I spoke at a Career Transition conference in Stamford CT to 200 people on Wednesday on short notice. The speaker was sick and I filled in - very well received. I wore my new yellow panda tie and led off a story about riding the fastest train in the world (Mag Lev 267mph) and ascending the tallest builing in the world (the Bottle Opener) - both in Shanghai China on last Friday.
China was vibrant and thriving. People were bustling and dressed in Western clothes. Kids and families were healthy, and western society norms was clearly in evidence. There are new highways everywhere, and clusters of apartment buildings are rising everywhere. The government owns all the land (and leases it for 70 or 99 years) and has bought out dilapidated housing and farms and rebuilt areas with great haste.
Crowds were everywhere especially given the 60th anniversary celebration on October 1in Beijing (everyone then gets a week off) the day before we arrived. Our group of 16visited The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, major gardens and canals (Suzhou - 9 million people)) and West Lake (an enormous lake in Hangzhou - 13 million) and many other sites. Shanghai is the future of the country - very modern and thriving. You can even find European restaurants if you really digg around. Unfortunately we were fully programmed.
This country is focused, competitive, happy and healthy due to increased prosperity, and on the move. It is very strategic and clearly addressing some of its pressing needs - imporving the lives of the middle class and a major greening campaign is under way.
I will share more thoughts as I process what I learned from my experiences.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Ever have a milestone week?
This has been one of the best weeks I can remember in many many years. Hopefully you will have an incredible and memorable week very soon too. Savor it when you do. This was an Aha! week to extrapolate from the chapter 6 in my Where To Go From Here book. Here is a video of the book signing at Just books in Old Greenwich http://tinyurl.com/yc2wjr3. I also gave 3 other speeches which were very well received including a keynote kickoff for the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce. I played golf on a couple of fabulous golf courses - even posted my best score on one of the toughest in Connecticut.
We also attended a wedding on the water with a phenomenol band where the trombone player danced up a storm and played. Next week I am off to China for a 10 day visit with a business group.
In life you grow new branches on your tree and expand your hosizons from new people you meet, new exeperiences you take in, important accomplishments you complete, and new learnings you make along the way. We have so much to be grateful for. Go for it - expand your reach today!
We also attended a wedding on the water with a phenomenol band where the trombone player danced up a storm and played. Next week I am off to China for a 10 day visit with a business group.
In life you grow new branches on your tree and expand your hosizons from new people you meet, new exeperiences you take in, important accomplishments you complete, and new learnings you make along the way. We have so much to be grateful for. Go for it - expand your reach today!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Your Aha! Moments - Speaking Engagements & Sept 22 Book Signing
What Are Your "Aha" Moments?
Perhaps have recently experienced – an “Aha” moment.
This is a moment that clarifies what has been, and hasn’t been, working for you thus far. After this moment, there is a new clarity in your business or on the job. For some people, it’s the moment when they identify what they were really meant to do in life. For others, it’s the moment when they figure out why certain workplace environments never really made sense for them. And for
still others, it’s the moment when they get clear about how to move on from a particular professional relationship with a specific person. This clarity can be from either a positive or a negative experience.
For all of these people who encounter what I call the “Aha” moment, there is a common element: Identifying their own best use.
** The first goal you scored in hockey, lacrosse, or soccer or match you won... after months or years of practice
** The first time you solved a long-standing, energy-draining problem – with a breakthrough of your own
Speaking Engagements & Noteworthy Events
Sept 21: Networking & Reinvention Saugatuck Congregational Church Westport CT 7:30-9:30PM
SEPT 22 BOOK SIGNING, Talk & Wine and Cheese Just Books Old Greenwich CT 7-8:30PM
Sept 23: Small Business Development Academy Keynote (with Cliff Ennico) Norwalk chamber of Commerce Norwalk CT 6-8:30PM
Sept 24: Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Business And Your Working Life Darien Chamber of Commerce Darien CT 7:30-9AM
Sept 29: Where To Go From Here & Reinvention Stanwich church Greenwich CT 7:30-9:30PM
Oct 13,20,27 Nov 3,10,17,24 Dec 1 Barnabas Project Noroton Presbyterian Church Reinventing Your Career (based on Where To Go From Here book)
List your "Aha" moments Now
For more info, send for a pdf of this chapter in Where To Go From Here.
Perhaps have recently experienced – an “Aha” moment.
This is a moment that clarifies what has been, and hasn’t been, working for you thus far. After this moment, there is a new clarity in your business or on the job. For some people, it’s the moment when they identify what they were really meant to do in life. For others, it’s the moment when they figure out why certain workplace environments never really made sense for them. And for
still others, it’s the moment when they get clear about how to move on from a particular professional relationship with a specific person. This clarity can be from either a positive or a negative experience.
For all of these people who encounter what I call the “Aha” moment, there is a common element: Identifying their own best use.
** The first goal you scored in hockey, lacrosse, or soccer or match you won... after months or years of practice
** The first time you solved a long-standing, energy-draining problem – with a breakthrough of your own
Speaking Engagements & Noteworthy Events
Sept 21: Networking & Reinvention Saugatuck Congregational Church Westport CT 7:30-9:30PM
SEPT 22 BOOK SIGNING, Talk & Wine and Cheese Just Books Old Greenwich CT 7-8:30PM
Sept 23: Small Business Development Academy Keynote (with Cliff Ennico) Norwalk chamber of Commerce Norwalk CT 6-8:30PM
Sept 24: Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Business And Your Working Life Darien Chamber of Commerce Darien CT 7:30-9AM
Sept 29: Where To Go From Here & Reinvention Stanwich church Greenwich CT 7:30-9:30PM
Oct 13,20,27 Nov 3,10,17,24 Dec 1 Barnabas Project Noroton Presbyterian Church Reinventing Your Career (based on Where To Go From Here book)
List your "Aha" moments Now
For more info, send for a pdf of this chapter in Where To Go From Here.
Friday, July 10, 2009
What is Your Risk Profile?
I outlined four broad categories of risk and examples of each in Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Career, Your Business, Your Working Life (2009). It may be asueful guide for you to help determine where you should spend your time and energy. If you in the no risk category or low risk, then you should focus your business or career reinvention on larger companies or known ventures or people. If you are in the medium risk or high risk, then you can look at new ventures, franchises or the latest trends for inspiration and ideas. What is your risk profile?
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Litchfield University Club
I spoke to this 114 year old club at their Annual meeting in Torrington CT. It was started and run by Mr. Delmonico as an eating club, and in 1914 it started giving out scholarships to area students. Today it gives out over $65,000 per year to leading area students for college. It was interesting to hear how many people had moved to Northwest and Northern Connecticut to reinvent themselves or make a major transition in their lives. Everyone enjoys the people and the beauty of the area, which has changed very little over the years. A hidden gem of an organization!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Joey Reynolds radio show interview 6.17.9
I was on Joey's show - WOR710 late evenings -for the 2nd time last night talking about my book Where To Go From Here: Reinventing your Career,Your Business, Your working Life. A key manager from the National Venture Capital Association just book a copy in Arlington VA, and I am getting great kudos from readers. Maybe you should check it out on Amazon. My speaking and promotion efforts pale (ask for my ezine) pale compared to Jonathan Littman (8 books; innovation expert) and Marc Hershon (branding expert; BlackBerry)who were also on the show talking about their new book I Hate People -www.ihatepeoplethebook.com. They were cruising around Times Square in the I Hate People vehicle, handing out literature and door hangers, videoing some youtube clips, and lounging in their morning article in the Wall Street Journal. We had lots of fun.
Joey was in great form as always and had many amusements and stories to share.
Joey was in great form as always and had many amusements and stories to share.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What are you Primary and Secondary Values
SIX WORK VALUES
Learning
Bottom-Line
Aesthetic/Harmony
People
Individual
Tradition
MANY OF US have trouble explaining what our own guiding values are. We know they’re there, we know they matter, but we have a hard time putting those values into words. That’s problematic, because we make better life choices when we have a clear sense of what our own values are.
The following simple exercise, which I developed for Where to Go From Here: Reinventing Your Career and Your Business, is designed to help you get a clear fix on your own primary and secondary values. It’s based on principles of psychology and personality assessment that have been in use for nearly a century now, and are widely accepted by counselors, therapists, and others who must help people to understand their own predispositions and priorities. After you complete the short questionnaire and tally your results, I’ll help you to identify your likely primary and secondary values – and give you a sense of what they say about you.
When you know your own values, you’ll have a better sense of what works for you – and doesn’t work for you – in your career, and you’ll become more confident in making choices about what should happen next in your working life. The more exercise you give that making-choices muscle, and the more comfortable you are in using it, the better off you will be.
Note: The questionnaire that follows is a much-condensed version of a far more comprehensive assessment tool I use with my own clients. It is meant only to give you an initial indication of your values profile, not a definitive summary. For information on how to conduct more in-depth assessments, such as communication and competencies assessments, see the first page of the Resources section at the end of this book.
What Are Your Primary and Secondary Work Values?
For many people, workplace or career dissatisfaction is rooted in an environmental mismatch that puts them in situations that don’t take full advantage of their capacities.
Send for a pdf of this exercise to doug@thesuccesscoach.com
Learning
Bottom-Line
Aesthetic/Harmony
People
Individual
Tradition
MANY OF US have trouble explaining what our own guiding values are. We know they’re there, we know they matter, but we have a hard time putting those values into words. That’s problematic, because we make better life choices when we have a clear sense of what our own values are.
The following simple exercise, which I developed for Where to Go From Here: Reinventing Your Career and Your Business, is designed to help you get a clear fix on your own primary and secondary values. It’s based on principles of psychology and personality assessment that have been in use for nearly a century now, and are widely accepted by counselors, therapists, and others who must help people to understand their own predispositions and priorities. After you complete the short questionnaire and tally your results, I’ll help you to identify your likely primary and secondary values – and give you a sense of what they say about you.
When you know your own values, you’ll have a better sense of what works for you – and doesn’t work for you – in your career, and you’ll become more confident in making choices about what should happen next in your working life. The more exercise you give that making-choices muscle, and the more comfortable you are in using it, the better off you will be.
Note: The questionnaire that follows is a much-condensed version of a far more comprehensive assessment tool I use with my own clients. It is meant only to give you an initial indication of your values profile, not a definitive summary. For information on how to conduct more in-depth assessments, such as communication and competencies assessments, see the first page of the Resources section at the end of this book.
What Are Your Primary and Secondary Work Values?
For many people, workplace or career dissatisfaction is rooted in an environmental mismatch that puts them in situations that don’t take full advantage of their capacities.
Send for a pdf of this exercise to doug@thesuccesscoach.com
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