We Survived the Irene Storm

The Irene storm blanketed the East Coast with high winds and plenty of rain. It was 6 days of anticipation, and then 6 days without power. Usually the weather predictions are off target (about 90% of the time). This one was on target, but, fortunately, the intensity was less than projected. 370,000 were evacuated from New York City and mass transit in the city shut down at 12 noon on Sat about 10 hours before the storm hit. Over 1 million people lost power in the tri-state area. A significant storm.

There was a run on fill-your-own sandbags at the transfer station, and they helped prevent major floods down our driveway before and after I cleared the drains at 5:45 when there was light outside. Ice, flashlights, batteries, and generators were nowhere to be found for a couple of days. Just like camping - only it got old after 3 days!

The storm brought people together and reinforced how many conveniences we have and have come to rely on in modern life. I am not sure the round the clock hyper weather coverage is a step forward - it hurts business and frays a lot of nerves. We were spared, but many towns and families were seriously disrupted. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they work to rebuild their lives, towns and neighborhoods.

Yale is Focusing on New Businesses

I recently went to the Angel Investors Forum & Yale Entrepreneurial Institute event to hear presentations by 3 student teams. They were well presented and innovative. Each team was passionate and had attracted mentors who had 20+ years of experience and who had invested in the businesses. A working prototype and/or revenue generating business was also the case with all three. Several students were planning to take a year off and pursue their ventures.

Roammeo.com was an event consolidator that had launched in New Haven with mobile applications. Booksavr.com was lowering the cost of books at colleges and offering seveal options for students and management systems for professors. A third project focused on cooling servers with a unique approach that had applied for several patents. Well done teams!

Idea Man by Paul Allen

I just read Idea Man by Paul Allen. It offers his view of launching Microsoft and some insights into Bill Gates. It also covers buying 2 sports teams - Blazers and Seahawks and building a new stadium in Seattle. One chapter covers building a team and partnering with Burt Rutan to win the private space race and $10mil for the first ship to reach space twice (62 miles high) in 5 days. It chronicles the story of his guitar playing and passion for launching Hendrix & EMP music museum in Seattle. He invested in Dreamworks with the big 3 in Hollywood. He also has launched a Brain Research Institute in Washington state. He evens reviews how he lost $8bil in the cable business. It clearly has some interesting insights intermixed with a very big ego.

Where Good Ideas Come From

Steven Johnson's book by the same name (Where Good Ideas Come From 2010) is very inspiring and informative. It chronicles all of key innovations from 1400-2000 in a glossary; where they were created and by whom. In many cases there were multiple creators. It is claearly a fascinating look at the evolution of the modern world we live in. He also captures the creative energy of the early coffee shops, liquid networks, and the slow hunch (i.e Darwin's theory of Evolution) which lead to his epiphany, and serendipity which frequently leads to breakthroughs. I suggest you track it down.
DC3

Australia Rocks!

It’s hard to believe that 3 weeks ago I was diving on the Great Barrier Reef in northern Queensland, Australia. The cyclone did not affect us, but it disrupted life completely just over the mountain to the west in Rockhampton and later Brisbane. Suncorp, my daughter Caroline's company, froze all new hires her and laid people off including her due to uncertain insurance payments. She has found a new job in the health care field, but it was sudden and disruptive.

Yes,it is a marathon trip, but well worth the journey. Caroline moved in late March to Melbourne and lives in trendy St Kilda area near the tram and a 25 minute walk from the water. The economy is strong with 6% growth and a strong Australian dollar. It feels like the hey days of 1960s in the US with a positive attitude and a more open and free society.

Melbourne and Sydney are great cities with panoramic vistas, and happy and engaged people who really enjoy life. All jobs seem to be worthy and quite well paid including waiters, taxi drivers and tour guides to mention a few.

It made me realize how many excessive regulations and systems we have and are now implementing in the US. We have bogged down business opportunities and start-ups and created many uncertainties. This makes for a more pressured society and life. If you do get away for a period of time, you will feel it quite quickly. Alas hopefully we are getting more in balance and ready to address big issues in the US.

Australia is a bucket list item - go and partake and check it off your list.

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Jack ... the book

I just finished reading Jack Welch's book which he and a professional writer patched together almost 10 years ago. He ran GE for 20 years and was an out of the box CEO appointment by Reg Jones ,his predecessor. Welch has a relentless ego and an overload of self confidence, but he did drive GE to many new heights. His four major pushes over 20 years were globalization, services, digitization and e-business - all were relatively early in their evolutions. Welch was demanding and disruptive, at times, and yes dominating. It is an interesting question as to how well this style would work today. He went through the same process as Reg did - winnowing a list of 27 successors and making them compete over a couple of years. Jeff Immelt ultimately won, but the other 2 finalists left the company and took over Home Depot and 3M. Many top results-oriented business leaders have come out of GE, and the company has stayed on top for over 6+ decades.

Jack also won several golf championships at Sankaty Head on Nantucket - time to go off and play golf.

I am now reading Google - The Story of Search (2006)- guess I just need to catch up on my business reading.

High Talent Creatives (The HTC Group)

For 10 years I have been highlighting great business pioneers in monthly High Talent Creative meetings in SW Connecticut. From Sobe to Edgar Online to Boardroom to Exposures - all fascinating success stories with some challenges and ups and downs along the way. We recently met in April with Will Haughy who launched Tegu (www.tegu.com) with his brother - a magnetic wooden block system that was profiled on the Today Show in Jan. The only problem was that due to some unexpected challenges in Honduras (2 presidents among others) they only received their first product shipments in April.
Maud Purcell (www.thelifesolutioncenter.net) shared the story of her new center in June which brings together a range of professionals to help families and professionals by providing professional services (nutrition; counseling, coaching, legal, health etc.) all in one place. A new idea where professionals tag team clients and work closely together out of the same center.
Next week Bonnie Marcus (www.bonniemarcus), who has created a multi-million dollar stationary business and recently licensed some of her unique designs, will meet with the HTC group. She has accomplished all this since 2002 while raising 3 children who are all under 6. Inspiring!

Where To Go From Here book - review by UNH & book signing video

Here is a review in the University of New Hampshire magazine (Fall 2009).

http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f09/bookreviews.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1I9vVU8-9w Book Signing Greenwich CT Fall 2009

Author Where To Go From Here: Reinventing Your Career, Your Business, Your Working Life (2009) is available through Amazon as a book or ebook through the author.

New Beginnings

It is a New Year and season. Have you taken the time to set SMART goals that are measurable and realistic? Have you or are you going to reach out to old friends and clients? Are you ready to meet and make new ones? Is it time to launch new initiatives and programs? Spring is just around the corner (somewhere) and people and clients are open to new ideas and trends. Be ahead of the curve.
We (Gwynne & I) just spent a glorious week in Moorish Spain south of Madrid and down near the Costa del Sol. A highlight was taking in the museum show celebrating the 150th anniversary of Washington Irving's stay and writings on The Alhambra in Grenada. He was a New Yorker, who lived and wrote about Columbus and The Alhambra while touring Spain and doing research, and who became revered for his work. The audioguide was full of his gentle and detailed descriptions and insights into this amazing place.
It was inspiring because his life work had such impact on the area. In his later life he lived at Sunnyside on the Hudson river north of New York City - a place I now need to go back and revisit.
We can always learn and grow in so many ways. It is part of the coaching and mentoring process to embrace lifelong learning and share knowledge. As I sat on the bus going to Malaga - birthplace of Picasso - I conversed with an employee of the University of Grenada. The classes are still (boring - my words) lectures with no interaction. As he said "los estudiates no hablan en las classes, tendran miedo" (students do not speak in class, they would be afraid)." In the US we are blessed to have so many fine universities and educational choices and programs. Our system at this level is the envy of the world and draws students from all its four corners (an odd description that is frequently used). What are you passionate about?

Coaching Top Performers to Even Higher Levels of Success -- in their Business and Their Career

China Ocober 2009

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.

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!

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.

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?

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!

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.