternative to an alpha management style? Join Imua Outrigger Canoe Club July 30th for our 11th annual Corporate Challenge. The official state sport of Hawai'i, outrigger canoeing is all about teamwork. Or, as one of our steerswomen puts it, "it's all about the intention". Competitive? Absolutely. But in a inspirational, versus destructive, sense.

One of my fellow paddlers (Thanks, Jess!) sent this write-up of a coach's rally prior to last weekend's race:

The men gathered around Uli. He spoke, “This is a spiritual sport, been going on from year to year for hundreds of years, passed down from generation to generation. You feel it in your blood, this sport cries to your soul. I’ve been paddling for many years, I know. I’m so proud of you guys. When you get tired or lose your concentration – and you will - pray to whatever entity you recognize, ask for the strength to continue. If you want to, pray to me (smacking his heavily Hawaiian-themed tattooed chest several times) I will give you everything I have.”

And all you "Type A" teams out there...think you know how to "keep it hot"? Bring it on! Let's see how well you perform against your ohana-powered competitors.

Uli concluded with “Above all, have fun, cause if it ain’t fun, it’s not worth it.” Bring the family. Bring your friends. Ping me with any event or sponsorship questions. Aloha!

The Collaboration/Innovation Dynamic

Sally Falkow captures the essence of digital influence in a recent Website Content Strategy post:

It is all about the conversation.  Learning to listen to the conversation is your first step - then learning how to deliver content in a way that makes you a participant in the conversation.

What I find particularly interesting about the Generation C and Customer-Made trends referenced are the implications from an innovation standpoint. Wouldn't it be exhilarating for collaboration to be the 2006 word of the year?

Politics & Digital Influence

Politicians are the ultimate consumer brand. And as a couple of recent posts by personal branding guru William Arruda illustrate (Arianna Huffington-A Strong Personal Brand; More Personal Googling), social media is the new campaign frontier.

Arianna Huffington is one of only two bloggers on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people (via St. Petersburg Times) and her blog, The Huffington Post, was just awarded a Webby in the Political Category.

Phil Angelides' use of social networks is fresh, engaging and certainly preferable to the repetitive direct mail (one piece per day) I’m receiving from Orange County Supervisor candidate Cathryn DeYoung. From mailbox to dumpster in less than 10 seconds.

Not Your Mother's Life

Joan Peters Not Your Mother’s Life: Changing the Rules of Work, Love and Family is a refreshing take on designing our lives. According to Peters, what’s often missing in women’s books is the broader perspective: how to connect the personal, the political, the psychological and the economic to achieve success on our own terms. One of the points that resonated with me was the concept of thinking of your life as a series of five-year plans. To quote Sarah Willis, “You can have it all, but not all at once.”

Sanctuary Denied

My brother and I recently shared a laugh about his failed attempt to ask a woman at his gym out on a date. Although there was some chemistry, she declined his invitation, saying the gym was her sanctuary and she didn’t want that to change. An amusing exchange, but I understand her position.

A gym isn’t a spa; but for many of us, it’s our daily approximation of same. Alas, the benefits of this environment are being offset by a proliferation of cell phones and advertising. My local gym used to have a smattering of supplement and training promotions, concentrated in the front desk area, inspirational posters of local Olympians and one lone ad for a local realtor. However, in the last month, ads have sprouted on walls, mirrors and the hallway of the woman’s locker room. I understand the draw from a marketing standpoint, but I morn the loss of my sanctuary.

Which prompts a couple of questions: will annoyance at the intrusion impact the effectiveness of the message? How do you prevent overload? At what point will members reject the noise and opt for outdoor alternatives (this being California, that’s a 24/7/365 option)? Personally, once the StairMaster starts scrolling ads instead of percent completion, heart rate and calories burned, I’m out the door.

Head, Heart & Hands

Last night’s seemingly random video selection proved to be an inspired combination: the Kino International restoration of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Elizabeth Cotten In Concert 1969, 1978 & 1980  (Available for loan free of charge through the Orange County, CA Public Library System). Metropolis, with it’s “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!” message set the stage for a woman who so deftly weaves head, heart and hands in her signature “Cotten picking” style. Raised on WFMT Chicago’s The Midnight Special and with my mother’s Irish rover genes, Cotten’s Freight Train (written 100 years ago at age 11) never fails to evoke a profound longing for the open road.

For additional musical options, visit NPR's All Songs Considered: clips and comments on a range of artists, including Elizabeth Cotten (featuring Shake Sugaree, off the Smithsonian Folkways label). A related find: Public Radio MusicSource, where your purchase supports National Public Radio, the price is on par with Amazon.com ($15.48 vs. 14.99) and, unlike Amazon.com, you can listen to all tracks and view the credits prior to purchase.

Perception & Performance

That perception is critical to performance is understood (see The Art of Possibility and Perception & Possibility posts). What is perhaps not fully appreciated is the extent to which this is true. Enter Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. As Gladwell documents, free will is elusive; programming and conditioning often drive our behavior.

Our instinctive behavior is an accumulation of messaging and experiences that – true or false – impact our actions. In many instances, our instincts are spot-on. However, conditioned responses can also hold us back. The insidious aspect of conditioning is that individuals often don’t realize they’re being manipulated. For example (caveat: operating off memory), Gladwell relays a situation where having a race check box at the beginning of a test resulted in 50% drop in performance by black college candidates versus a test group without the racial flag. When asked if they were put off by the check box, the students responded no, they just didn’t think they were college material. Equally appalling is Gladwell’s own tendency (as a mixed race man) toward test responses that reinforced negative stereotypes. In short, one’s socially acquired beliefs can subvert one’s own self-interest.

Think you’re race, gender or sexuality blind? Take the Implicit Association Tests; assessment options include age, gender, religion, politics, disability and race. The disclaimer speaks volumes: "I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree." Alas, if you don’t like your results, there are no quick fixes. Of course, consciousness is the first step to changing ingrained patterns of thought and behavior. Beyond that, it’s a matter of training and education. The challenge, on an ongoing basis, is to filter out negative rhetoric without losing the value of sound, alternate opinions.

Being a conscious - and critical - consumer of messaging is essential to optimum performance. Our ability to eliminate negative stereotypes and unleash the full potential of an increasingly diverse population will impact our competitive position as a nation in a global milieu. Indeed, if you can see beyond national borders, I would argue that the ability to not just tolerate but to embrace diversity is crucial to our survival as a species.

Don't Know What You've Lost

In a year punctuated by scandal, a lack of vision and separatist politics, it's no surprise that integrity was the most frequent word search on Merriam-Webster Online in 2005. (Or that “inept” was in the top 10.) Indeed, the various definitions provide context for a contentious year:

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS.

As we enter 2006, one synonym cited in Webster's 1980 print edition seems unimaginable: Unity. (Check out the Foundation of Global Community's entertaining "All is One" flash rant The Wombat). Political rhetoric professor Richard Katula observes that “So many people have challenged other people's integrity this year, I don't remember a time since the Nixon impeachment hearings when political discourse was so coarsened and crude" (Christian Science Monitor). Interestingly, another "i" word bandied about over the holidays is “impeach,” with reference to the Administration's domestic wiretapping activities. Although it's probably little more than background noise in an election year, the question is whether the noise and American’s search for perspective will have political implications. If, as indicated by CNN exit polls, the 2005 election was decided on the basis of “moral values”, it’s not clear whether an appeal to values will be either credible or resonant in 2006. The element of relativity that has permeated our government may have political strategists searching for a different theme in 2006.

What's in a Name?

Would creationism by any other name pass as a science? Apparently not. The U.S. District court rejected the Dover, PA school board’s decision to require inclusion of the concept of “intelligent design” in the biology curriculum. The net-net:

…the theory of evolution represents good science, is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, and [that] it in no way conflicts with, nor does it deny, the existence of a divine creator.

-U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III (AP via Forbes)

Toward Mental Agility

What distinguishes coulda been contenders from the elite in athletics, business and life is the head game. In a Business 2.0 article, Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz cites the phrase “if you think you can’t, you’re right” (variously attributed to Mary Kay Ash and/or Henry Ford) as her golden rule.  To her, "can’t" is a limitation of the mind; the focus should be on how to rather than why not.

Although it’s often referred to as mental toughness, the pivotal issue is developing mental agility. The ability to adapt to and thrive admidst changing realities is a highly relevant skill set for any sport or industry. In an article on mental training in USMS Swimmer, sports psychology consultant Alan Goldberg, Ph.D., provides the following eight tips for boosting performance:

• Focus on the race one stroke at a time
• Let go of mistakes/failures--quickly
• Stay within yourself and “in the now”
• Be positive
• Reframe adversity
• Be you own best fan
• “You are not your  race"
• Relax

The Power of Words

To someone who trades in words, they are neither empty (though that depends on the speaker or speechwriter) nor necessarily of less value than a picture. Although an image may be arresting, we are unable to fully process the visual cues without context. Indeed, there are times when a powerful headline simply steals the show. Amnesty International’s Denounce Torture print ad campaign is an example of the potential of a message to break through the rhetoric on the war on terrorism. The lead-in to the ad that appeared in the December 12th issue of The New Yorker is "Tortune has no place on American soil. That's why we have it done in Egypt". Spare, yet deeply resonant, the headline renders everything else superfluous.

Gold Rush

It's election day in California, a Gold Rush/power play special event, but I'm thinking about financial and environmental sustainability. In particular, the budget reform bill  passed by senate Republicans that includes a provision to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben's take on the current political climate is apt: "in the end, real environmental progress may depend on remembering that we live in particular local places, not just in a globalized world." For community revitalization and sustainability resources, check out the E.F. Schumacher Society. To check your representatives voting record on environmental issues, go to the Scorecard section of the League of Conservation Voters.

Negotiation & Relational Capital

From Shakespearian Venice to modern venture capitalism, history has proven that successful negotiation isn't the ability to exert maximum leverage, but to maximize potential value for all parties. Business relationships are increasingly complex; a competitor may also be a client, a partner or a potential acquirer. According to Versant Ventures Managing Director Sam Colella, “Mastering the art of deal making…[is] about relationship management, a collaborative process of learning from others and negotiating a shared solution.” The challenge is to recognize that the relationship management process doesn't end when negotiations conclude - it's ongoing. To quote Colella, "Connecting emotionally and treating people with respect and honesty and in a straightforward manner can help establish your credibility, earning you the negotiating power you need to succeed in today's competitive environment." For additional insight into the venture capitalist mind, read the .pdf of Colella’s article Winning the Pennant…It All Starts with the Right Team Strategy.

Pace & Perspective

"Civilization is changing so rapidly that we can scarcely comprehend the rate, or realize that much of the wisdom of the past is irrelevant for the very different future.... Yesterday we learned valuable lessons from historians; today we may get more valid insights from science fiction writers."
-Paul MacCready, Unleashing Creativity 

Talking Hands

If, like me, you believe that facial expressions and gestures are the essence of interpersonal communications, check out About.com’s translation of Italian Hand Gestures. For the cinematic version, rent Lina Wertmuller’s comedy Ciao, Professore! Perfetto! An exuberant, irreverant celebration of life.

Art Reimagined

"From antiquity to the 1860’s, all scientific discoveries of moment were based upon sharp-edged black and white numbers and measurable quantities. Then, within the next 60 years, a few physicists stared in childlike wonder at the spectrum of colors and discovered the following: the composition of the stars; the fusion of magnetism, electricity and light; the genesis of quantum mechanics; the structure of the atom; and the expansion of the universe. These five discoveries rank among the most profound insights in the history of science."

-Leonard Shlain, Art & Physics

Let My People Surf

Adversity is the acid test of who we are and what we believe in. I was reminded of this recently in reading an excerpt from Patagonia, Inc. founder and owner Yvon Chouinard’s  book Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman. After years of 30-50% compound growth, Patagonia was unprepared for the recession of the late 1980s-early 1990s. The resulting crisis prompted a re-examination of Patagonia’s  business model – not only in financial terms, but also in terms of values and culture. This process culminated in a series of “Philosophies” outings that served to indoctrinate each employee into Patagonia’s business and environmental ethics and values. To quote Chouinard:

I realize now that what I was trying to do was to instill in my company, at a critical time, lessons that I had already learned as an individual…. Doing risk sports had taught me [an] importa